In search of another side of Cuba beyond Havana, Pete and I took a day trip south to Cienfuegos and Trinidad. We tried to plan the trip in advance but it was easier to just tell the taxi driver our plans on the way from the airport after arrival. He quoted us $330 for the four hours there, the wait, and the four hours back. The price was consistent with what I had read online. The taxi driver met us in Vedado at 6:00 and we were on our way. Pete was asleep in the back seat before we left the Havana city limits. I sat up front hoping for an exciting ride through the countryside and small villages - Pete made the right decision to sleep.
The Cuban countryside is green and flat. The small villages I hoped to see were nonexistent, particularly along the freeway. Even after exiting the freeway and taking the local road to Cienfuegos there wasn't much variation to the green and flat countryside. There were virtually no cars on the freeway either. I thought this may have been related to our early departure, however, the freeway was car free on the return trip. There were also few tractor trailers, few signs of commerce and industry. The countryside isn't a return to the 1950s like Havana but a return to the 1850s. Horse and carriages were the main form of transportation. Horse and plows were in the fields instead of tractors. It seems like those in the countryside are still waiting for the communist revolution.
The Cuban countryside is green and flat. The small villages I hoped to see were nonexistent, particularly along the freeway. Even after exiting the freeway and taking the local road to Cienfuegos there wasn't much variation to the green and flat countryside. There were virtually no cars on the freeway either. I thought this may have been related to our early departure, however, the freeway was car free on the return trip. There were also few tractor trailers, few signs of commerce and industry. The countryside isn't a return to the 1950s like Havana but a return to the 1850s. Horse and carriages were the main form of transportation. Horse and plows were in the fields instead of tractors. It seems like those in the countryside are still waiting for the communist revolution.
In Cienfuegos we did not have a destination or attraction in mind, which was the reason we were heading there in the first place, however, once we arrived this lack of planning became a bit of a problem. We drove along a main thoroughfare and passed a pedestrian shopping street - when in doubt with where to explore, the pedestrian shopping street is always a great starting point. I should have put "shopping" in quotes. The shopping was confined to what the government would allow you to purchase and what was on hand.
Pete and I had been searching for shops and grocery stores since arriving in Cuba and here was our first taste of a commercial district. We went into a "grocery" store which had three aisles and about ten products for sale - entire shelves of tomato paste, but no pasta; mustard, but nothing to put the mustard on; condensed milk; huge jars of mini onions; and rum. No meat. No fish. Plenty of jarred onions.
The "grocery" store was attached to a legit, but small, department store. The department store specialized in large, ugly, and expensive TV and Entertainment units and a few sofas and chairs. There were also fifty red children's bikes and ten yellow bikes. Isn't this how free markets started too? It was Henry Ford who stated you can have any color Model T you want, as long as it's black. The Cuban Communists feel the same way about bikes and the color red. We started to explore the back of the store when the power went out and everyone started scurrying to the exits. Further down was another department store which continued to do business despite the blackout. The store had plates, cups, and silverware but only in a single style. After seeing the single style of bikes and now the single style of dining ware I thought communism has its drawbacks, but I then recalled how much of a headache it was when I was purchasing things for my house. I spent so much time looking at plates I went crazy. With only one plate to choose from, Fidel Castro has ensured no one will go crazy from variety overload nor will there be any buyer's remorse. So communism has that going for it.
At the far end of the pedestrian shopping street was a large plaza surrounded by governmental buildings and a couple of restaurants. We ate a ham sandwich for breakfast, which was better and cheaper than whatever we ate in Havana the previous morning. We then took a few photos around the plaza and walked back along the pedestrian shopping street to the main thoroughfare.
At the far end of the pedestrian shopping street was a large plaza surrounded by governmental buildings and a couple of restaurants. We ate a ham sandwich for breakfast, which was better and cheaper than whatever we ate in Havana the previous morning. We then took a few photos around the plaza and walked back along the pedestrian shopping street to the main thoroughfare.
The plaza and main thoroughfare was similar to Havana in that there were these great old buildings stuck in time. The last can of paint in Cuba may have been sold in the 1950s. There were few signs of recent development except for a few resorts at the south end that catered to European tourists. As I walked around Cuba I couldn't help but think that with these beautiful buildings maybe communism isn't so bad...then I reminded myself that communism didn't construct these buildings. Free markets did. Communism can't even maintain them.