Havana, one of the cleanest multimillion capitals in the world. Like the rest of the island, Havana is extremely clean. Although the houses are old, facades damaged, roads have holes… it’s almost unthinkable to find a plastic bag, a cigarette butt or other garbage laying around the city, which usually “decorates” western capitals. Except for some beggars (and to them it might be their “working clothes”) it’s hard to see somebody walking around in rags.
Havana (Spanish: La Habana) is the capital, biggest port and trading center of the country. It is also one of the 14 provinces into which Cuba is divided and has 2,3 million of population (the metropolitan area around 3,5 million), which is the most in any Caribbean region. It’s on the northwest of the island, opposite Florida and it stretches along the bay which forms a natural port. A few miles west of the bay the river Almendares, which divides the city, flows here to the sea.
But there’s so much history, events, congresses and other events connected to Havana, an entire issue wouldn’t be enough for them. It’s one of more active and attractive world capitals. Since almost everything about Havana is described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana I’d rather invite you to sneak a peak at few photos of Havana, the pearl of the Caribbean.
But before visiting the picture gallery here’s some basic information for traveling to Cuba.
The projections are organized like Havana is, so you get to feel the city beat.
Castillo del Morro is a defensive fortress on the east of Havan’s bay and is connected to the city with a road and a tunnel under the bay. But the most beautiful way there is from the boat, which you board in the center of old Havana. Here’s where Ernesto Che Guevara resided and today the fortress is a museum and a military hospital.
La Habana Vieja or the Old Havana, reflects the centuries of history and stretches from the former parliamentary building (which is a copy of Washington’s Capital hill, only a meter or so taller), straight down to the weapon’s market known for the wooden tiles. They used wood to dampen the noise horses and carriages made. And this part also has the most historical buildings.
Plaza De la Revolucion or the Square of the Revolution, built after the revolution on Cuba. There’s the tallest erection on Cuba, a statue of the poet Hose Martija. On top is the viewing point and at the basin is a display of photographs and paintings of the revolution. There are many important state offices there, as well as the main office of the Cuban communist party. Also there, you’ll find the famous image of Che that is on almost every postcard of Havana.
There are many more interesting and beautiful places and beaches in Havana, but maybe more on those at some other time.
When?
The best time to visit Cuba is between November and April, for it’s the time with less rain and the temperature is nice and warm, even though it’s winter. The winter and summer temperatures do not differ much, since Cuba is near he equator. There’s only 6 degrees difference between the January and August temperature average.
To see most of Cube, it’s best to fly to the east part of the island, and fly back from the west part (I went there to Holguina – 2 hours from Santiago, and returned from Varadera – but only because there was no flight from Havana on that day).
What to mind before departing?
You need an entrance visa, which you may get at some airlines (like Condor), but otherwise you’ll get them at any Cuban embassy. A tourist visa usually lasts for one month since the day you land in Cuba. There’s no vaccination you need for Cuba, but an additional health assurance for going abroad might be of some use – although health service on Cuba is cost free.
Cash exchange or credit card purchase?
Cuba has two currencies – the CUP (Moneta nacional or the Cuban peso) and CUC (the convertible Peso). Unlike other countries, it does not matter where you exchange your money, for all exchanging offices have the same price. 1€ is worth about 1,2CUC, which has a constant worth of 1:24 for buying and 1:25 for selling – when converting into CUP (so 1€ = 30CUP). With CUC you can buy in shops and restaurants that used to be for tourists only, also for accommodation, fuel and entrance tickets – also souvenirs. On the other hand the CUP is used for shops and restaurants where only natives used to use and local transport, fast food stands…
The rest of CUP can always be changed back into CUC and these into Euros (or any other currency.
Most hotels, tourist shops and fuel stations accept major credit cards – but not American cards like the American Express (due to the economic embargo the US has on Cuba). The most common one is the Eurocard-Mastercard
How to travel around on Cuba?
I suggest you rent a car, because the public transport can be quite a challenge, especially if you’re in a hurry. But if you plan to spend three or more weeks on Cuba, you might wish to try that as well. It’s best to rent a car directly at the airport and return it as departure. But if you, like me, decide to visit Havana in the end, you might want to return the car prior to getting to the city, for it would becom a problem there.
Where to sleep?
For a year now, there’s a net of seven Hostels on Cuba, with two in Santiago and Vareder, one in Camaguey and Santa Maria del Mar (on a beach just 20km from Havana) and next to the university of Havana in the center of the capital itself. Basically these hostels are a part of hotel chain Islazul (www.islazul.cu), so all rooms have their own bathrooms and air-conditioning. Most of them also have two beds, with four at the most. A room with breakfast will cost between 10 and 20 Euros, depending in which town and how many people are there. The Islazul hotel chain itself offers very similar prices for their regular rooms as well.
Apart from hostels there are also private rooms, but you need to be careful there. Many people who rent out rooms, have their agents out in the field, luring you to their apartments, but they are not always of a good quality. So you need to take care as to what you get for the price you’re paying – and where the rooms are. Once you get a good private room, it’s best to ask the owner to suggest the next possible place in the next town you visit.
Where to eat?
There are basically 3 types of restaurants. First are tourist restaurants that accept only CUC, the second are the local restaurants that accept CUP only and the third are private restaurants (paladars) that also accept CUC.
A few years ago I’d suggest you the private restaurants and advise against the local ones… but the situation is very different now, almost the opposite would apply.
Due to greed and paying provisions to people luring in guests, the private restaurants have average food at best, with prices much higher than state restaurants. Only near the coast you can hope to get some good seafood. Private restaurants are usually small or in the gardens of private houses, where it can be either nice and cozy, or very annoying.
The state owned (also hotel) restaurants, usually have nice staff because tips make up for most of their pay. The prices depend on the category of the establishment, but the choice is quite varied. Some all inclusive hotels also have a entrance for daily guests (egg. 15 CUC), that includes unlimited drink, food and use of their fascilities (like swimming pools and beaches).
There are also fast food restaurants called »El Rapido«, but their food has more or less the same fast food lack of taste as just about everywhere in the world.
The last type are the local restaurants, that used to be for local population only, but are now open to tourists as well, who pay with CUP (the national – not tourist currency). Quite a few of them are very nice and have a very good offer. You might say they are the traditional inns. The prices are lower than in other types, especially the prices for non-alcoholic beverages. For some of those restaurants you will have to even observe the certain dress code (like long pants).
And you can, just about anywhere, get a slice of pizza or a hot-dog for a CUP.
Safety!
Cuba is one of the safest countries there are. There is virtually no organized crime and you needn’t fear a violent attack or anything similar. There are however, especially in a multimillion Havana, pickpockets and swindlers. Just like any place you travel too, you shouldn’t flash cash around and keep your things in a safe place. There are also cigar sellers, who offer “genuine Cuban cigars” at a fracture of the price they have in the store. They all have a “convincing” story, like being a an employee in the cigar factory, but usually they are just replicas and we can be happy if they are even made from tobacco (usually it’s just palm or banana leaves).
And as the health safety goes, Cuba is among pest taken care off countries in the world. You can not walk for more than a quarter of an hour, without running into a pharmaceutical store or a first aid station.
In the end:
For all, who hesitate about visiting Cuba, you can visit the info@youth-hostel.si, or see the Facebook »Združenje Slovensko Kubanskega Prijateljstva«, with almost 700 members. And as a final treat – some more photos from Havana!
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