Today we had to go to Vinales, our next destination, not many kilometers to drive. But they had it all. We decided, to drive along the road along the coast, which was comparable in size to the streets according to our street map, which we had used many times. How exactly roads in Cuba are classified, will probably remain a mystery to me forever. While we've been comfortable with it so far 50 or 60 kilometers per hour traveled, were more than today 30 kilometers per hour is almost life-threatening. Deep potholes and real ditches made the journey an adventure. We didn't really care. At the low speed you could at least comfortably stop at every other corner and take a photo.
Because my mother hadn't seen that much of the sea yet, we tried to compensate for that today. In this less touristy area, hardly any roads led to the sea or a beautiful beach. The first time we landed in a tiny settlement and could only catch a glimpse of the water through the gardens. The second time we found a tiny harbor with fishing boats in a beautiful bay. We were always looked at with interest, but never spoken to or harassed. So in the afternoon we reached more touristy paths again and visited the first cave, of which there are quite a few in this part of Cuba. After the short walk through the not particularly impressive cave, We ended up at the back of the mountain in a huge restaurant, which was clearly designed to accommodate large numbers of tourists. Now it was almost deserted and we could take a coffee break in peace. The way back to the parking lot took us through the first tobacco fields and directly past a drying shed. The tobacco farmer was happy to be persuaded in exchange for a small tip, to allow us a short tour. We probably weren't the only ones, who asked about it :-).
When we arrived in Vinales, like every evening, we first looked for our accommodation. It was somehow not so nice on the third little street, far from the town center. We were welcomed at the casa by a family friend, der wohl besser Englisch sprach als die Hausherren. Es gäbe Probleme mit der Toilette und man würde uns deshalb anderswo unterbringen. Good, dann mal los. Ohne Klo ist ja auch nicht besonders lustig 🙂 Unser neues Domizil, lag direkt neben einer Bauruine an der Hauptstraße in der Nähe der Bushaltestelle. Da das Verkehrsaufkommen in Kuba doch noch recht gering ist, war das dann doch nicht so dramatisch, wie es sich jetzt anhört. Der Weg in die Stadt war jetzt auf jeden Fall deutlich kürzer und angenehmer als vorher. Das heutige Abendessen wollten wir wieder in der Casa einnehmen. Vorher machten wir noch einen ersten Rundgang durch die Stadt bzw. durch das Dorf. Besonders gut gefielen uns die Häuser mit ihren großen, zur Hauptstraße hin offenen Terrassen, auf denen immer mindestens zwei Schaukelstühle standen. Es gab viele Bars und Restaurants und auf dem Platz vor der Kirche war schon die Musikanlage für den heutigen Samstagabend aufgestellt. Wir entschieden uns auch noch für einen kleinen Cocktail vor dem Abendessen 🙂 Normalerweise trinke ich sehr gern einen Mojito, aber heute war ich in Probierlaune. Ein Cubata sollte es diesmal sein. Am nächsten Tag habe ich im Internet gegoogelt, was da eigentlich drin sein soll. Von der vorgeschriebenen Cola habe ich keinen Tropfen schmecken können. Vielleicht lag es daran, dass so viel Rum in mein Glas gewandert war, dass für die Cola einfach kein Platz mehr war. Nach dem Cocktail war ich auch jeden Fall für den restlichen Abend bedient. The delicious dinner didn't help either. I was blissfully in my bed before ten and not even the mosquitoes could disturb my sleep.
We had plans for the next morning, first to visit the Cuva de los Indios. The large stalactite cave is a popular excursion destination, because you could take a boat along an underground river. We reached the cave before the first coach and were able to enjoy the atmosphere undisturbed. After a short walk, we had to wait patiently for a seat at the jetty. I don't even want to imagine, how long you have to wait here, if three buses have arrived beforehand, because only one boat fits in the cave. You'll probably end up queuing through the entire cave straight after the checkout. But we really enjoyed the tour just behind the entrance to the cave. We wandered around a bit on foot, before we went back to the car. Another cave was on the agenda for today. On the way we passed a very strange work of art. A huge depiction of evolutionary history adorned one of the bizarre rock faces. The altar for a wedding was being set up against this backdrop. The artwork alone was horrific. Who would want to get married here??????
