Cuba

Yeah, that place out 'there'. Anything not really Cambodia related should go here.
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David Gordon
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Re: Cuba

Post by David Gordon »

One thing that impacts me a lot now is no alcohol - first trip since I stopped drinking 3 years ago. I don’t smoke or drink - my hearing is shot so I prefer quiet and I am not chasing ladies.

Yesterday I walked almost 8 k and found China town. Had my first decent meal there. I have a few tours planned over the next few days.

Maybe seeing more than Havana would be a treat.
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Gazzy
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Re: Cuba

Post by Gazzy »

Sitting in bars and chasing girls is fun till it's not. Walking around, discovering places and foods is great. Looking fwd to your Cuba-Cambodia comparisons.
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cabron
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Re: Cuba

Post by cabron »

sammycooke wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:03 pm Don't trust your valuables on any hotel safe. Don't trust hotel staff. The place is a shit hole where nobody has the motivation to work. Careful renting any vehicle. An accident could have you stranded for months trying to straighten it out. Read reviews of hotels if you can before you stay. Very enlightening.
Indeed, do not trust these MF's in any circumstances.
Boredom is like a shroud
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David Gordon
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Re: Cuba

Post by David Gordon »

Here are some random observations:

All the cars are old and many are absolute trash. Many are tiny old lada taxis and the fumes fill the cab. Taxi fares are not at all cheap - a short dash down the road is 1000 peso’s - (about $7.50 USD If you got 150 CUP street rate exchange - official is 120).

Taxis can be non existent at night when walking back to hotel. There are some crude bicycle taxis available. Few motorcycles overall and no moto taxis. To hear the words “tuktuk sir” would be music to my ears.

Speaking of non existent - street food - there are no vendors of any kind and few patios. The shops have empty shelves and very limited in product offerings.

I tried to buy some meds but they are strict without prescriptions.

There are no print materials. My server was admiring the newspaper I brought to breakfast from home. Menus are limited and no such thing as a take away print menu - not even at my 5 star hotel. The tourism desk also has no brochures to show you.

Almost no English anywhere - some staff speak English but most do not at all. On the street the same - there doesn’t seem to be a desire for it. The breakfast girls cooking omelette don’t even understand the number three.

The weather has been pleasant and last few nights I slept with the window open which has been pleasant - after the local beats were finished.

The people are Latina and Cuban-African. Lots of tattoos hair bleaching and piercings. Lots of visible bling.

Cambodia is poor but has abundance and you can find anything and fix anything and do it fast. The entire Cuba experience is night and day different. Given a choice between the two I would go to Cambodia first every single time.

P.S. last night I found China town and it is a great little spot. I had my first really good meal. There are no ethnically pure Chinese as most of the Chinese men intermingled and this diaspora now is their offspring.

Most people that go to Cuba are at all inclusive resorts where all details are managed for them. This I think is the only way to do Cuba unless you like very low key and don’t do much - even then a beach resort is probably better.
Stay classy na
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Big Daikon
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Re: Cuba

Post by Big Daikon »

Laura Snook lived in Cuba for a bit and spoke negatively about the place. Lots of pickpockets and petty crime. She split for Ecuador and loved it.
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Doc67
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Re: Cuba

Post by Doc67 »

I went there in 2014 on an all-inclusive trip from Toronto for 10 days. It's a long story but I happened to be there and was suddenly at a loose end for two weeks, so I figured I would have a little trip within a trip. I chose Cuba. It was dirt cheap, less than $600CAD all inclusive for 10 days, if memory serves me. I was well chuffed.

Big mistake. Huge. It was absolute HELL.

As soon as I arrived I got talking to some Canadians and the first question they asked was how long was my trip/how many days have I been there? When I said I just arrived and was there for 10 days they winced and offered their sympathy. Within a few hours, I began to realise what they meant.

The booze was all 'home brew' - all made in Cuba - and was brutal on the guts and revealed itself by 4am the following morning.

