We did an amazing thing today and GOT UP EARLY. Up at 7am to be at palenque ruins when it opened at 8am. Infact we were the first people in! and ohhh i liked palenque so much better than chichen itza. It was reasonably tepid at 8 so also gives you enough engery to climb all the ruins, which really are in pretty good nick. there were so many and all surrounded by thick jungle (could hear those monkeys again!). We were able to walk into 1 tomb and all around the palace. Saw so many carvings in the rocks they used, really amazing. cant really describe it, best look at photos but even den was impressed.
Outta there in time for breaky (COFFEEEEEE) and on the bus at 1140. record time. Lovely drive this time (well apart from the windy corners) through jungle and slowly see the bush change from hot jungle to more dense forest. Mmmmm cooler climates! and yes we get off the bus and its cool! lovely.
Nice backpackers place, le gite. And ll these backpacker restaurants!!! which is always nice as it makes it a bit easy. buuuurgers for dinner. Nomnomnom!
Saturday 28 May 2011
25th May Campeche - Palenque, mexico
Another day, another bus. Today we took the bus to palenque. Whew! 6.5 hours...delayed because of MASSIVE road works and so hungry i could eat my arm. Still watched 2 episodes of outrageous fortune on the bus so not toooo bad. Thought we would be able to buy lunch on the go, buit the 2 stops were just full of chocolate and chips. even too much for me. Luckily had 2 AWESOME muffins and some 'nanas to keep us (sort of) going.
Arrived palenque and took a taxi to an out of town place called El Panchan...its this...community of backpacker places in the jungle. I tell den, you can tell its jungle by the vines. You can also tll its jungle when you wake up to screaming monkeys in the night,...
found a wee cabin and thank christ we got our own bthroom else i would have wet the bed avoiding th trip outside to th shared bathroom to avoid the monkeys and god knows what else. never send me into the amazon! i'm not a hero!
Anyways our room was comfy and apart from some FLUSHING issues very good price. Part of jungle palace...not really a palace! We gorged on beer and pizza and HEAVEN, garlic bread. Nice to have some home-y food.
Arrived palenque and took a taxi to an out of town place called El Panchan...its this...community of backpacker places in the jungle. I tell den, you can tell its jungle by the vines. You can also tll its jungle when you wake up to screaming monkeys in the night,...
found a wee cabin and thank christ we got our own bthroom else i would have wet the bed avoiding th trip outside to th shared bathroom to avoid the monkeys and god knows what else. never send me into the amazon! i'm not a hero!
Anyways our room was comfy and apart from some FLUSHING issues very good price. Part of jungle palace...not really a palace! We gorged on beer and pizza and HEAVEN, garlic bread. Nice to have some home-y food.
24th May - Merida - Campeche, Mexico
we took a bus to a stop off town today..campeche. Found a nice dark room (read...dark = no sunlight = cool) and tried to look around. WAY WAY WAY too hot, so brought some peanuts and coke, cooled down and had a rest! Took a cab tonight to a LP suggestion for fresh fish...not really what i had in mind...thought it would be small fishing shacks...turns out a series of fish restaurants. Nice dinner tho, overlooking the water and trying to discourage the hawkers. We ended up walking home along the malecon (boardwalk)...full of campechians running and then several orghanised aerobics sessions. Looks like campeche is making in-roads to tackle the massive problem (no pun intended!!) of mexican obesity. by the looks of it, its a bad problem here...and soooo much takeout and sugary foods.
23rd May - Merida, Mexico
Ahhhh a lay day. it is SOOO hot at night, i am sleeping under my wet sarong at night, a classic dennis suggestion, but it does keep you cool. not much sleep then. room has 2 fans, so stuffy. miss my cuban air con! viva la revolution and free electricity!
So we had a quiet day today and mished about town. Checked out the markets full of goceries, MEAT, lots of pig heads and flowers! in town, so hot, kept ducking into the air conned shops. streets are busy and the pavements are so small! fashion in mexico has a bit of a mind of its own...purple and yellow are big here and mostly...it just needs to be tight and short. realised i am taller than surely at least 97% of the women and most of the men too! Made like the locals and got an iced frappe from OXXO...LOVELY. Nice dinner at a local joint. mmmmm guacamole.
