Day two and leaving Havana

Day two in Havana isn’t quite as crystal clear in my memory as other days, but I remember the afternoon and evening, and our first night out in Cuba.

After some consultation with a map of Cuba we decide that we will head down to the town of Cienfuegos (translates as 100 fires – named after Camilo Cienfuegos, the leader of Column 1 of rebel troops during the revolution – Che leading the other). We head to the bus station and while looking for the ticket selling office a man comes over to us and asks where we are headed. We say we want to head to Cienfuegos the following day. He offers to take us for $15 (it is a two hour car ride) and says that the bus will cost $14.50 each. We go and check, he is telling the truth. So we arrange to meet him at our house the following morning. This is our first encounter with the illegal tourist trade that the Government works so hard to shut down. The Cuban economy has very little income and is supported mainly through tourist dollars, hence the strict controls in place to ensure that Cubans and tourists aren’t doing business unless it is officially licensed. I have already spoken to a couple of guys around La Habana Vieja who have shown me their fines for unlicensed trading or asking for money. Not vast sums, and probably not enough to dissuade the search for the valuable Convertible peso that tourists are supposed to use. It feels mildly hypocritical to support the law but still break it. But I’m far poorer than the vast majority of tourists who visit Cuba on their package holidays and at least the money is making a substantial difference to one person (well we can all justify anything can’t we). We head home and prepare to explore Havana by night.

We have our cold showers and dress (a t-shirt is smart casual in Havana as going topless seems to be the norm). We make the 25 minute walk into La Habana Vieja (old Havana, the downtown that is bursting with Cuban culture, partly for the tourists and partly because it is were the oldest and grandest buildings are). Around the corner from El Capitolio (the parliament that looks like the White House) is a large square (I don’t recall the name). We locate a bar on the corner that appears to be populated by Cubans rather than tourists. We order a steak and a couple of Bucaneros Fuerte (the ubiquitous 5.4% Cuban beer). A pair of middle aged Cuban women across the restaurant are giving Lucas the eye and waving to him.

We’ve learnt earlier that day that a large number of Cuban women, if they like the look of a tourist, will try and sleep with them if they think they can get a few dollars out of it. Known as jiniteras, they only practice this sort of prostitution with tourists, not Cubans. It explains the large amount of attention that Lucas and I have been receiving from women we walk past (especially Lucas with his beard and long hair – and Che Guevara looks).

The pair of Cuban women finally come over and sit down at our table, we don’t want to be rude so we chat to them for a little while before announcing our departure. We head to another bar for another rum and continue to stroll around La Habana Vieja. Then we find a large courtyard in front of what seems like a castle. There is some live Cuban music and therefore lots of tourists. But we sit down anyway to admire the dancing and the castle. While we sit, another pair of women walk past wearing skin tight tracksuit outfits (one in white, the other in fluorescent green). They pretend not to notice us although we spied them watching a few moments earlier. They appear to be archetypal jiniteras. When we finally decide to leave the bar and head home the pair of jiniteras are waiting in an alley way around the corner. We quickly set off, striding briskly. The jiniteras are trying to get our attention with the usual ‘psssst’ that Cubans use in place of ‘oi’. It reminds me of being chased by the transvestites in Rio. We make our escape and head home.

The following morning we pack only our daypacks, sleeping bags and a guitar (storing our larger packs in Ramiro’s closet) in preparation for the ensuing three-week adventure across to the most eastern point of Cuba and back. Our driver arrives a few minutes late – it is actually a mates car and his wife – he must get a commission for finding them extra passengers. We are given the instructions of when the windows need to be up so we aren’t seen and we are off. It isn’t long and we are into the countryside, hitchhiking Cubans are everywhere as we roar along the highway in the long 1970’s model vehicle. I feel somewhat free from the tourism in Havana and can’t wait to see a new town with a different vibe and different traps….