Havana (Cuba) - The old man and his sea

HAVANA (CUBA)
28 February - 05 March 2017

This time in Havana it felt like we were visiting an old friend. Someone we had a lot of fondness for and one that we knew would welcome us back with warmth, hospitality and late night conversations of the good times we'd previously experienced together. A few drinks, some music, dim lights and the familiarity that comes from being in the company of someone that you enjoy being with. To me that's the way Havana feels now.

Habana Vieja - Cuba

The Malecon - Habana Vieja - Cuba

Habana - Cuba

For this entry I don't feel the need to discuss the contradictions, the one that exist in constant write-ups about the hotchpotch of buildings, the taxi drivers wearing American baseball caps as they touts rides in their Chevrolets or Buicks, the Revolutionary propaganda that is more parody now than anything else, the Neoclassical shopfronts, the Soviet style buildings - all those influences, all that has brought Havana to the place that it sits right now, in this moment, has already been well documented and philosophised about. Havana for the both of us at this moment in time is just exactly what we get to experience, and without losing that connection to the past, I don't think that there's an overwhelming need now to justify how we act as tourists in a city that sits on the precipice of its own  ocean of change.

Habana Vieja - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Cuba

El Floridita - Habana - Cuba

El Floridita - Habana - Cuba

I don't believe therefore that there's a need to justify our want to stay in a Hospedaria on the Malecon and occupy a room rented out by a lovely family whose home and offering of accommodation in any other corner of the globe, with their sort of location, would go for hundreds of dollars of night. We simply wanted to have the pleasure of being able to look out from the balcony, dangle our feet over the edge and watch the sun drop over the Bahia de la Habana. Can there be a more tranquil and warming experience than watching the slow transitions of the handful of old 50s' & 60's vehicles making their way up the Malecon as the Habaneros  make their way out in a slow, deliberate and slightly melancholic way to occupy their section of the retaining wall, open up some rum, chat, canoodle, play music and just be. Walking to the regular beat of the drum of their city, there's something warm and satisfying about letting the scene wash over you. 

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Sunset on the Malecon - Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Siete Anos

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

In the same, is there an issue with us heading to the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, sitting  out on the  back patio, having a few cocktails and enjoying a few  Montecristos on a balmy evening.  Understanding that a few streets away there is economic hardship, but then also understanding that in every country there exists that same hardship, and yet, when we're at home we don’t feel as compelled to delve deeply into our own domestic guilt.  For some reason touristic guilt and being required to act  ethically appears to be the yardstick by which tourists/travellers are held to account. Being conscientious,  having authentic experiences under the auspices of somehow being culturally aware is demanded more often, is this our ongoing requirement to all that travel? Is this an objective we need to meet only outside of our country? Or is it only whilst in third world countries? What’s the rule?

Montecristos at Hotel Nacional de Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

The Malecon - Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

The Malecon - Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Havana is infectious in its vitality, it offers itself to you at every turn, on every block, with every person that you come across. Our purpose can be, and should be, to enjoy what it has to offer in the present. The kids playing on the streets, the ramschakled, dilapidated buildings that give way to intriguing snippets of life through open windows and doors.  As you peer inside catch glimpses of old men sleeping on rocking chairs, old transistor radios acting as their eternal lullaby, women hanging out their washing as they hold conversations from windows across the street.  I bare witness to daily life as I make my own path through this wonderful city, but, who should I apologise to? Is there a need for me to set the record straight for just wanting to experience a little bit of all that Havana has to offer?

Pulling up seats in the back corner of El Floridita, ordering a few of the classic daquiri’s and disappearing into a cloud of our own cigar smoke, I thought back  to the type we were last here. Same room, same style of music, same style of crowd but now, different circumstances. Just like Havana, changing quickly but slowly before your eyes, its an interesting feeling being aware of a future with new possibilities but not knowing exactly what they are.  Around Havana you can see a new economic tempo, a quickening of investment, restaurants and cafes starting to make their way into previously uncharted territory, and then, there’s places like El Floridita that just follow their well established beat, on the path they’ve always followed.

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

La Bodeguita del Medio - Habana - Cuba

La Bodeguita del Medio - Habana - Cuba

La Bodeguita del Medio - Habana - Cuba

The beauty of this city is in its rhythm, in its contradictions, in both its wants and failings. It’s in its secret desires and what you see on its very surface. Enjoying it for what it’s worth, to me, is positioning yourself in a place that allows the town to wash over you in just how it pleases. To me that’s how we’ve been able to feel Havana in our own way and in the way that it let us, un-apologetically and without casting aspersions, because hey, we have no right to do that, much in the same manner I won’t allow that to happen to us just for wanting to see a place.

