The most interesting thing about planning for Cuba was all the stories we were hearing from travelers who´d been there, we were building up a very strange picture of the country. People would take a deep breath and hesitate before answering yeah..Itss very special.You´ll understand when you get there!¨take all the food you need with you¨ ¨there are no medicines¨ ¨there arent any shops¨ ¨there are no road signs¨ ¨watch out for the guys wanking in the bushes¨. We tried to imagine this country where there is no soap, no shops, no street signs but plenty of rum.
The morning of departure arrived with a hangover courtesy of mexican tequila and I filed onto the decidedly ancient looking plane with the Cubans. The floor of the plane was smoking, like the kind of smoke that they use as special effects in horror movies. I sat down with smoke up to my waist, the whole cabin was filled and you couldn´t see your feet. ¨Don´t worry ladies and gentlemen the smoke is a perfectly normal procedure¨ well ive never been on a plane that smokes like Bet Lynch!
We were on our way. I couldnt believe I was finally going after so much talking about it with or without being terrorised by the book ´dirty havana´. After wobbling to the ground we wobbled into immigration where we were met by a huge hall jam packed with people and 22 queues. It took 2.5 hrs to be able to show my passport and lie about booking my first nights accomodation. 4 hours later..I was on Cuban soil.
We spent the first few days walking the streets of Havana. Ive never been so instantly attracted to a city with its slightly dark and grungy feel, the Malecon (with rum drinkers sprawled across it day and night..not just me), people shouting up and down the streets, food being passed from top floors by ropes, reggaton being playing from every corner even pumping from the cycle rickshaws,whispers of various things for sale, communist slogans graffitied on walls, no McDonalds, No Coca Cola, woman scantily dressed (big change from India), grand old colonial buildings, from beautiful plazas to hatches where you can buy pizzas for 10 peso cubanos (you can buy 7-8 of these for 1 pizza in the tourist currency). There are ration shops, peso convertible shops and peso cubanos shops making working in 2 currencies kinda difficult.
The transports system is wicked here with horse and carriages, taxis shaped like coconuts, police in silly ladas and a plethora of old american cars in every colour and design (dont know what you call them but they are cool).
Think I´m gonna like this place where a bottle of shampoo is the appropriate gift to bring for dinner.