So we had a quiet day today and mished about town. Checked out the markets full of goceries, MEAT, lots of pig heads and flowers! in town, so hot, kept ducking into the air conned shops. streets are busy and the pavements are so small! fashion in mexico has a bit of a mind of its own...purple and yellow are big here and mostly...it just needs to be tight and short. realised i am taller than surely at least 97% of the women and most of the men too! Made like the locals and got an iced frappe from OXXO...LOVELY. Nice dinner at a local joint. mmmmm guacamole.
22nd may - Merida, Mexico
decided on something a bit different today and went to some Cenotes...basically caves with nice big natural swimming pools in them. It sounded like a bit of a mish and so at breakfast (PEANUT BUTTER, get in) i heard 2 japanese girls ask about it, thiking it would be good to team up...aka 4 heads better than 2, we went together but turns out that they were so sweet and polite and their english not so good....they tagged along with us! but that was fine. So we took a collectivo...minibus that just waits til its full and then leaves to a small town. There we caught moto-trikes (take from that what you will) and THEN the best part, a horse drawn carriage that runs on a small rail way! wicked. We went to 3 cenotes, all having to climb down some steep steps, except for the last, which was a full on ladder about 30 feet down! the water was fresh and cool and heavenly! it was a bit spooky swimming around , especially in the dark parts! 2 of th cenotes had holes to the ground, and light streamed right in and through the clear clear water, you could see the bottom. turns out i float and den sinks so he spent most of the tie clinging to the edge and i actually for once, out sported him (anyone!) and fished about. took most of the day to do this, the carriage rides between the cenotes were about 10-15 minutes sometimes! it was so ricketty and turning any corners really felt like some sort of a surreal disney ride (remnants of thunder mountain perhaps??).
so tired, slept on the way home! (in the collectivo, not the rickertty cart!)
Then found once we were back at the hostel, a big THING on at the square, just outside! a band was playing on a special stage, and food stands everywhere. Thought this was a perfect place to have some of our favourite panuchos, but alas the language barrier produced a big FAIL of BLACK panuchos. It looked like gutter water. didn't taste great either. compensated slightly with corndog. NICE.
so tired, slept on the way home! (in the collectivo, not the rickertty cart!)
Then found once we were back at the hostel, a big THING on at the square, just outside! a band was playing on a special stage, and food stands everywhere. Thought this was a perfect place to have some of our favourite panuchos, but alas the language barrier produced a big FAIL of BLACK panuchos. It looked like gutter water. didn't taste great either. compensated slightly with corndog. NICE.
Saturday 21 May 2011
21st May - Chichen Itza - Merida, Mexico
We trekked from Chichen itza to merida today. Trek is a strong word...we took an aircon bus and i think it was the coolest ive felt all day. Now im in a hostel in merida which is lovely, but the sweat is literally dripping from me and its really really hard to do the “one coke a day” rule when all you feel like is an ice cold coke or beer! perhaps i can stretch the rule today.
Bus ride ws fine and then walking through a few blocks in merida, we realised we hadn't really been in a proper mexican city! and it is saturday and the pavements are heaving with shoppers. lots and lots of colourful pinatas for sale! did a bit of perusing and had a cheaaaaap hotdog for lunch. but hey...it helped the budget. and hopefully that means something substaintial and beer-included for dinner. tho we're hardly starving.
but finally heat a bit too much and we've had to have a siesta. shame! hahah
Ahhh den mished down to OXXO for an ice cold coke and beer. lovely.
Bus ride ws fine and then walking through a few blocks in merida, we realised we hadn't really been in a proper mexican city! and it is saturday and the pavements are heaving with shoppers. lots and lots of colourful pinatas for sale! did a bit of perusing and had a cheaaaaap hotdog for lunch. but hey...it helped the budget. and hopefully that means something substaintial and beer-included for dinner. tho we're hardly starving.
but finally heat a bit too much and we've had to have a siesta. shame! hahah
Ahhh den mished down to OXXO for an ice cold coke and beer. lovely.
20th May - Tulum to Chichen Itza, Mexico
we arrived in Chichen itza today...a longer bus ride and 2 movies in spanish. can work out a childrens movie fine but a paranormal movie with a twist? still working that one out.
