More to come.
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Part the Sixth: Part the Second: Specific Recommendations II

Trinidad
I’ve been to Trinidad on two separate occasions and they couldn’t have been more different. In 2000, I was there shortly after New Year’s, within the first two weeks of the new millennium. When I returned at the end of 2003, much had changed for the worse.

What was noticeable right away was the increased “hassle factor.” Granted, the second time around, I was there in the height of the high season – right between Christmas and New Year’s. The streets were packed with tourists, housing was scarce, and you couldn’t walk a single block without someone trying to sell you something.

At first I wondered if I was mis-remembering how things were in Trinidad three years before. After a day or two, I knew it couldn’t have been as bad as it is now. Perhaps the government loosens its regulations for the high season and the officials look the other way when people start selling cookies in the streets, get together for an artisans market, or brazenly offer tourists “illegal” lobster in the streets. I sure as hell hope so. With the hassle factor as high as it was, I’d have a hard time recommending Trinidad again.

And considering how wonderful Trinidad can be, that’s a horrible thought.

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Part the Sixth: Part the First: Specific Recommendations

Okay, if you’ve been reading along until now, you have a good idea how Cuba is going to function. The big question is: What should you plan to do once you get there? Let me help you decide.

Havana
More than likely, you’ll end up flying into Havana to start off your trip. How much time you spend in Cuba’s largest city depends mostly on how much you like big cities. Rest assured that no matter how long you plan to be there, there will be too many things for you to see.

Museo de la Revoluccion and Bellas Artes
A few years ago it finally dawned on me that I don’t actually like museums. Go ahead, call me uncultured, but after countless visits where I pour over the details of the first half of a museum and feel guilty about skimming hurriedly past the second, I just gave it all up. Cuba’s Museum of the Revolution, though, almost changed my mind.

The Museum of the Revolution is situated in a beautiful palace in Old Havana and its goal is to chronicle the great achievements of the Cuban Revolution over the last 45 years. What interested me most was the spin of the propaganda contained within. Our U.S. version of many events is very different from the way Cuba views them. History is written by the winners, they say, and I find it refreshing to see both sides before it’s written at all.

For the military buffs, there’s a covered display behind the museum that has some assorted military hardware and the boat that brought Fidel and his initial revolutionaries over from Mexico. There’s a tank out front, too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

If you’re one of those that enjoys a full day (or two) of museum crawling, the two buildings containing the “Museum of Beautiful Arts” is right next door.

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Part the Fifth: Eating in Cuba

The first thing I should mention about eating food in Cuba is that you’re probably going to get sick. Is that a bad way to start this topic? Well, too bad. It’s true.

It’s not that the food in Cuba is unhealthy; somehow not up to the specs of food in the U.S. Rather, it’s that whenever you cross country boundaries, you’re likely to run into food with different bacterial contents. Those bacteria are not necessarily bad for you, they’re just different from what your stomach is used to. After a couple days of… shall we say, gastronomical distress, you’ll adjust and be good as new.

Actually, you might be able to dodge that bullet completely with a little pre-trip planning. After getting delusionally sick once in Ecuador, I began to look for solutions that would accomplish my newly realized goal of diarrhea-less travel. One of the suggestions that has worked remarkably well for me ever since was to start taking in acidophilus bacteria before leaving my own country. Since I almost always travel in winter (to remind myself that some places outside Alaska enjoy sunlight during December and January) I have made a routine of switching my diet right after Thanksgiving. A simple switch to acidophilus milk in my breakfast cereal and one container of active-culture yogurt every day does the trick! (If you’re lactose intolerant, I hear that acidophilus pills will do the same thing.)

Okay, great. Let’s focus less on stomachs and more on what goes into them.

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Part the Fourth: Part the Second: Housing Recommendations

La Havana (Vedado)
Hotel Colina

I mentioned the relative lack of bad associated with the Hotel Colina in my last post and should start this one off by recommending it wholly. The Hotel Colina is a little pricey and not at all what one would consider a 4-star hotel, but it gets the job done. We’ve also used the Hotel Colina as a get-out-of-airport free card – remember that you might have to tell an official where you’re planning to stay. (I don’t know what they’d do if you told them you didn’t know, but do you really want to risk that?)

The Hotel Colina is also located in a good spot, worthy of being the starting point for your tour of Cuba. Situated at the top of a hill in the Vedado district, the hotel is right next to the University of Havana – one of those good neighborhoods. If you happen to point your walking shoes downhill, you’ll find yourself on the scenic Malecón. From there you can see the Moorish fort that houses Havana’s harbor lighthouse. Within walking distance, the lighthouse is a great landmark for all things Old Havana – The Prado, Calle Obispo, the Museos de Bellas Artes and la Revoluccion.

Rooms at the Hotel Colina are not terribly cheap – expect to pay about $40 a night for two people. Also, the service can be hit-or-miss. While the women at the desk will get to you eventaully, their communist work ethic might butt up against your desire to offload your pack in a hurry.
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Part the Fourth: Part the First: Finding a Place to Stay

Even something as simple as finding a decent place to stay in Cuba can be challenging. Not because decent places are in short supply, but rather because the system isn’t quite what most tourists are expecting.

Of course, the most common option is to go in search of a hotel, right? Well, you’re in luck. In most towns that tourists are likely to visit, the government will have plenty of hotels set up for you. (Remember, every business in communist Cuba is owned by the government – if you hold out for a private hotel, you’ll end up sleeping on a park bench.) Cuban hotels, in my experience, come in three varieties: “normal,” resort, and Cuban-only.

Unless you’re already Cuban (and if you are, why are you reading this travel guide?) it’s a difficult sell to convince them that you should be able to stay in a Cuban-only hotel, so let’s just discard that option. Resorts are expensive, at least in relation to other costs in Cuba. If you want to spend $40-$50 per night, per person, be my guest. Might as well rent a car while you’re at it, too. But if you’re traveling on a budget, the normal hotels are probably your only option.

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Part the Third: Money in Cuba

If you’re anything like me, then your first couple days in Cuba will likely be spent roaming the streets of Havana, admiring the architecture, dodging illicit cigar sellers, and shooting roll after roll of film. After that you’ll spend the next two weeks scratching your head, trying to figure out how the Cuban monetary system works.

Let’s back up a bit.

The first and biggest problem you’ll have (as an American traveler) starts before you even leave the States. You see, that senseless embargo is going to raise its ugly head and bite you in the ass again.

Remember that no American companies are allowed to support Cuba in any monetary way. While in Cuba you won’t be able to access your bank account with an ATM card. Nor will you be able to use any credit card that is issued by an American bank. You can’t use traveler’s checks, either. Western Union won’t even be able to transfer money to you in Cuba! (However; I understand that it is possible to send money via Western Union to a Cuban citizen with an existing Western Union account.)

How can an American refill their wallet while in Cuba? For all intents and purposes, they can’t.

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