Leaving the park and seeing an old man using bulls to hull water from the creek
Old cars everywhere!
Spreading rice grains in the road to dry and remove their outer layer
Homemade Fidel sign created by the 77 zone of the CDR "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution"
Cubans seem to love to have there pictures taken. While taking the previous photo I was asked to take photos of this family
Doctor and a nurse hitch-hiking
No product billboards anywhere in Cuba, but plenty of state sponsored political propoganda. Reads: "All of our action is a shout of war against imperialism" -Che
Where the truck turned off the road to Viñales I walked by a family that was having car trouble. I stuck my head underneath the hood in solidarity and the driver tapped the carburetor to free the float. He and his family were running again and they gave me a lift the rest of the way Viñales. The drive down into the valley was a beautiful sight.
Rattling our way into Viñales
The Viñales Valley
In the town of Viñales I went to finding an available guest house and ran into a slight problem that turned out to work in my favor. The first guest house that drew me in was a beautiful apartment that agreed to charge me a little less than 20 bucks a night. The woman showing me the house asked for my passport and I told her I only had my copy. She immediately told me that she could house me. This is where I began to realize how strict Cuba is. At this point I thought I had both my tourist visa and original passport back in Havana, but it turned out that I actually had my visa with me. In any case, it was a hassle and comical turn of events to find a place to stay, but I worked it out. I found and illegal guest house and stayed there a couple nights for about 12 bucks a night. Illegal houses are not sanctioned by the state which charges each legal house a pricey monthly fee for the license to lodge tourists. By staying in an illegal house I not only did I save some cash but put it directly in the hands of the people. Perfect!
Viñales was a picturesque town with lots of gorgeous old cars and visable damage from the huricanes last summer.
Good example of two common themes in Cuba: Beautiful old cars and political propoganda. Reads: "With Cuba, with Fidel. Yeah CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution)"
The next day I went off to explore Viñales and its picturesque valley. I started walking out of town and I was passed by a horse cart that offered to take me for a tour of the valley. It sounded like a good idea and we were off. My driver and guide, Noel, was a good guy and we had a good day together. He took me to the mural painted on the rock face of one of the mountains, and then we rode down some back roads and hiked through the countryside to get to a stream running into a cave in one of the mountains. The Viñales valley was heavily damaged by two consecutive hurricanes a couple months earlier. Many in the valley had lost there homes including Noel and his family. Of the homes that were still standing many were without roofs. The damaged from the hurricanes was all around us. On the way back we passed a farmer that had lost his country house almost all of his crops to the hurricanes.
Popular cafeteria frequented by locals
There wasn't much choice, bread with ham was as good as it got. If you wanted something less posh there was also bread with hotdog, bread with baloney, and a few tired fried things.
This was the complete menu of choices complete with the above items plus beer, rum, and condoms
Typical store
Maternity home
Inside the Maternity home with a quote from Che on the wall
Walking out of town I passed by the county office for the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. I learned later in my trip that this is a group dedicated to keeping tabs on the community for the sake of preserving the Revolution. There is a larger organization, then it is broken down into smaller neighborhood groups.
Finally getting out of town I passed a farmer walking by the sign welcoming vistors to the Viñales National Park. In letters larger than the actual park name it reads "Nature and Revolution". This as much as any of the countless "revolution" signs shows the Cuban governments obsession with the idea, or at least rhetoric, of revolution.
Old cars everywhere!...
And political propaganda everywhere! More state sanctioned finances dedicated to celebrating the revolution. Reads: "If you (all) triumph there will be malitias in Cuba" -Fidel
Picked up by Noel and his horse cart
After our tour Noel invited me back to the house to meet his family and see his home. It was easily the best part of the tour. While Noel rolled me some hand rolled cigars I had a look around and had coffee with his parents who lived in the next house over. Noel's house was apparently in ruins after the hurricanes, but I was impressed with the help he received from the state to help him back on his feet. The house which was once a long rectangle with a tile roof was rebuilt to a smaller size using the remaining wood. The synthetic roof was provided by the state. The new house was basic and humble, but it did the job. Noel and his parent’s house did not have electricity of running water. Water was brought to the house using a large plastic vessel drug on skids by bulls. Electricity was provided by solar panels that were donated by a French organization. They were connected to four car size batteries that mostly ran the TV and radio. When Noels parents invited me over to have coffee they were in the middle of listening to a radio soap opera. Noel's dad was puffing on a cigar with chickens roaming in and out of the house. Each of the houses had plenty of animals running around; chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs, a cat, two bulls and of course the horse. The houses were humble, but there setting was breathtaking. The mountains of Viñales were right there. It was another beautiful and insightful experience in the Cuban country side. After wards Noel dropped me off at the edge of town. He was giving me an illegal tour and didn't want to be caught by the police. I was happy that everything I gave him also went straight to him and his family.