Found a hostel first hit which was great cos dennis wanted to trek around in 30 degree heat with packs on to save 2 quid. i can't grumble too much, if the monies was left to me i'd hve eaten and showered it all in 3 days. did make a cranking spreadsheet tho.
Anyways nice wee CHEAP bungalow and nice and dark too...keep out that sun! walked into piste, we decided it was better to see the chichen itza ruins in late afternoon, so we grabbed an early lunch...PANUCHOS again but gosh they good. I did end up with some picante (HOT) on my lips....not recommended.
Anyways...PISTE (small town outside of chichen itza) is 1 km long...didn't take us long to walk around and see all of the non-sites. SO few hours to kill in the middle of the day...what better to do than SIESTA! i passed out for about 1.5 hours. All that hard work in the sun and beach had clearly got to me.
But arose perky and ready for ruins. i even suggested we walk there!! paid a small fortune to enter but sooo worth it, and amazing seeing something so old...and something that you seen on tele so many times. Discovered that the big pyramid is actually a calendar with the 4 sides of 91 steps to equal the 365 days a year. pretty cool. Saw a few sacrificial ...stages. these are the ones with skulls carved in them. They even had a football field/stadium! apparently noone really sure how they played but that they apparently think that the losing team captain and possibly team members may have been sacrificed. guttered.
kind of awe-inspiring to see all these old structures. hears hoping the mayans were good at construction and shite at fortune telling (world supposed to end december 2012.
MORE PANUCHOS for dinner. and the worlds biggest bottle of SOL to share in the local. nice.
Found a hostel first hit which was great cos dennis wanted to trek around in 30 degree heat with packs on to save 2 quid. i can't grumble too much, if the monies was left to me i'd hve eaten and showered it all in 3 days. did make a cranking spreadsheet tho.
Anyways nice wee CHEAP bungalow and nice and dark too...keep out that sun! walked into piste, we decided it was better to see the chichen itza ruins in late afternoon, so we grabbed an early lunch...PANUCHOS again but gosh they good. I did end up with some picante (HOT) on my lips....not recommended.
Anyways...PISTE (small town outside of chichen itza) is 1 km long...didn't take us long to walk around and see all of the non-sites. SO few hours to kill in the middle of the day...what better to do than SIESTA! i passed out for about 1.5 hours. All that hard work in the sun and beach had clearly got to me.
But arose perky and ready for ruins. i even suggested we walk there!! paid a small fortune to enter but sooo worth it, and amazing seeing something so old...and something that you seen on tele so many times. Discovered that the big pyramid is actually a calendar with the 4 sides of 91 steps to equal the 365 days a year. pretty cool. Saw a few sacrificial ...stages. these are the ones with skulls carved in them. They even had a football field/stadium! apparently noone really sure how they played but that they apparently think that the losing team captain and possibly team members may have been sacrificed. guttered.
kind of awe-inspiring to see all these old structures. hears hoping the mayans were good at construction and shite at fortune telling (world supposed to end december 2012.
MORE PANUCHOS for dinner. and the worlds biggest bottle of SOL to share in the local. nice.
19th May - Tulum, Mexico
Our last day in tulum. oh and we have NOTHING to do today. slept well but wake covered in sand...must be that one and only window facing the beach. LOVELY. Slept in. Swam (even forgo the shower...whats the point?). then we had a picnic on the sand outside our wee hut. the mustard and ketchup still going down a treat tho can see this wearing thin after a week or month.
Another swim, and the sea was rough and a bit wild so lots of jumping and diving, so warm, like a bath, you never get cold. so clear. watching the kite boarders...its fun watching the newbs and the experienced! It was all too easy so i had a wee strop and said we needed to go get the bus tickets. and rather than th 6km walk (30 degrees anyone keen??) we taxi it for £2. My resident accountant not so keen but i guess you pick you battles and he decided it wasnt really worth it.
In the end all tickets done and brought so a couple of quiets and then some INTERNET. holy its good to be connected. We try and be these all hippy people and tho really we had an iphone, a kindle, a travel laptop and can't got a couple days without the net. lets face it, i am not one to sleep under the stars and go without showers (YES i had one in the end!) and use natural deoderant. I am using shu umera sunscreen, i'm happy with my place in life!
