Feb 19, 2013 - End of Vinales

We are still having no luck with internet. We get varying responses; that it is here, but not working today, that the cable/satellite connection will not be finished for another week, that it may be available at a different hotel… but essentially, they just have no internet availability. At this rate, we will next post on our travel site when we return to Mexico City!! I am surprised at how much I miss being in contact, not only with friends and family, but with the world news at large. Today, we went caving, checking out a local cavern,...

Feb 19, 2013 - Enroute to Vinales

An initial disclaimer; I am writing after way too much rum. And not that horrible spiced stuff (sorry Thomas). After a few false starts, we made it to Vinales, where there are large rock mounds left over after the last ice age, making for an unusual landscape reminiscent of areas in China. Initially, we had arranged to have a minibus pick us up for the trek from Trinidad to Vinales, but at about 9 pm the night before, the driver arrived to announce that there was a “problem” and that the new price would need to go from $200 to $250. After...

Feb 19, 2013 - Vinales

The weather has remained pretty blustery and colder than is typical for the past 2 days. No real rain today, but we are all getting good use from the shawls we packed. Last night we had dinner at a state run restaurant, which had wonderful live music, but the food was cooked in a rather desultory manner. Peggy and I had a cheese cream soup, which tasted and acted rather like some wall paper glues I have known. The music, however, was quite good; a quartet of guitar, bass, percussion and maracas. The harmonies were wonderful and the ballads...

Feb 10, 2010 - Vinales

February 10 - Vinales Es frio, mucho frio. We are cold, cold, cold. A cold front arrived yesterday and it's quite chilly. Ok, to Canadians, it probably warm, but to us it's a chilly 22C with a strong cold wind. We are wearing jackets and wishing we had sweaters. Today we will take the Green Bus--a minibus--that is a hop on, hop off tourist bus that circles the entire valley. We are also in search of a singer that Juanita told us about. We are not sure where she sings during the day, but hope that our hosts are correct in directing us to El...

Feb 9, 2010 - La Habana to Vinales

February 9 - La Habana to Vinales (pronounced Vin yal es) It's an early morning departure by Cubanacan bus which we catch outside of the Ingleterra Hotel. Thirty five people are on the official tour; we are catching a one-way ride with them. Our ride includes a tour of a cigar factory where dozens of workers sit and look indifferent about having groups of tourists herded through their workplace. Our three hour trip turns into 5 hours because of the tourist stops. While interesting, we are eager to reach our destination. The road to Vinales...

Mar 22, 2009 - Hasta la victoria siempre!

We´ve survived our journey around Cuba and are sad to be leaving such a perplexing country. There is so much to say, yet it´s difficult to know where to start. After a several hour layover in Panama City Airport (where you can buy a plasma TV duty free but not a coffee or sandwich!) we flew into La Habana with more than a few tummy flutters. Just before touch-down we saw half of a Cubana Air jet languishing and rusting on the edge of the runway and it was at this stage we resolved to avoid flying within Cuba. Immediately through immigration...

Aug 18, 2008 - Vinales

A couple of nights in Havana (this time windswept as Tropical Storm Fay approached) en route to Vinales, one of the main tobacco growing areas situated in the west of the country. Vinales is a small, rustic town adjoining the eponymous national park with its impressive and unusual limestone scenery. We stayed with Ivan and Rosy in their casa particular overlooking the valley. Ivan was in the process of restoring a 1950s Chevrolet acquired in Havana. He explained that whilst the car was originally American it is now multi-national (an...

Aug 22, 2007 - Vinales

Wednesday 22nd August 2007 Drugs were working a treat so we got an 8am taxi with a couple to Viñales and found a lovely little Casa Particular which had it's own veranda above the family home. Paid a taxi to take us to Cueva del Indio nearby which was a little bit of a disappointment, not least because the boat tour was in German to satisfy the tour group that boarded behind us. The area is famed for it's Mogote however (flat topped mountains) and it's a really beautiful region of the country. We took a horse trek late in the afternoon...

Oct 11, 2006 - VINALES - Cuba

Die 7 stuendige Fahrt von Trinidad nach Vinales im nicht allzu bequemen Minibus hat uns stolze 50 USD gekostet. Mit diesem Betrag waere ich in Nicaragua mindestens vier mal ums ganze Land gebrettert. Die Fahrt war interessant, vorbei an den vielen Werbeplakaten fuer den Sozialismus, Fidel, Che und den Kampf gegen Amerika. Irgendwelche andere Werbungen gibts nicht welche das Landschaftsbild verunstalten, denn es gehoert ja praktisch eh alles dem Staat. Mit Spruechen wie „Vaterland oder Tod" oder „ Es gibt keine unloesbare Aufgaben sondern...

Apr 26, 2006 - Viñales

zom Gloeck chani guet schlofe em Bus... nach fast 14 Stond em Bus beni aendlech en Viñales acho... aber ech gloub es lohnt sech! Of jede Fall werdi do bliibe bes es zrogg of La Habana goht. Vo do us chamer alli Usfloeg mache woni mer vorgnoh ha. D Natur bietet onheimlech vel, gester beni of de ersti Cayo seti en Cuba be, of Cayo Levisa, wow, das esch de Strand Nommer eis woni bes jetzt of Cuba gseh ha! (das saegi zwar jedes Mol...) Det beni no go schnorchle ond ha d Wegwerf-Kamera woder mer gschaenkt haend grad choenne bruche, mol luege ob...

Mar 20, 2006 - Weekend in Valle de Vinjales

Hello everyone! First of all some more carpictures as Brick requested ;o) Last weekend we went to Valle de Vinjales and we had a great time there! Our spanish teacher booked both bus tickets and accomodation for us, but when we arrived the room that we were supposed to rent was busy, so we got another one (fortunatly). This guy, Yoan, was the cousin of the women we were supposed to stay with. The room was really nice, and we had a first class bathroom, and a fridge full of beer and softdrinks all to ourselves! In addition his wife Esthelita...

Dec 16, 2005 - Cuba - Pinar del Río - Viñales

¡Hola, mi amol! A small town full of colonial houses, each painted in a different colour, old Soviet and American cars, painted as well in different colours, and the beauty of Viñales' karst limestone hills or "mogotes"... We spent five very relaxing days in Viñales, stayed at the home of Mileidys and Borys and had long chats with them every evening. Borys was sent to the war in Angola when he was only 18 and when Borys Jr. was only 45 days old. You can imagine how many things he had to tell and how interesting it was to listen... Viñales...