Mexico and Cuba

30th November 2010 - 13th December 2010

MEXICO

OK.So after a LONG flight and some human rights violations in LAX we finally made it to our hotel in Mexico City!!
After arriving at the airport and managing to catch out our first scammer (the money changer tried to get away with short changing us!) we immediately fell into the second scam and hired a car (with driver) to take us to our hotel. Rather than getting the cheap taxi we had a massive SUV take us through Mexico City. It was ridiculous!

Our first day was pretty slow moving given that we were so tired but we strolled around downtown and the area immediately within our hotel, had a couple of beers and something called a 'Cubana' (essentially a Corona poured on top of a concoction of chilli sauce and lime juice - interesting!).
Our second and last day in Mexico was far more interesting. We were picked up from our hotel by Javier our guide for teh day who thnakfully spoke great English. He took us first to a Church where the 'Virgin Mary' apparently appeared to an Indian native 500 years ago. To prove he had seen the Madonna she told him to pick some roses from the top of the mountain (roses at that time were not grown in Mexico) and carry them within his cloak. When he showed the roses to the priest in the local town they left behind an image of Mary which still hangs within the specially built church today (although a new one as the original one is starting to sink!) - apparently there are no signs of brush strokes and the paint/ink/colouring hasnt faded and actually floats above the material of the cloak! OR......that could just be bollocks!! 
We stopped at a stone carving factory and although we didnt buy anything I did manage to have 2 Tequillas....at 11am!!
We then visited the Temples of Guadalupe - the sun and the moon temples. They were pretty cool and we could climb to the top and see excellent views. The only downside was the amount of touts there trying to sell their tat - it became quite exhausting with the constant 'No gracias' in the heat!


Alana at the top of the Moon temple (the Sun temple is in the background)



Looking towards the Sun Temple

CUBA

Cuba was amazing. With its bohemian mix of race and culture it has come together in a country of people who rather than dwell on their ethnicity, identify and unite under being 'Cuban'!
Havana is a crumbling ruin of what must have been quite a spleandour in its hayday. Peeling paint comes off the walls in staircases with marble steps and ageing nicotine stains grand chandalier crowned ceilings, but nonetheless there is definately a certain 'feel' to the city which catches you in its awe.
We spent quite a while in Havan al up and enjoyed all of our time here, infact we could probably have spent all of our ten days nin this one spot and still found things to do. As it was we contented ourselves with looking at the arcitecture, walking along the maricon, divuldging in Mojito and ofcourse visiting a Cuban cigar factory!
The factory tour, although smacking a little of a human zoo, was very interesting. We saw the tobacco leaves as they come in and are sorted, the training room where new recruits are taught to roll the cigars - it takes 9 months before they aready, and the professional rollers. The factory can churn out 25000 cigars per day, different brands and shapes taking different amounts of time and skill to make.

We love it when a plan comes together!

Vinales was our next stop in Cuba. A rural part of the country where large limestone formations jut out of the landscape. It was colder here but beautiful with the limestone and tobacco fields rolling into one.
We visited the ntional park on horse back and trekked around it for 5 hours, a great way to see all that Vinales had to offer albeit a bit of a sore arse the next day......or two!!
 The highlight for Alana on this ride however, was not the beautiful landscape, the culture, the views or even the ride itself......no it was the fact that while everyone else on the ride had a horse to ride, I was given a mule! I consoled myself with the fact that Jesus rode a donkey....

My beautiful steed for the day

After the horse trek we went by foot, hiking to a cave formed in the limestone which had two freshwater pools you could swim in. We expected these to be at the mouth of the cave but in fact the were about 100m+ inside the cave and it was pitch black. I was the only one who braved the cool water and although it looked very much like a lair from Alien (glistenning limetsone stalactites and stalacmites) I managed to come out unscathed!

I think the highlight of Cuba for us was Trinidad. A beautiful old colonial town 10kms from the beach with cobbled roads (the novelty of which soon wore off!!),beautiful buildings and amazing sunsets made this somewhere we would definitely like to visit again.

There was plenty to see and do by just walking the streets in this town, in fact the town was really its own museum, so pottering along looking at all the town had to offer whilst drinking the odd cerveza or mojito was a conclusive way to see the city.

We also visited the beach, it being so close and all we thought it rude not too, while Alana sunned herself I went for an unfortunately disappointing dive. Although I had heard that diving in Cuba is amazing, it appears not off Playa Ancon where a lot of the coral was dead and consequently few fish inhabited the area.....certainly no sharks like I had hoped to see.





At all the places we visited we stayed at Casa Particulars which is essentially just a room (with ensuite) in someones house. We ate in a few and had some amazing meals of chicken and more often than not lobster! It was definitely a great way to meet some 'real' Cuban people and we generally had alot of fun!

After a long hard week of sun, cigars, mojitos and lobster it is now time for us to head to Colombia, apprehension and excitment are toying with us as we wait here in Panama airport looking out at a rather wet and miserable day.....only another 1 1/2 hours to wait......now if I can only convince Alana to buy me something to eat.......