Found this take out eatery in town, i was a bit sold on his “super memela” which no ideas what is was but it had a good lot of words i understood...tortilla, huevos (eggs), carne, Queso...well i like all those things! And it was amazing! I am googling to find out what it is...here is the description (it wouldn't be an arn blog without a comprehensive overview of food...this is educational)..
Memelas are best described as toasted Oaxacan little pizzas made of corn. The corn masa is flattened with a tortilla press then pinched to create indentations along its borders, then placed over a hot comal or griddle. When the tortilla like base is cooked and charred where the dough hits the hot metal of the grill, chewy as a medium-well steak, is then topped with black beans, salsa, shredded cabbage, mole negro, guacamole and cheese.
See? how good does that sound?? and this was a SUPER memela. it was super i can you. best dinner here! weirdly second time someone has told us they have lost their bags and can they have some money...this time the guy was all bible-ish and another american! not sure what these americans are doing to tourists in mexico but it a bit weird.
Another swim, and the sea was rough and a bit wild so lots of jumping and diving, so warm, like a bath, you never get cold. so clear. watching the kite boarders...its fun watching the newbs and the experienced! It was all too easy so i had a wee strop and said we needed to go get the bus tickets. and rather than th 6km walk (30 degrees anyone keen??) we taxi it for £2. My resident accountant not so keen but i guess you pick you battles and he decided it wasnt really worth it.
In the end all tickets done and brought so a couple of quiets and then some INTERNET. holy its good to be connected. We try and be these all hippy people and tho really we had an iphone, a kindle, a travel laptop and can't got a couple days without the net. lets face it, i am not one to sleep under the stars and go without showers (YES i had one in the end!) and use natural deoderant. I am using shu umera sunscreen, i'm happy with my place in life!
Found this take out eatery in town, i was a bit sold on his “super memela” which no ideas what is was but it had a good lot of words i understood...tortilla, huevos (eggs), carne, Queso...well i like all those things! And it was amazing! I am googling to find out what it is...here is the description (it wouldn't be an arn blog without a comprehensive overview of food...this is educational)..
Memelas are best described as toasted Oaxacan little pizzas made of corn. The corn masa is flattened with a tortilla press then pinched to create indentations along its borders, then placed over a hot comal or griddle. When the tortilla like base is cooked and charred where the dough hits the hot metal of the grill, chewy as a medium-well steak, is then topped with black beans, salsa, shredded cabbage, mole negro, guacamole and cheese.
See? how good does that sound?? and this was a SUPER memela. it was super i can you. best dinner here! weirdly second time someone has told us they have lost their bags and can they have some money...this time the guy was all bible-ish and another american! not sure what these americans are doing to tourists in mexico but it a bit weird.
18th May - Tulum, Mexico
First full day in tulum. Of course, it starts with a sleep in and a pastry. then we finally mish to the tulum mayan ruins but hey what with the sleep in its midday and stinking hot by the time we set out. Den assures me its a short walk (he's a smart man after all), and i believe it is, however, after 20 minutes and dripping with sweat...i take the map and realise we have walked the wrong way. I may not be good with directions or navigation but i know the sexy hotels, and we have gone the wrong way.
foot down and we take a cab ther...slightly wasted exercise, but hey.
anyway tulum ruins very cool, these guys had it down...nice view, good beach. when i realised that den was taking more pictures of the iguanas than of the ruins, it was time to go. walked back along the beach, nice cool breeze and GOT A COKE. HEAVEN. beached it for the rest of the day. OH! and we had our sarnies for lunch. was good too with avocado and onion, nomnomnom.
Dinner in tulum, we walked again, but a quicker way, along the highway. not so scenic, but quicker. A tapas of Panuchos, salutes and tacos. pretty good and snuck in some beer to round it off.
foot down and we take a cab ther...slightly wasted exercise, but hey.
anyway tulum ruins very cool, these guys had it down...nice view, good beach. when i realised that den was taking more pictures of the iguanas than of the ruins, it was time to go. walked back along the beach, nice cool breeze and GOT A COKE. HEAVEN. beached it for the rest of the day. OH! and we had our sarnies for lunch. was good too with avocado and onion, nomnomnom.
