After our time in heady Havana (read about that part of our trip here), Julian and I set off to discover that there’s more to Cuba than the capital. The Cuban countryside offers a different, but no less fascinating experience and our first stop was the rural Viñales Valley. Here, as the rolling green hills of Pinar de Rio unfurl, the classic American car gives way to horse and cart and the landscape changes to one spiked with karst limestone peaks.
This is Cuba’s renowned tobacco growing country and it’s a world away from the bustle of Havana. Farmers gallop around on horseback, plough the rust-red earth with oxen and sow seeds by hand.
A hike in this UNESCO World Heritage site rewarded us with wonderful views of the valley.
We strolled to an idyllic tobacco farm to be greeted by rum swigging farmers having a boisterous game of dominoes.
Our host downed his tiles to roll a perfect cigar in front of our eyes. I didn’t dabble, but Julian assures me that when dipped in honey and accompanied with coffee (and rum of course), it was a truly pleasurable experience!
The Viñales Valley can be done as a long day trip from Havana, but staying there you actually get a chance to immerse yourself in a different way of Cuban life.
Accommodation is limited. However I do know of one wonderful little Casa Particular owned by the lovely Jasmine. She has created a sweet tobacco barn for guests in her garden with wonderful views across the valley and your very own bar tender each evening!
It was a long 6 hour drive to Trinidad, but life on the roads in Cuba is always a bit of an adventure. After a minor drama of a puncture, which showed Cuban resourcefulness at its best, we travelled through lush palm and sugar cane covered landscapes, and no trip to this area is complete without stopping at a roadside stall for a jugo de cana, freshly squeezed sugar cane with lime and….of course, rum!
Trinidad is Cuba’s best preserved colonial town and feels in a bit of a time warp with its pastel coloured 1850’s architecture, bell towers and cobbled streets. Like Havana, life is lived on the streets, but it’s at a slower pace and adds to the town’s charm.
Music and dance is a major part of Trinidad’s heart beat with musicians on street corners and salsa clubs packed to the rafters with people dancing to Cuban Trova sounds through to the early hours.
Mountains and sea collide around the Topes de Collantes, a nature reserve in the Escambray Mountain range. A day trip from town takes you high up and deep into the lush forests, where you can trek to waterfalls and visit family owned coffee farms, where we sampled the best coffee of our whole trip.
An hour’s drive from Trinidad is Santa Clara, which is revolution central, being the site of a key battle in the revolutionary war of 1958 and a place of homage to the man himself, Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The main attraction is the Plaza de la Revolucion, where monuments are inscribed with Che’s rousing rhetoric. Also in the square is a small museum dedicated to his life and works.
Regardless of what you think about his ideology, Che’s back-story and role within the revolution is fascinating and an important part of Cuba’s recent past. The love for Che is still strong with many Cubans, as we found in the tiny Café-Museo Revolución.
When discussing our trip to Cuba with my ground partner, I was told in no uncertain terms: “If you are in Cuba on Christmas Eve, make sure you spend it in Remedios!” And so we duly did. This turned out to be a very unique though perhaps, dangerous experience! Every Christmas Eve, the two neighbourhoods, or barrios, in Remedios stage a “war” in the town’s large square. Two giant light displays face off against each other whilst thousands of homemade fireworks are set off, it seems, with little regard for safety and this goes on all night and into Christmas Day! We didn’t last the course, though did make it to midnight mass, and actually didn’t get a wink of sleep as our hotel was right next to the action. But the noise and spectacle was like nothing we’d ever experienced before and we were so glad to have been there, and to come out unscathed!
From Remedios we headed back for one last day in Havana, having circumnavigated only half of this vast island and without spending a single day on the beach. Until the seaside hotels improve beyond huge all-inclusive resorts, I suggest that you combine Cuba with the beaches of Mexico or the Caribbean, which are easily connected by frequent flights. We combined ours at the very chilled and laid back Petit St Vicent.
Most people we met, almost without exception, said that “Cuba is complicated” and of course it is. The last bastion of socialism, stuck in a time warp, grappling with change in the middle of the Caribbean is hardly going to be normal, and that’s exactly why we loved it!
With my great team on the ground, I can help you avoid the crowds and the tired tourist trails to uncover the “real Cuba” sprinkled with one-off experiences. Please do get in touch if you would like to find out more about a trip to Cuba or would like other ideas on where to head to for your next holiday.