Riding up to Noel's house.
Noel's house was destroyed during huricane Ike two months ago. With the wood that was still attached to the house and the help of the cuban government his house was reconstructed on one side of the cement pad where the old house stood. A new synthetic roof was also provided by the government to replace the old one. after my trip I will say that I am not a fan of the cuban government, but that is pretty impressive.
Solar panel donated by a french donor organization
Noel's dad puffing on a cigar and listening to a soap opera playing on the radio powered by a solar panel. Chickens were running in and out of the house along the dirt floor.
New roof donated by the Cuban government. Noel's Father's house was also destroyed by Huricane Ike.
Noel rolling me some cigars for the road
Method for delivering water to the house
Noel's family
Riding back to town
Later on I had dinner with some really terrific people that I had met the day before. Daniel and Carmen have a guest house that they rented to a couple of Swiss travelers that I met in Mexico. With the passport and visa fiasco I worked out my lodging elsewhere before I met them. Still I heard that they were great people and I wanted to say hello for my Swiss friends. The first night they invited me in for coffee and dinner, then the second night we did it again and I helped them and their neighbors out with an English lesson afterwards. They are all trying to get guests into their homes so English is key for communicating with potential guests.
Drinking beer and practicing English
Cubans don’t tend to talk about politics very much, or at least not very openly, but you can’t help but be inundated by the state sponsored rhetoric. Billboards, newspapers, radio, and television all support the “revolution” and its leaders. All of this was fascinating to me as an American since so much of it was geared towards a perceived outside enemy, represented by my country of course. People treated me well in Cuba despite the government fueled rift between our two countries. Before I visited Cuba I was in favor lifting the US trade embargo against Cuba for humanitarian reasons. Now I feel that the embargo, ironically, must be lifted if there is to be any real change in Cuban government, which I also hope happens for the Cuban people. Unfortunately, most of the idea behind the embargo was to push Cuba to its limits so that the people would then turn on their own government. The reality of the situation is that each difficult circumstance in Cuba, and there are plenty to choose from, is blamed on the embargo. The embargo is the perfect scapegoat to allow the Cuban government to operate without culpability. The following photos are a glimpse into Cuba’s radical nationalism, nostalgic reverence of the “revolution”, and its self-promoting political system.
Painted Cuban flag
Revolution everywhere. It seemed like you couldn't stand in one spot without seeing something that had "revolution" on it.
Another ubiquitous sight throughout Cuba was that of Che Guevara. Ironically I felt in some way similar to him on his "motorcycle diaries" cruising through poor countries in Latin America. Unfortunately I can't imagine he would be all that pleased with the results of his legacy.
Another thing I doubt he would be pleased with is the comercialization of his life and what he attempted to accomplish
Postcard reading: "Fidel, we are with you"
This isn't a bookstore, but the book stores I did visit give incredible preference and prime shelf space to books supporting the revolution. Subversive books were of course not available.
Office of the Association of the the Comabatants of the Revolution. This is a state sponsored office which which promotes itself and its own glorified history.
Fidel and Raul Castro hanging on the wall. Much of the rhetoric surrounding the "revolution" is fittingly about ideas. It is not uncommon to find political banners that say something to the affect that 'ideas will win over violence'. Interesting how Fidel still insists on wearing army fatigues and lifting a machine gun in the air to drive the point home.
Being given a tour of the office. I played dumb.
One of the posters which was genuinely confusing to me was that of Cubas 5 heros which are shown on the left. The large letters of the poster read: The five battles that make up the battle of ideas - The world will be conquered by ideas not force. The first of the ideas concerning Cuba's five heros reads: "Battle for the liberty of the Cuban heros imprissoned in the United States for fighting against terrorism". All through Cuba there is a state sponsored propaganda campaign to supposedly bring back Cubas five heros which were injustly imprisoned in the United States. What is interesting is that this campaign is targeted towards Cubans, not the international community. I imagine that 99.9% of the people of the United States outside of Miami would have no clue who these people are. Whether or not these "five heros" are wrongly imprissoned or not, this campaign is more about creating an enemy than finding resolution. Quite frankly the cuban goverment needs an enemy to sustain and justify itself, this is one of it's methods of creating a threat.
There is plenty of state sponsored propaganda, but just like anywhere if you make enough noise about it the people will follow. The "five heros" of Cuba have become a popular cause and evidence of this is everywhere. Here are some homemade examples of shines honoring and calling for the return of Cubas "five heros".
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