Dinner in tulum, we walked again, but a quicker way, along the highway. not so scenic, but quicker. A tapas of Panuchos, salutes and tacos. pretty good and snuck in some beer to round it off.
17th May - Isla Mujeres tp Tulum, Mexico
our first bus trip! gosh. of course when approaching a bus journey, its important to fuel up prior and i did so with another expensive breaky but hey i chose the granola so points for healthy eating.
bus was good and COLD and full of a cheesy spanish-dubbed movie. nice one but a good way to travel. arrived tulum and really when they say the town is far from the beach they mean it...kind of a pain...beach and hotels about 6 kms from town. Taxi drivers loving it. Anyways we do the cheap thing and eat our sarnies under a shack near the beach. I got mustard all through dens army knife. Resolve to buy a better knife.
den went on a mish to find somewhere for us to sleep for a couple of nights...the first shacks we find are fine...basic tho and expensive for what they are. anyway he left me with the bags and my kindle so i'm happy as larry with the waiting :)
so he comes back and all like, got us shack, its a bit more exspenive, but has bathroom and for 3 nights. I happy nott having to cross a threshhold to pee so suits me fine. Get to this camp with all these kite boarding hippies and can't have the room til 6. but a super super nice beach out so its easy to kill time really. Finally get to our room and its SUPER nice and rustic with a lovely shower and so pretty! a walk through the sand to the sea. ahhh my boy did good, feels like a holiday!
Found some tacos for den and a burrito for me! NOMNOM.
(brought better knife).
bus was good and COLD and full of a cheesy spanish-dubbed movie. nice one but a good way to travel. arrived tulum and really when they say the town is far from the beach they mean it...kind of a pain...beach and hotels about 6 kms from town. Taxi drivers loving it. Anyways we do the cheap thing and eat our sarnies under a shack near the beach. I got mustard all through dens army knife. Resolve to buy a better knife.
den went on a mish to find somewhere for us to sleep for a couple of nights...the first shacks we find are fine...basic tho and expensive for what they are. anyway he left me with the bags and my kindle so i'm happy as larry with the waiting :)
so he comes back and all like, got us shack, its a bit more exspenive, but has bathroom and for 3 nights. I happy nott having to cross a threshhold to pee so suits me fine. Get to this camp with all these kite boarding hippies and can't have the room til 6. but a super super nice beach out so its easy to kill time really. Finally get to our room and its SUPER nice and rustic with a lovely shower and so pretty! a walk through the sand to the sea. ahhh my boy did good, feels like a holiday!
Found some tacos for den and a burrito for me! NOMNOM.
(brought better knife).
16th May - Isla Mujeres, mexico
ahhh chilled out at the beach today. Isla Mujeres may be touristy but when you buy a couple of beers for £2 to use some loungers its not bad place. Found this cool ANTOJITO place for dinner...found PANUCHOS on the menu. i'd read about this and so we had to try them...OHHHH so good. Mini tortillas stuffed with black bean and then deep fried. Topped with shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato and picked red onion. So good and den in heaven.
May 4th - Havana, cuba
Up a bit earlier today to head down to the tobacco factory. Another cranking breakfast, i'm not sure how i'll live ithout my eggs and fruit and that wonderful coffee!
Tour in the cigar factory, bit of a cheesy tour but intersting and worth being a proper tourist for. Organised chaos for the different language groups, not sure how they organised it but they did! watched th school for cigars and then the pro's, who despite the pro status were trying to sell off half finished cigars to dennis at every turn. the rolling loooks massively complicated and what a job! but apparently these guys earn more than doctors...or so we were told. a pro has to roll 120 fat ones in a day, they all get quality assured to the max...even pressure tested! funny, but some of the cigars were lik over $200 CUC (£150) each...some even more.
Walked back through the havanians shopping street, found department stores that were almost empty, people have to queue to go into this pen of to root round in clothes. Socialism alive and welll here in Havana. Shoppers have to queue to buy anything and can't pick anything off the shelves themselves. Why is it like this?? I would wikipedia it, but i can't get the internet here..
