by Duende » Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:35 pm
I went for two weeks this last April and had a blast.
Went Seattle-Atlanta-Cancun-Havana on the way there. This was hellish and I don’t recommend it. Havana – Cancun-Detroit-Seattle on the way back with a 24hr layover in Cancun, which was one of the strongest reverse culture shocks I’ve ever had. That leg wasn’t so bad. This milk-run approach all cost me about $650 round trip, and I bought the tix 2-3 months in advance. Whole trip, all in, cost about $2,500. Absolutely no problems whatsoever with US customs – I don’t think they care anymore.
Speak Spanish. Give yourself 5 days in Havana in order to get the hang of it, go dancing, get ripped off, get blind drunk, go whoring, etc. Chill at the Hotel Nacional pool when you can’t take any more hustling for the day. And don’t be afraid to fuck with these guys or else you’ll catch a bad mood from the unrelenting harassment. Get in taxis and just drive around with a bottle of rum…for hours. Hang out on the Malecon. Walk through the Central District. Stay in Varadero. Go to a ball game - whether or not you’re into baseball, it’s super fun. Bring shit to hand out and barter and make friends with, like t-shirts and cds and whatever. If you’re a guy definitely bring a bag of trial size women’s shampoo and skin care products and the like– that shit is worth its weight in gold!
I rented a car for a week for about $300-400 and drove as far east as Santa Clara (boring place but the Che memorial is a hoot). Cienfuegos is a great time and a fun drive. The highway is pretty fucked but usually you’re the only one on it. Pick up ALL the hitchhikers you see – great way to get to know people Don’t even think about driving at night. Stop at Giron near the Bay of Pigs and go scuba diving – no experience needed. Also check out their invasion museum for great sloganeering and cool tanks and shit.
Let’s see….north coast beaches were sandier and nicer, I thought. Trinidad was beautiful but a definite trap, also blazing hot. Cave disco was interesting, though. Definitely go into Vinales, west of Havana, drive around and make friends with the tobacco farmers. Escambray mountains were also very cool. Remedios ended up being my favorite town with absolutely the most fun tavern-on-the-square scene I have ever been involved with.
Outside of Havana, the thing I eventually realized is that you cannot really escape the tourist trail. Only certain places have casas or hotels (choose casas), places to eat/drink, stuff to look at, and if you go off that path there’s pretty much fuck all to do except chat to locals, eat bland food and marvel at just how very backward everything seems.