The food was truly appalling. People were queueing up for 20 minutes for an omelette cooked on a griddle that was never cleaned, and there were plumes of smoke coming off it. Hard-boiled eggs were all blackened inside, they simply add new ones and left the old ones, day after day after day. There were small birds flying around the dining hall and feeding themselves off the bread pile. The rest of the offerings were piles of cold pasta or potatoes and other mystery foods, all of which looked well past its sell-by date. I could go on but, suffice it to say, I needed a new food supply urgently.

I found one 'Italian' style restaurant in downtown Varadero that was privately owned (a rarity) and the food there was not too bad. There were no other choices in the locale, the place was desolate. I ate there every day and took a takeaway as well for breakfast and lunch the following day. Cold lasagne never tasted so good.

The hotel beds were rock hard, the sheets were a polyester-type material, and the cleaning never got done unless you paid them directly, when you eventually tracked them down. Fresh towels were also extra. The reception staff were miserable and there were endless queues of people complaining about just about everything, all to no avail I suspect. They would disappear out the back and not come back. Changing money was at least a 30 minute wait and was limited to what they had in stock.

I found one taxi guy that was called by the Italian restaurant. He was reliable but he couldn't come into the hotel grounds because the door-guy would only call their beaten up old American cars as the taxis for 3 times what my guy charged. Everyone there had a sideline hustle and the door-guy was in charge of the taxi racket. I had to meet my guy off the property at 7 pm every day. It was worth it but the door-guy snarled at me every day as a result.

There was a single room near the reception that had old computers connected to the internet, but it was dial-up, and even back then most websites were too image rich and were so slow to load they were useless. Getting emails took ages, and cost about $5 each time in access time (paid for by voucher from the reception).

I was desperate to leave but was trapped, there were no flights except charters, and there were no scheduled flights that could be booked. I tried every day for 3 days and gave up. I was stuck on an Island... think Alcatraz with a nice beach.

It was like a prison sentence and after about a week the nice Canadians, with whom I was hanging out with, were leaving, and I was all alone again with 3 more days to serve.

I remember thinking this is what 60 years of communism does to a country and it was not a pretty sight. If anyone has a lefty teenager that has bought into the hardcore socialism ideology, send them to Cuba for a month, that should cure them.

My previous Holiday from Hell was also an all-inclusive at the Holiday Inn, Montego Bay, Jamaica. Cuba was much much worse, and that's saying something.

I need a beer now because I am having flashbacks.
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Jerry Atrick
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Re: Cuba

Post by Jerry Atrick »

Doc67 wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:57 pm

I remember thinking this is what 60 years of communism does to a country and it was not a pretty sight. If anyone has a lefty teenager that has bought into the hardcore socialism ideology, send them to Cuba for a month, that should cure them.
In fairness, the brutal and vindictive trade embargo by the USA has done most of the damage over the 60 years rather than the fact that it's a socalist republic

Had some family there a few months ago. They loved it, but they were on an expensive enough package deal

It's a bit of a time capsule. I'd like to visit but not to stay
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Re: Cuba

Post by CatBurglar »

Jerry Atrick wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 1:39 pm
Doc67 wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:57 pm

I remember thinking this is what 60 years of communism does to a country and it was not a pretty sight. If anyone has a lefty teenager that has bought into the hardcore socialism ideology, send them to Cuba for a month, that should cure them.
In fairness, the brutal and vindictive trade embargo by the USA has done most of the damage over the 60 years rather than the fact that it's a socalist republic

Had some family there a few months ago. They loved it, but they were on an expensive enough package deal

It's a bit of a time capsule. I'd like to visit but not to stay
Absolutely correct. The USA is the main cause of what has happened to Cuba.

Always wanted to go there.
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Big Daikon
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Re: Cuba

Post by Big Daikon »

Doc67 wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:57 pm I remember thinking this is what 60 years of communism does to a country and it was not a pretty sight. If anyone has a lefty teenager that has bought into the hardcore socialism ideology, send them to Cuba for a month, that should cure them.
I have met several Americans who went to Cuba. They were all lefties. I hate Trump, Amerikkka, etc. They all came back with very negative reports such as yours.
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Re: Cuba

Post by 2sevensclash »

IF this subject was about Pakistan, India, Nigeria then certain posters on here would be crying racist, just saying :stir:
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