Weird.
More beer and pizza for dinner! nice to watch the peeps go by over a cold Cristal.
Tour in the cigar factory, bit of a cheesy tour but intersting and worth being a proper tourist for. Organised chaos for the different language groups, not sure how they organised it but they did! watched th school for cigars and then the pro's, who despite the pro status were trying to sell off half finished cigars to dennis at every turn. the rolling loooks massively complicated and what a job! but apparently these guys earn more than doctors...or so we were told. a pro has to roll 120 fat ones in a day, they all get quality assured to the max...even pressure tested! funny, but some of the cigars were lik over $200 CUC (£150) each...some even more.
Walked back through the havanians shopping street, found department stores that were almost empty, people have to queue to go into this pen of to root round in clothes. Socialism alive and welll here in Havana. Shoppers have to queue to buy anything and can't pick anything off the shelves themselves. Why is it like this?? I would wikipedia it, but i can't get the internet here..
Weird.
More beer and pizza for dinner! nice to watch the peeps go by over a cold Cristal.
3rd may - Havana, Cuba
retty shattered and kind of still uptight, think the last few weeks in LDN have taken their toll a wee bit, so we decide to hit Playa Este, the beaches to...haha the east of Havana. catch a naff tourist bus there and time it perfectly! good show arn and den.
Beach is quiet (people wise) but a bit rough and wild...think there must be storms, because the wind whips around and the waves are a bit fierce. But lovely and warm and we read and swim and read and eat and read and swim, Nice and relaxing. Decide to leave around 4, sand EVERYWHERE and gingerly sit on a clean air con naff naff tourist bus again, feeling wind swept, saltly, sandy and a tiny wee sunburnt. Loving the people watching here. Theres not too many inhabitions. Police woman, bleached hair like hoolihan, tight short skirt (guess she doesn't do much running), and fish net hold ups. niiiiice. the woman are tiny when they're young but guess the peso pizza takes its tolll when they get older. Must try and eat more veges!
nothing a shower and rest can't fix! Decide to hit the malecon for dinner and find a bit more of a swanky place tho den still manages to order pizza! nice chicken and rice croquettes in black bean sauce. Nomnom. goooooood as and strong mojito too!
Bed!
Beach is quiet (people wise) but a bit rough and wild...think there must be storms, because the wind whips around and the waves are a bit fierce. But lovely and warm and we read and swim and read and eat and read and swim, Nice and relaxing. Decide to leave around 4, sand EVERYWHERE and gingerly sit on a clean air con naff naff tourist bus again, feeling wind swept, saltly, sandy and a tiny wee sunburnt. Loving the people watching here. Theres not too many inhabitions. Police woman, bleached hair like hoolihan, tight short skirt (guess she doesn't do much running), and fish net hold ups. niiiiice. the woman are tiny when they're young but guess the peso pizza takes its tolll when they get older. Must try and eat more veges!
nothing a shower and rest can't fix! Decide to hit the malecon for dinner and find a bit more of a swanky place tho den still manages to order pizza! nice chicken and rice croquettes in black bean sauce. Nomnom. goooooood as and strong mojito too!
Bed!
2nd may - Havana, Cuba
light sleep in but body clock not really cooperating. breakfast on the terrace was amazing...fresh mango, pawpaw, watermelon and pineapple. All chilled. 2 fried eggs and fresh bread! pawpw juice and gooood strong hot coffee with hot milk. what a way to start th day!
spent the day wandering round and getting to know the gridded streets. Immensely hot by lunchtime and another round of peso pizza (its too cheap to not have!) and this one remarkably better so am relieved to know they are not all bad! many many cokes and water we have discovered much of the old town and the wonderful wonderful old american cars. i thought it would be only the odd one here and there but so so so many; Chrysler dodge, ford, Chevrolet,. Some are beautifuly restored with the gutteral sound of a loved engine, while others are rusted and repainted in matte house paint. Masking tape holding together old leather interiors. so many colours! pink, ed, red and white, grey, black, green, hot pink, pale yellow, jade. so much fun trying to find a new colour or style.