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

Habana Vieja - Habana - Cuba

El Floridita - Habana - Cuba

El Floridita - Habana - Cuba

Our corner of El Floridita - best spot in the house

On the way to the airport - hope to see you again Habana - you will be missed!

Thank you Havana, you are a shining light for us all. Never change …. But change all you want.

-

Central America - 'Because it's there' tour

Central America
15 January - 12 March 2017

Politically tumultuous, chaotic and unfortunate in terms of geography, Central America has been the unfortunate ‘play thing’ of the USA, predominantly in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when Communist revolutions started to spark through most of those countries.

The USA has feared that any victory by Communist forces in those parts would lead to an isolation of South America, where it had ‘other’ interests. Hence it acted as a major protagonist in the Nicaraguan Revolution, Salvadoran Civil War, Guatemalan Civil War and the ongoing manipulation and coercion in Honduras and Panama.

Again, the spike in my interest for Central America came from the awareness of troubled part of the world in between North America and South America. Of course as an early teen I didn’t really understand the root of the conflicts but one moment that made the greatest visual impression on me was the United States invasion of Panama. During this invasion the defacto Panamanian, military and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed.

So it was with this knowledge and these images that I put the idea forward to Inga for us to do a tour through Central America.

The attraction to this part of the world, admittedly, was never strong. I’d never had an overwhelming desire to visit these countries and neither had Inga, but, the desire for us to travel far outweighs our desire to see a city, country or area, and so we decided to put together a few months of budget travel. We designed a Central America on a shoestring adventure based upon back backing adventures that neither of us had really had and the fact that we thought that Spanish speaking countries as a whole are pretty cool places.

So I bring to you Central America – ‘Because it’s their tour’.

Havana (CUBA) - Ciudad de las Columnas

Havana (Cuba)
27 MAY - 02 JUNE 2015

Anthony Bourdain on Havana's charms: "Havana still looks like you want it to look. Or maybe, how I want it to look."

That's exactly it. I'm sure that most of the population within this city, one of the top 20 largest in the Americas, would probably want it somewhat differently. Again, there's the dichotomy. Almost selfishly, outsiders, such as myself, would love this place to remain untouched, to remain true to itself in the manner which it has come to find its place in the world. The reality and the desire from within Cuba, I'm more than sure, is a lot different.

Change will come to Cuba and Havana. What it does and how it affects live here is anyone's guess. What we don't want to see is another 'Vegas on the Caribbean', that would be a tragedy. In 2014 a global competition named Havana as one of the new 7UbanWonders of the world - the sentiment externally expressing what we openly desire but secretly know won't happen, 'keep what you have, and stick it too them' ...easily said by an outsider.

The only real choice you have therefore is to try and catch Havana as it is now, and even now, in this time, change is evident. From the plethora of American accents we heard on the street we know that the gig is up. Still, for now, that didn't stop Inga & I enjoying what was on offer, and that my friends was a day that commenced at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba with a nice Montecristo and a cocktail to boot. No complaints with that.

Hotel Nacional de Cuba - Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

Outside of the Hotel Nacional is an ever present line of Buicks & Chryslers just waiting for tourists to hire them out. Which we did on the back of our initial request/attempt to hire and self-drive a vehicle for a day, which was flatly refused at every turn. Still, when you're cruising down the Malecon on a beautiful sunny day, the wind throwing your hair about, lounging deep in the leather upholstered seats, then you can't help but think that you got a few things rights.

With our tour we caught a lot of the sites that are on people's agendas, the Paseo del Prado, Malecon, Capitol, Revolucion Square, Bosque de la Habana, Havana Beverly Hills, Nuevo Vedado and of course parts of Havana Viejo.

