A night in Havana

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Prelude to Cuba

For the longest while I have wanted to go to Cuba to see what this mysterious, forbidden country is all about. Unfortunately it is illegal for me as an American citizen to visit Cuba because my own country prohibits it. I have wondered about this travel ban and found it rather annoying, but originally decided to play along and visit Cuba, as many Americans do, covertly.

I have since decided not hide my trip. As an American who is proud of the ideals that my country stands for, I have to say that the Cuba Travel Ban is completely out of line with those ideals, and I respectfully dissent to its legitimacy. I am by no means a sympathizer of the Cuban government nor do I support its ideologies, but I do believe in the open exchange of ideas and cultures, and that is why I'm traveling in the first place. I find it ironic that my country so vehemently supports the idea of Freedom, yet limits it own citizens from traveling to another country with which there are no longer security issues.

I understand that tourist dollars can feed the coffers of the Cuban political establishment, which is not reported to have a terrific human rights record, but I doubt my 50 dollar a day budget in Cuba will do much to prop up any political establishment. In any case, there are plenty of other authoritarian regimes that we have no domestic restrictions to visit which have far more egregious human rights records. The hypocrisy in that fact alone undermines the very basis of the travel ban.

Politics aside I want to see Cuba for what it is and feel that any financial bolstering of the current political system will pale in comparison to the support given directly to the people of Cuba. Furthermore, I feel a trip such as this will help to strengthen relations between the United States and the Cuban people, as well as provide a fair and unique glimpse into the culture of Cuba through subsequent postings. Undoubtedly, the benefits of my trip to Cuba will far exceed any potential negatives.

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A night in Havana

In San Jose I left from Doña Elizabeth's house before dawn to catch a connecting flight to Panama, then on to Havana. For some strange reason flying to Cuba was cheaper that way than flying from Panama directly. In Panama I had a lot of time between my next flight so I went to change my Dollars to Euros. Dollars have been banned in Cuba ever since the second Bush administration imposed much stricter travel regulations to Cuba for not only rogue tourists such as myself but also Cuban nationals seeking to visit their families. In any case there is an automatic 10% currency conversion fee with another 10% on top of that for changing US Dollars. Until tensions between the US and Cuban governments are eased it s better to bring Euros.





After landing in Havana I had to go through customs and that was an interesting insight to Cuban paranoia. As a US citizen there is no problem visiting Cuba as a tourist. Visiting in any sort of journalistic way is another story. After making it through passport control I was suffled to customs where most Cuban bags were being searched for contraband including items to be resold. When it was my turn they didn't search my bag right way. Instead they asked me if I had a camera. Thinking to avoid any fuss, I said yes and pulled out my small pocket camera. Unfortunately they asked if I had another camera so I said yes and showed them my larger camera. The customs official questioning me went back and forth between his boss and me with my passport in his hands. He came back and asked if I had a laptop. I have a very small one with me so I said yes to that question as well. This apparently sent off enough red flags that I was taken to a room and questioned about the reasons of my visit. At the same time my smaller bag was searched inside and out for clues as to the real reason for my travel to Cuba. I convinced them that I was a normal tourist and I was free to go.

For being such a poor country you would think that there would be a cheaper way to leave the airport and get to the center of town. Other than hitch-hiking there really wasn't, no buses passed through the airport and the normal cab fare to get to Old Havana cost more than 25 dollars; later in my trip I would learn that 25 US dollars is more than two months salary for the typical Cuban. Whatever it was worth in Cuba it was a lot of money for my typical 40 dollar a day travel budget. I looked for a couple of other travelers to split the fare with and I found two Canadians who flew directly from Vancouver. Still we had to hassle with the cab driver trying to work out something that was really very simple. Once we all made it to the central park in Old Havana I was worn out from the day and it was getting late anyway. A bicycle taxi did a 180-degree turn to check out the lost tourist pulling out his guide book. I had an address of a guest house and I was thinking about walking there, but decided to take the bicycle taxi instead. It turns out that it wasn't that far and he charged me more than double. Whatever, I had hemorrhaged cash the whole day between airport exit taxes, tourist visas, money conversions, taxi's, and nearly a 30 dollar guest room but I was finally home for the night.




Old Havana is a fantastically decrepit place. To many it may be too worn around the edges, but to me it was terrific. From the onset it feels seedy and unsafe, especially at night, but I found it to be much safer than any Central American capital. In any case, what appeared to be a city in decay, became a pretty luxurious place on the inside my guest house for the night. In Cuba there is no infrastructure for budget travel, there are no cheap hostels. The only legal options for lodging, as I would later find out, were staying in a hotel or state-sanctioned guest house. The later option was the least expensive costing between 20 and 35 dollars a night. The guest house I was visiting had three private rooms facing a central court yard, and two of which were available for the night. Each room had a nice bathroom, hot water, air-conditioning, and even a TV.

After I got set up I went out to see some of the town and get a bite to eat. I happened to be near Chinatown in Old Havana. It was a strange combination hearing the slap of dominoes behind open doorways with Chinese motifs. I walked down one street that was full of restaurants that seemed to cater to either the tourist or rich Cuban crowd. I opted to walk on and find a place with regular Cuban folks. On the next street over was a bakery and across from it was a hole-in-the-wall take-out eatery. I had a few goodies from the bakery then went across the street for a surprisingly tasty and filling meal in a take-out box. My gastronomic adventure in Cuban street food cost me about a buck. I was exhausted from staying up the night before so I wondered my way back to Daisy's guest house, came up with a plan for the next day, then called it a night.


Chinatown in Havana at night