The arcitecture is amazing as well and almost as colourful and in varying degrees of destruction as the cars. so beautiful and haunting with old rusted metal lae, high high grand ceilings and beautiful sculpture. I'm really no architect right! but awesome and can't help thinking that ithe city really would be so so so amazing if the buidling were restored and maintained.
Head to the commercial hub, verdado for drink, along the malecon, which is the promenade. Huge waves crashing against the rocks, and the salt spray so cooling! beer first on the menu and trying to find a decent looking place to eat a bit impossible. maybe we were too tired? back to the old town and i collapse in the first place. cheesy music but it has food and mojitos!
not too shabby after all.
spent the day wandering round and getting to know the gridded streets. Immensely hot by lunchtime and another round of peso pizza (its too cheap to not have!) and this one remarkably better so am relieved to know they are not all bad! many many cokes and water we have discovered much of the old town and the wonderful wonderful old american cars. i thought it would be only the odd one here and there but so so so many; Chrysler dodge, ford, Chevrolet,. Some are beautifuly restored with the gutteral sound of a loved engine, while others are rusted and repainted in matte house paint. Masking tape holding together old leather interiors. so many colours! pink, ed, red and white, grey, black, green, hot pink, pale yellow, jade. so much fun trying to find a new colour or style.
The arcitecture is amazing as well and almost as colourful and in varying degrees of destruction as the cars. so beautiful and haunting with old rusted metal lae, high high grand ceilings and beautiful sculpture. I'm really no architect right! but awesome and can't help thinking that ithe city really would be so so so amazing if the buidling were restored and maintained.
Head to the commercial hub, verdado for drink, along the malecon, which is the promenade. Huge waves crashing against the rocks, and the salt spray so cooling! beer first on the menu and trying to find a decent looking place to eat a bit impossible. maybe we were too tired? back to the old town and i collapse in the first place. cheesy music but it has food and mojitos!
not too shabby after all.
1st May London - Cuba
today we left the uk, which was weird because it felt like any normal trip except we threw our old sheets and pillowsin a dumpster before we left. Had to say goodbye to han too, so it wasn't realy normal at all. easy mish on the easybus to gatwick and one last Pret coffee and feeling much better!
flight was weird as well, full of brits going on holiday and in the end they turned the plane into a bar and were standing chatting and drinking at every corner! poor stewardesses. One of them lit up in the toilets sending off an alarm too! several occasions where they made the seatblet sign come on...fairly sure it was to give the stewardesses some repsite!
Anyways landed fine, as ever the beauracracy hits first with having to show passports/forms/look into cameras several times. Small moment of eeeeek when den's bag never gave but turns out some helpful bright spark had just deposited it randomnly behind a pillar. taxi into cuba and up 4 flights of steep stairs to our casa, looking wel dodge from outside but lovely lovely people inside, the funniest sausage dog and cool clean room with bathroom. HEAVEN! views of the natiional building from the breaky terrace.
Shower and we went into havana Vieja (old town) for some food. FINALLY found the hole in th wall peso pizzaerattas and got a couple for about 25p. Discovered salt is a necessasity. Not overly impressed, but rattled on to the main street aand found a wee bar, and ice cold beer in an ice old jug. Band started up and then we felt like we really are in cuba.
flight was weird as well, full of brits going on holiday and in the end they turned the plane into a bar and were standing chatting and drinking at every corner! poor stewardesses. One of them lit up in the toilets sending off an alarm too! several occasions where they made the seatblet sign come on...fairly sure it was to give the stewardesses some repsite!
Anyways landed fine, as ever the beauracracy hits first with having to show passports/forms/look into cameras several times. Small moment of eeeeek when den's bag never gave but turns out some helpful bright spark had just deposited it randomnly behind a pillar. taxi into cuba and up 4 flights of steep stairs to our casa, looking wel dodge from outside but lovely lovely people inside, the funniest sausage dog and cool clean room with bathroom. HEAVEN! views of the natiional building from the breaky terrace.
Shower and we went into havana Vieja (old town) for some food. FINALLY found the hole in th wall peso pizzaerattas and got a couple for about 25p. Discovered salt is a necessasity. Not overly impressed, but rattled on to the main street aand found a wee bar, and ice cold beer in an ice old jug. Band started up and then we felt like we really are in cuba.
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