Plaza de Revolucion - Havana - Cuba

Driving in style

Hasta la victoria siempre - 'Until you get to Victoria always?' - Che loved Australia

Plaza de Revolucion - Havana - Cuba

Admittedly we did our fair amount of walking too, but that walking entailed stops at some of Hemingway's favourite haunts, El Floridita for a daiquiri and a La Bodeguita for a Mojito. My favourite stop out of these two was definitely El Floridita - full of 'turistas', sure, but hell, isn't every place these days. Inga and I occupied a table in the back corner, lighting up Montecristos, drinking daiquiris and listening to the music on offer. Let me say, on every occasion it was just a fantastic experience. Even when the place was full on the back of tourist flotillas, or outside of those times, the place, just like the rest of Havana, just has a vibe and sense of fun that you can't help but enjoy. In much the same way, when you move out of there and get into the backstreets, there's always music that occupies some little corner, enticing you to see out more...or there's someone running an angle for a hustle, wanting to take you up a flight of stairs to a 'secret' hidden room where the 'cousin of a cousin' has managed to get their hands on a box of Cohiba's that they're willing to sell you at a discount. In fact, that's the way Inga and I managed to secure a few 'cheap' cigars one night. With out readily accessible stash of cash running out it was a quick conversation with the doorman at the Hotel Inglaterra, who then took us to an acquaintance on the street, who the took us down a few dark blocks, up some flights of stairs and into a room where the covert deal was done. Pure Havana!

El Floridita - Havana - Cuba

El Floridita - Havana - Cuba

La Bodeguita del Medio - Havana - Cuba

Whilst most of our time was spent wandering around Havana we did get out to the beach one day at the Hotel Gran Caribe Club Atlantico, Santa Maria del Mar, Playas Este. I'd heard somewhere on the grapevine that for a reasonable fee you could pay for unlimited snacks and drinks for the afternoon whilst accessing the strip of sand behind the hotel and swimming in the Caribbean at one's leisure, which is what we did. We had a fantastic afternoon, although I fear we may have looked quite riddled with disease as the sunburn that we adopted from our stay in Colombia had caught up with us quite nicely. We had layers of skin peeling off everywhere. No matter, the alcohol eventually blunted any self consciousness we had about the situation.

Club Atlantico - Cuba

Club Atlantico - Cuba

Hotel Nactional de Cuba

Both for Havana's beauty and decay, its' very hard to restrain yourself from staring everywhere you look - Brin-Jonathan Butler

We found that quote to be right on the mark there was something magical in everything that surrounded us, whether it was the obvious hardship, mode of live, energy and vibrancy. There was just a potent mix of 'something' that made it undeniably magnetic.

The Malecon

The Malecon - Havana - Cuba

Our last meal in Havana, on our last night, kind of typified what we found here. I'd bought in a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue label to celebrate our time in Havana. By the end of our days we were down to our last drinks and had run out of readily accessible funds. We were literally counting dollars for taxi to the airport, possible exit taxes etc and had about $3-4 USD left over. With that $ we walked across the street from our hotel, bought two small take away pizzas from the closest shop and went back up to our room. There on the 16th floor we sat overlooking the lights of the city, glass of JW Blue in hand and a poor, sloppy Havana pizza. Somehow it felt right, it all made sense. Simple pleasures.

Johnny Walker Blue - microwaved pizza and toilet paper - this is Havana

Havana (CUBA) - the most exquisite of ruins, awaiting the apocalypse

Havana (Cuba)
27 MAY - 02 JUNE 2015

As Anthony Bourdain said, '...there's something coming. It will come from out there but also within Cuba. It's already happening, but what is it? Everybody knows. Everybody can feel it. It smells like freedom, but will it be victory?'

This is it, the final flickering embers of the 26th of July Movement. The same movement that brought the face of Che Guevera to the t-shirts of university students across the globe, the same movement that brought to you Fidel Castro, the Marxist-Leninist, Cuban revolutionary that stood on the front door of the Imperialist Estados Unidos and managed to dodge 638 assassination attempts, this is....or is this...where the flame is finally extinguished?

Everyone knows a snippet or two about the 2nd Cuban revolution. The trade embargo with the US, the alignment with the mighty economic Soviet power, their ensuing collapse and the struggle of the Cuban people thereafter. In truth, it was all a struggle. The moment the revolutionary goverment nationalised all US assets in Cuba the US government returned fire and froze all Cuban assets in the US - welcome the the great  trade embargo and the history of this island that lasted for 60 yrs.

Cuba and Havana have found its own way. Perhaps a way to stand in the centre of contradiction, right where the truth exists.

Another stop in Panama City - Panama

...another few drinks in Panama City

We wanted to visit Havana now, before the cruise ships start rolling into Havana Harbour, before a Starbucks opens up at the top of Paseo de Marti and before the Malecon gets transferred into a stretch of glamour hotels, boutiques and bars. Havana is awaiting the apocalypse, and it might be people just like me that bring it. For that I raise my hand and admit some type of blame.