The caves of St. Thomas were the complete contrast to the Cuva de los Indios. There were no longer any tour groups to be found here. We started talking to a German family who was also waiting. You had to allow two to three hours to visit the cave. Sturdy shoes were required. The rest of the equipment (Helmet and headlamp) you then got it here. That was also the reason, why they have been sitting here for almost two hours. Too many people and no more equipment. That was the reason, why things didn't go any further for her here. As my mother had been battling an air conditioning cold for a few days, we decided against the strenuous undertaking. It was already shortly after midday and thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. We didn't want to travel there by car. So fuhren wir gemütlich zurück nach Vinales und verbummelten den Nachmittag in der Stadt. Am Horizont hatten sich bereits dicke Wolken zusammen gebraut und so war uns die ursprünglich geplante Wanderung in die Tabakfelder zu riskant. So besorgten wir einige Mitbringsel für die Daheimgebliebenen und besuchten den kleinen botanischen Garten direkt im Stadtzentrum. Die Gewitter hatten ein Einsehen mit uns. Nicht ein einziger Tropfen fiel vom Himmel. Unser Abendessen in der Stadt genossen wir ein weiteres Mal bei strahlendem Sonnenschein auf der Terrasse. So wünscht man sich das doch im Urlaub 🙂
Jetzt waren wir schon zwei Tage von Tabakpflanzen umgeben und noch immer hatten wir keinen Einblick in die Kunst der Zigarrenherstellung. That should change today. After breakfast we drove to Pina del Rio. Here we wanted to visit the cigar factory. The city seems to be one of the richer ones in Cuba, because the traffic density was incredibly high. I was really relieved then, as I parked our rental car on the side of the road. Walking was simply more flexible. But this morning the city was somehow too hectic for us and we decided spontaneously, to drive directly to the tobacco plantation, which we also wanted to visit. It was a little outside and good 30 We found her in minutes. Here we were shown around in peace and were allowed to look at everything. We were also shown the procedure of rolling cigars. The Robeinas plantation is continued by the founder's grandson. We were also able to get to know him personally. Denn während uns im Tabakschuppen der Trocknungsprozess erklärt wurde, kam er mit seiner kleinen Tochter herein. Er erklärte, dass die junge Dame jeden Morgen eine selbstgerollte Zigarre von ihm verlangen würde und machte sich unter ihren kritischen Augen auch direkt ans Werk. Kurze Zeit später hielt die junge Dame die gewünschte Zigarre in der Hand – ein gelungener Kontrast zu ihrer Windel 🙂
Vor den Toren der Plantage nutzen wir noch die Gelegenheit, ein paar Zigarren als Mitbringsel zu erstehen. Then it was time, dem Tabak den Rücken zu kehren und weiter nach Havanna zu fahren, der letzten Station unserer Rundreise.
Noch gute 200 Kilometer lagen vor uns, bevor wir in Havanna den Mietwagen abgeben dürfen. In den letzten Tagen hatte er schon manchmal merkwürdige Anwandlungen gehabt. Morgens musste man schon etwas Überzeugungsarbeit leisten, damit der Motor nach dem Anlassen auch an blieb und nicht einfach wieder ausging. Zwischenzeitlich hakte auch das Gaspedal 🙂 und ließ sich nicht durchtreten. Andersherum wäre es aber deutlich schlimmer gewesen 🙂 Kleinigkeiten eben. Jetzt auf dem Weg nach Havanna spielte uns die Benzinuhr einen letzten Streich. Eigentlich hatten wir reichlich genug Benzin im Tank, um bequem nach Havanna zu kommen. Jetzt fehlten noch fünfzig Kilometer und wir standen plötzlich auf Reserve. Auf der Autobahn war natürlich weder eine Ausfahrt noch eine Tankstelle in Sicht. Das Autofahren in Havanna ist ja eh eine anspruchsvolle Angelegenheit. Da wäre es doch schön gewesen, if at least you didn't have to worry about gas. It took what felt like an eternity, until we finally found a gas station. Quickly filled up again 15 liters of fuel. Now we could relax and get lost in Havana. First we should go to our casa, which was centrally located on the edge of the old town and then we would have to get rid of the rental car by five o'clock. Now we had to slow down a bit. We slowly circled our casa in the old town. One one-way street led to the next, but at some point we reached our goal. The first impression didn't inspire us. My mother stayed in the car: “I’m not getting off here…” This clearly wasn’t a particularly good start. The house with the house number 204 war wirklich keine besondere Schönheit. But like so often, I wanted to take a look first. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. There was definitely no sign anywhere to be found, so I wondered up to the third floor. The entire floor was separated from the stairwell by a massive lattice door. Behind it, after the dark and spooky stairwell, it looked surprisingly clean and well-kept. There was nothing left to complain about in the apartment itself. With the help of the host, we dragged our luggage upstairs and settled in. Now all we had to do was become the car. The shortest route to the Hotel Central was about one kilometer on the map. Until we first found the hotel and then a parking space, We probably drove ten times the distance. The formalities were quickly completed and we were now able to explore Havana on foot. From Parque Central we walked past the “Capitolio National”.. The streets were full of more or less well-maintained vintage cars and they tried to persuade us to take a tour of the city several times. But not today, was our standard answer. Tomorrow we would come again. The atmosphere in the city was very pleasant and relaxed. We took a detour to the sea and walked a bit on the Malecon, the waterfront promenade, along. There was always something going on here and many Cubans enjoyed the sunset here. We were back at the casa in time for dinner. The boss personally cooked and served Cuban-style shrimp. With the huge portions you would probably have fed twice as many people, but we fought bravely. After dinner we wandered around the old town for a bit. With a mojito in hand, we sat at the “Plaza de la Cathedrale” and let the evening end relaxed.