Pablo's Adventure Travels: Havana Part II o Capitulo Dos

So rested and regrouped shall I continue? Its a silly rhetorical question as you wouldn't be here if you weren't interested or or least getting paid for reading this while supposedly doing some other employer related income generating activity.

Without any further adieu sigo con mi cuenta....

There's a part 2 to the Havana Club Bar Video which is really just an out take of part one shown here. I think the sound is a little better than video.

When we parted, and such sweet sorrow it was, I was here...

Government Owned, Artesanal Goodness, Without All Hassles Like Pursuit of Profit

From up top the layout looks a little like this...

Objects in Picture May Be Smaller Than Actual Size

Yes, it looks EXACTLY like it did in the 1950's, in fact one tourist commented, and I agree, that its like time stopped in the 50's and a delayed reaction bomb has slowly detonating for 60 years. Most of the building are buildings are crumbling and people have died from balconies falling on them. Regardless, (Yes, MHH, not irregardless,) Cuba is without a doubt the most vibrant, backwards, colorful, crazy and most beautiful country I've ever visited.

Maybe a little orientation is in order. ALL, or at least most all, businesses are government owned; hotels, rental car agencies, shops etc. What the government doesn't own they get the biggest piece of, for instance, to own your own business in Cuba means paying 55% to the government. I assume that's gross not net. All Cubans get food, housing, education and health care for free whether they work or not. Most Cubans are not in a hurry as there's no profit related incentive. Here, if its a one person job patching a hole in a sidewalk there's six people doing it. Another perfect example: Waiting for the luggage from the flight to hit the carousel in the airport. What would be a 10 minute wait ANY where else in the world (even China) is an hour or better here.

Since all the basic necessities are provided for working peoples wages are extremely low. An example is Lupe, the aforementioned spouse of our new friend Bruno, is a doctor in charge of an entire floor of a hospital and earns a paltry $25 a month. The Government wants to keep the people poor says Bruno, so they ban the Internet and control speech and control everything. This is not however without certain advantages which I'll expand on later, but as a teaser I'll just say that as tourist, the Cigars and Rum are the same price at the airport as they are at the factory store.

The monetary system is a bit curious here. One Cuban Peso equals exactly one US dollar, which makes me wonder if that's a coincidence. Also there's a secondary currency called Moneda Nacional. Its what the locals use for the collectivos (shared Taxis) and for small day-to-day purchases.

The 3 Peso "Che" Note

Meanwhile, here's a tour of the Havana skyline as told by the live view "periscope" style viewpoint.

Che Guevara is the communist propaganda martyr and is pictured on about everything here

Its a Little Reminiscent of the Whole "Hope and Change" Logo

I must admit I was slightly moved by the spirit of solidarity and rebelliousness.

Viva Che! Down With The Yankee Imperialists!

Its pretty cheap to be a tourist in Cuba. The Hotel Ingleterra, a 4 star hotel pictured here in series, costs $110 a night. Slower than dial up speed (or worse) Internet cost $8 an hour though and is almost unusable.

Further on, we stumbled across the US embassy, long out of use. Apparently a bunch of "anti-imperialist" flags were flown in front of the embassy on to be taken down when Obama was elected.

Before

After (Other Angle Though)

And with that I'll post a picture of the car Paula and rented. Its Chinese made, most likely a copy of some Honda, and already beat the fuck up after only 39,000 Kilometers. This is what it looks like.

The Chinese Made "Geely"

This next picture is what your Geely looks like when it runs out of gas in the middle of the Cuban countryside 100 Kilometers from anywhere.

Can You See the Difference In The Two Fotos?

Fortunately that isn't what actually happened but near tragedy did strike plus it makes a great cliffhanger when Pablo Travels returns from this short unabashed plug for the most generous sponsor and best people to do business with for all your insurance needs...