When Inga and I received the green light from the Cuban embassy in Lima we managed to conjure up a barrage of flights that had us flying out of Cartagena, via Panama City to Havana. In actual fact, over the next week we would fly in and out of Panama City on four separate occasions without actually setting foot in the city proper. We chalked one up for the memory bank and place it onto our 'to do list' for a future Central American jaunt.

Our view over Havana from the Hotel Habana Libre - Havana - Cuba

Wearing a Panama hat, purchased in Panama City, made in Ecuador, worn in Cuba...huh?

Havana panorama

Maybe it was simply the anticipation of arriving in Havana but it felt different. Dimly lit halls, Communist red walls, strangely young immigration officials and the weight of expectation about what you'd encounter outside of the sliding doors of the Arrivals Hall. It was all there, we were in it now, and I was so looking forward to heading out to sink in to my own level of discovery.

Heading from the airport and into the city you immediately start to get a feel for what's going on. Warm sunshine hits your face, people casually walk the grassy paths beside the main road, either off to wait for a bus, or a ride, or just to wait. The roads aren't busy at all, sparse in fact, not what you'd expect of a city of this magnitude. And as our taxi roles on we start to come across the time warp of Havana, of Cuba in fact. The vehicles that were on the street back in 1962 are the style that you see on the streets now, the Chevrolet Bel Air, Ford Falcons, Chevy Impalas and other so called 'yank tanks'. Of course, there are Soviet inspired vehicles too, such as the Moskvitch and Lada. Still, you have to say, if there was ever an era that you want to be trapped in then you couldn't think of too many better than the early 1960's.

Inga & I set up camp in Vedado, an area dominated by the 25 story post modernist Hotel Habana Libre. Built in 1958, a one time Hilton hotel, this still has that old world feeling of the early 60s, cool & chic, blunted by Communist revolution. It's a grand building without being attractive and it still very much carries the feel of that era. It was also here that we had a crash course in the inevitable difficulties that would come in being a tourist on this island. For some reason my Australian credit card(s) did not work at reception and I only had sufficient cash on me to pay for an evening. Which we did. But then we had to negate the hurdles placed in front of us as to how we could arrange financing whilst here. Thankfully Inga's credit card seemed to work, but with no readily available WiFi in the hotel and international calls being charged out at $5USD per 30 seconds we needed to find an express carrier pigeon to get across the oceans and assist with our monetary struggles.

Still, with minor struggles resolved we were gifted with a fantastic room on the 16th floor. Not a better view to be had in the whole of Havana. Looking out over the city towards the deep blue of the Caribbean Sea met with a disheveled and ramshackle sea of white of its own, betraying the true decay of the buildings below us.

Hotel Nacional de Cuba - Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

From our window we could see the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, a grand Art deco hotel built in the 1930's that still exuded 'old school cool', 'rich in retro glamour' as they say - a stop that was definitely on the 'to do' list for the next day.

True to our own word, we ventured to the Hotel just before noon that next day. No matter how it represents itself inside on the outside it still gives the impression of being quite the glamorous location. Especially when you enter the driveway and where there's several prime 1960's style vintage cars just waiting for you to 'own them' for an hour or two. Walking up the stairs and to the breezy outdoor garden terrace, palms gently swaying, there were cane lounge chairs beckoning us to come and stay a while. It wasn't hard at all to grab a few cocktails and light up a couple of Montecristo's right there and then, because you have to smoke of course. Apart from the faux air of sophistication you sign a contract on arrival at immigration that you will smoke in Havana. I have to say, one of my favourite experiences in Havana was just letting time drift by under the arches of that old building

Had to be done...and done...and done

Cigars at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba

The Malecon - Havana - Cuba

The Malecon - Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

The Malecon - Havana - Cuba

The Malecon - Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

After Hotel Nacional we moved onto the Malecon. THE drawcard of Havana, of that there is not doubt. This famous seaside avenue is a sea-wall but acts as a glorious promenade. It draws tourists and locals along, especially in the evening when the brilliant burnt orange light of the sun drops into the equally as magnificent sea. Here people gather, drink, chat, play music and flirt under the canopy of cool evening breezes and the shelter of the night. On our first afternoon there however we strolled ever so casually, watching old 60's cars roll by and admiring the architecture, pastel coloured buildings that had been beaten down by the salt of the sea and the rays of sun. As we walked we committed to one day staying for a few nights in one of the buildings that occupied prime position on the Malecon, made possible these days by the government allowing families to rent our rooms to tourists for short term rentals.

Havana - Cuba

Havana - Cuba

Catch you tomorrow...

(Habana - to be continued)