Cuba 15/12-06
The flight to Cuba with Cubana Air was a whole new experience. First we were waiting an hour to check in, even dough it was not many people there. Maybe ten or something. When it was my turn at to check in it turned out the I had to have an new ticket, which I had to pay 45 dollar to get. After waiting at the airport in Nassau the plane was going to leave a hour to late. That was before they found out that one of the passengers had an mental condition, thinking that someone on the plane was going to kill him. -And, no, it was not me. Anyhow, we all had to leave the plane and get back into the terminal so the guy with the psychic condition could be leaving the plane, before we could board again.
At Havanna Airport, naturally my luggage did not show up. And it took very long time before we got the luggage. Maybe almost an hour. After not getting the luggage and it was the custom. Since a lot of Cuban people that live in Miami and going home to Christmas to visit relatives and uses the Bahamas as a transfer, the customs had a big controle. And now we are talking big. Everything got examined, and after waiting another couple of hour I was recognized as not an Cubanian and could go through.
I took a taxi to the Casa Particular that I were going to stay. It was a nice place and it was very obvious that this was a very rich family in Havanna. Another Norwegian was staying there. He is a Norwegian writer and planned to finish a book when he was in Cuba.
The next day I went to see Havanna. It is almost not belevable that people can live under such conditions. When walking in Havanna I tried to find the bus station, since I was planning to go traveling. A very helpful person that worked there helped me out and told me that it was a holiday in Cuba now and that I needed to book the bus the same day, and also change money.
To make a a long story short, it was all a scam and my helpful friend managed to dissapear with some of my money before I understood the plot. So no I think I have learned a lesson.
Today I left my casa particular and when to Comodoro Hotel. One of my friends from Cuba knew some of the employees here, and I am going to stay the night here, before I am going to Rio Pinjales tomorrow. Plan to stay there almost a week and travel a bit around in the area.
When it comes to public transportation in Cuba, you can just forget about it if your Spanish is not very good. There are some busses for turists that take you between the bigger cities, but it is very difficult to travel without renting a car here.
It has not been possible to upload photos lately, but they will come sooner or later.
At Havanna Airport, naturally my luggage did not show up. And it took very long time before we got the luggage. Maybe almost an hour. After not getting the luggage and it was the custom. Since a lot of Cuban people that live in Miami and going home to Christmas to visit relatives and uses the Bahamas as a transfer, the customs had a big controle. And now we are talking big. Everything got examined, and after waiting another couple of hour I was recognized as not an Cubanian and could go through.
I took a taxi to the Casa Particular that I were going to stay. It was a nice place and it was very obvious that this was a very rich family in Havanna. Another Norwegian was staying there. He is a Norwegian writer and planned to finish a book when he was in Cuba.
The next day I went to see Havanna. It is almost not belevable that people can live under such conditions. When walking in Havanna I tried to find the bus station, since I was planning to go traveling. A very helpful person that worked there helped me out and told me that it was a holiday in Cuba now and that I needed to book the bus the same day, and also change money.
To make a a long story short, it was all a scam and my helpful friend managed to dissapear with some of my money before I understood the plot. So no I think I have learned a lesson.
Today I left my casa particular and when to Comodoro Hotel. One of my friends from Cuba knew some of the employees here, and I am going to stay the night here, before I am going to Rio Pinjales tomorrow. Plan to stay there almost a week and travel a bit around in the area.
When it comes to public transportation in Cuba, you can just forget about it if your Spanish is not very good. There are some busses for turists that take you between the bigger cities, but it is very difficult to travel without renting a car here.
It has not been possible to upload photos lately, but they will come sooner or later.
posted by Øyvind Thiem at 1:24 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the greeting that you have sendt me on my blog. It is nice to hear from you all.
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