Bernie's Travels: Santiago

From Camaguey I got a late start and had trouble getting all of the way to Santiago at a decent hour, but I got there anyhow. To get to the edge of the city I took a bicycle taxi then waited with another group of people for a ride heading towards Santiago. We sat there for a couple of hours and I was ready to ditch the hitch-hiking for a bus, but they wouldn’t stop. Eventually we scrambled onto a flatbed semi and trucked it to Las Tunas. When we got there it was dark and after hitching proved difficult I resorted to the bus. I made it to the central bus station and luckily found a late bus that would take me to Santiago. While I was waiting a couple of hours for the bus I took advantage of the time to write in my small laptop. It sounds like a normal thing to do at an airport or bus station, but I stuck out like a sore thumb in Cuba. A guy who was standing over my shoulder must have done the best he could to read what I was writing. All he could pick out was “Cuba’s 5 heroes” which is spelled the same in Spanish. He asked me a lot of strange and direct questions then made sure to overtly introduce himself so that I would do the same and give him my name. It was also all a bit creepy and I couldn’t help but think he was an informant of some kind as I watched him watch me get onto the bus. The bus made it to Santiago about 2 in the morning. Getting off the bus I met a couple of German guys who were cycling around Cuba and we worked out a deal that we could all split a room for the night for about 25 bucks. I rode in taxi and they followed behind on there bikes. Once we got there the woman wanted to charge us 25 dollars each. I set her straight and we agreed to buy breakfast the next morning to throw her a bone. The next day the guys were off and I made sure to move guest houses. I soon found a great family that didn’t treat me solely as a business transaction.

Billboard celebrating the 50th anniversary of the revolution

Waiting for a ride to Santiago

Left behind and not happy about it

Santiago was a great city with lively friendly people. It was easily one of my favorite places in Cuba. I had a great time walking the city from the center to the port and up into the hills above the city. Santiago has a strong revolutionary reputation and there was plenty of patriotic propaganda to take in.

Reads: The CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) No. 8, always with it's guard up"

Reads: "Revolution is: the struggle with audacity, intelligence, and realism"

Guess who

Cuba's 5 heroes

Pictures of cuba's 5 heroes in a workshop

Rum,beer, cigars, and condoms! What more do you need.

Predecessor to the Chevy Avalanche

Innocent school children, Foreground. Not so innocent CDR, Background

Reads: "Patriotism or death" Okey dokey!

That about sums up my reaction to the word "revolution" after a couple of weeks in Cuba

Reads: "Revolution is construction"

Billboard of Revolutionary Camillo Cienfuesgos, Reads: Sure of the Victory... And of course revolution in the backgroud.

The night before I left I met a couple of great guys who invited me to listen to some live music with them. The band was great, the dancing was fun, and I also met some interesting guys who were studying in Cuba from other countries. One guy was from Serbia and studying Latin American studies both in the United States and Cuba. He had some interesting and positive insights into Cuba. The next day I found the perfect spot for this years Christmas photo then high-tailed it out of there. Never know who is watching around here.