cuba
- Started
- Last post
- 19 Responses
- BH260
Havana is definitely changing. Have been there a few times since 2004- most recent this last jan. The government restrictions on the paladres are loosing up. So you can get some incredible meals. 6$ lobster,- really great pork. prob farm raised- rather than north american standards. Around the corner from The Nacional hotel is LA Rampa crazy theatre and night club. all the kids hang on this street all the way down to the malecon. There's a Havana story on my site.
http://bryanhelm.com/Stories/Hav…
Have a great trip- while there's still some authenticity left.
As the Cubans say Cuba is known for 3 things
Cigars
Sex
and Salsa- $6? Damn!moldero
- Paladares are the way to go. Hotel restaurants- crappy food 3 times the price.BH26
- don't forget rumjuanluisgarcia
- charleskimjr1
- just got back recently, amazing placecharleskimjr
- great job man loved the photos and stories! i went as well several years ago http://www.blurb.com…juanluisgarcia
- amazing photos. feel nostalgic nowzaq
- awesome juan, great stuff man, thanks zapcharleskimjr
- contra0
Varadero is nice, not very Cuban (could be anywhere really) but a good place to sit round getting pissed and soaking up the sunshine. Stayed there for a week last summer before moving on to Havana.
There's a really good flea market on the Malecon, near the Melia Cohiba hotel. Spent an afternoon there checking out packs of old b&w photos of the pre-revolution days. It's also pretty good for old books and has stacks of the usual tourist tat on offer.
The Partagas cigar factory in Havana is worth a visit, total step back in time, just a shame you can't take photos in there.
Eat at the restaurant on the top floor of the Hotel Sevilla, it's not cheap (for Cuba) but the views are worth it, also you can use the swimming pool for free, you're not supposed to but it don't seem to be a problem when we were there.
We always felt pretty secure in Havana, just don't walk round flashing wads of cash and expensive electronics.
- zaq0
- contra0
one more thing... Go for drinks on the rooftop of the Hotel Inglaterra, more good views and sometimes good live music too.
And go for drink at the Capitol building, more good views.
Hotel Sevilla also has internet access.
Have fun!
- tiger0
I can hear cubans blasting their radio from florida
- Crouwel0
ask paraselene.
- scpgt0
hola paraselene..?
- paraselene0
oh, have a lovely time. the varadero is totally touristy and overpriced, but you can still enjoy the sun and surf.
the buses are about as reliable as anything else in cuba... but you'll find that the people are incredibly friendly and helpful and you'll get wherever you need to go in the end, probably losing a few dollars to confidence tricksters along the way.
renting a car yourself is more expensive than you'd imagine and also a big hassle.
as for havana, there's so much to do!
try and pay a visit to the uneac (national union of cuban artists and writers). they have a lovely garden where they put on rumbas once weekly (saturday, if i remember correctly) and a lot of eccentric people turn up.
have drinks at sunset in the back garden bar of the hotel nacional overlooking the malecon.
the museum of the history of the city is really cool and it's nice to go down to the plaza de armas and check out the book stalls.
the vedado is a great neighbourhood for walking around aimlessly and if you can manage it (although i had to pull a bunch of strings and commit a bit of identity fraud to get let into them), try and find a way to visit the national art schools. some amazing and fucked up architecture going on there. they may have opened it up to tourists by now, so it's worth a nosey if you can.
i'll post some more later if my day stops being so busy!
- scpgt0
nicely put.. thanks for that.
sounds like you've spent a fair bit of time there..(?)one other thing, i'm staying near the capitol building in havana and would really like to eat out at a paladare so am going to be roaming about a bit..
generally, how safe is it to do that type of thing.. (walk around in the evenings etc) i realise it's a capital city and normal precautions apply etc.. but should i feel overly uneasy..?
- paraselene0
no worries. yeah, i should know more than i actually do. i lived there for almost a year.
unfortunately, most of my insider knowledge deals with things like not getting thrown into jail for overstaying your tourist visa and not getting your landlady turned in to the cdr for harbouring illegal foreigners and the like. useful stuff, but not your two-week-stay sort of fare.
the paladar situation changes pretty regularaly. as they're in people's houses, it can be pretty hit and miss, but also quite good. the food situation in cuba is basically dire (at least was when i was there). your best bet is to just try different ones. people will approach you on the street and it's totally safe to agree a price for a meal and follow them to their auntie's house or whatever.
there is hardly any crime at all whatsoever in havana. it's perfectly safe. it's the kind of town where you'll be hustled and tricked out of your money, but there's never any pickpocketing to speak of and certainly no violent crimes against tourists.
the regime is pretty strict about the protection and comfort of its major cash cow, eg: you. so you're very unlikely to get any hassle. you'll get loads of propositions from young prostitutes and that, but if you get caught, for instance, it's the girl who goes to jail for seven years, while you get an official apology from the police. see what i mean?
you can walk along the malecon all night long swigging rum and listening to random musicians playing by the water. it's lovely at night.
have a great time!
- scpgt0
wonderful :-)
i'm very much looking forward to it.. suppose i better get on with packing..
thanks again! much appreciated..
- bolus0
i visited cuba last summer, stayed there a month. It's a wonderful place, as para said, the people are incredibly friendly and helpfull. I stayed in a habitacion near the capitolio which was 4 times cheaper and 10 times more fun than the hotels I've been in Cuba. There's tons of nice paladares with good food ( the menu's are quite alike though)
I saw one lady get robbed on the malecon, she was cuban, I think you're safer being a tourist, i walked around all night with a big camera in my hand, no problem at all.
the only thing that really annoyed me was the overdose of people playing crappy buena vista social club covers instead of some original material :)
obviously i'm jealous, have a great time
if you want to go online in havana, go to the lobby of the hotel inglaterra (next to the gran teatro, which is next to the capitolio)
- bartosz0
Read through all the past threads... flying into Varadero in early Feb., but heading to Trinidad and Havana. Any recommendations on where to stay in either place? Never been there before. Also, maybe a dumb question, but is it safe to travel/drive at night if we hire a car?
- hotroddy0
cuba is very safe. there is nothing to rob so people aren't used to robbing
- Lethal0
I went to varadero and havana about a year ago. Never felt safer anywhere in the world. You can't take a bad picture. Go to the old presidential palace for the history of the revolution and also to see a lock of che's beard and hair that was sent back from Bolivia when he was murdered.
Definitely check out the book market, lots of strange books and magazines. Take spare pens and biros. That's the sort of thing they beg for, not money or food. writing paper, toiletries etc are what they are rationed so take spares and leave them with locals! They'll be eternally grateful. And Monte Cristo cigars were nice, my preference.
- Mimio0
Soy Cuba
- zaq0
I miss Cuba. snicked there through Mexico 10 years ago.
If you get a chance visit Salvadore
- paraselene0
super good point, lethal! totally take any of that kind of stuff that you can grab at the last minute. minor office supplies or diapers or acoustic guitar strings or any kind of over-the-counter medicines. they love that old-fashioned mercurochrome paint that people used to put on cuts and scratches back in the day. old clothes are also quite useful. if you're still packing, what you could do is pack a bunch of older stuff that you're not too fussed about and leave it there when you come home with your suitcase full of souvenirs!