Tag: Havana

Woop – Woop! That’s the Sound of da Mexican Police!

I was ready to get the hell out of the jungle and into an actual city. Mike’s plan was to go to Merida on Friday night. Nelly and I were on the fence about what to do. That’s the problem when you can do anything, you tend to be very indecisive. After changing cities twice in less than a week we decided it’d be nice to set up camp somewhere for a week or so. We had heard great things about Merida and without Mike we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves, so we decided to join him. The band wasn’t going to break up just yet!

We decided to take a night bus from Palenque to Merida. This would not only make sure we didn’t waste a day in travel time but we would also be able to save on accommodations. The bus ride from Palenque to Merida cost around $400 MXN (about $20 USD). When we arrived at the ADO bus terminal in Palenque our friend José from Chile was there and waiting to take the same bus! He hadn’t booked a place to stay in Merida yet so we suggested he stay at the same hostel as us.

Read More

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

 

Back in Mexico City and at first I was enamored! The delicious food on every street corner, the abundance of everything – including water and medicine, the ease of getting around and most of the comforts of home. After the first few days the novelty of it all wore off and I began to miss Cuba. I still miss Cuba. I couldn’t tell you why exactly. Cuba had really pushed my limits – I had experienced every emotion there from depression and heart break to love and pure bliss. Even after all the ups and downs, I still love Cuba. I think what I really missed was the friends I made there and the times we shared.

In Mexico City, I was luckily able to stay with the same Couchsurfing host again in the neighborhood of La Condesa. After sitting in traffic for an hour on my way from the airport to my host Gerardo’s, I met up Cinthia and Perla to grab tacos! I quickly filled them in on everything that had happened in Cuba while I’ll filled myself up with tacos. In a way it I felt like I was back home.

Read More

4 Scams to Avoid in Havana

 

On average Cubans make around $20 a month and don’t even come close to making ends meet. Many of them see tourists as an opportunity to them help them survive. This does not go for all Cuban people, once you get outside of Havana the attitude and motives starts to change. However, here are 4 scams that I have personally fallen victim to in Havana. Hopefully this will help you avoid them before visiting Cuba!

Read More

Cuba on a Shoestring Budget

 

For the 30 days I was in Cuba, I had budgeted to spend about $2,000 CUC. I ended up spending only $1,300 CUC. I was able to cut costs by sharing a room, cooking meals in my casa and I also took advantage of traveling like a local whenever possible.

I did however, buy meals or drinks for my Cuban friends so, that did add a little extra to my trip expenses. I was happy to do it though being so under budget.

Read More

This isn’t Goodbye but See You Later

 

During the 7 days I was in Santiago de Cuba, I can honestly say I didn’t do much – there also isn’t that much to do. My days consisted of sleeping in late, taking a few cold showers, going out to eat and taking naps. I got into a routine of getting a daily cappuccino at my favorite coffee place, Wen (for only .45 cents), then trying to do at least one thing with my day.

I’ve now learned that once you’ve been traveling for awhile many of the things that use to be important to you stop being important. I just don’t have the energy to care about things that don’t directly impact my trip. As I’m writing this, I’m on day 43 of my trip – I don’t wear makeup anymore or really put that much effort into my appearance. Just thinking about how I wanted to bring my eyebrow dye on my trip makes me laugh – even though they really need it.

Read More

I Just Came Here to Dance

 

Santiago de Cuba may be Cuba’s second largest city but it has a small town feel. You run into people you know all the time. In the day and a half Lucas and I had been there we had already made friends and had a chance to run into them several times.

Lucas is now pretty much glued to the hip with Mariano, we call him Lucas’s dad. I’ve gotten into the routine of spending my days with Pepe (it went from a one time thing to an everyday thing). We occasionally combine the two groups for meals with Lianne or as we like to call her, Momma Chicken. We always eat at San Fransisco, the food is amazing and it’s pretty cheap. I’ve been eating there at least once a day. I’m also terrified of getting food poisoning again so, I haven’t been that adventurous with my eating.

Read More

Morro Castle and Grandma’s Ashes

 

I was over joyed to spend the day with two English speakers after primarily spending my days with people who only spoke Spanish. Lucas is 19 years, from Denmark and is traveling solo as well. We decided to travel together to Trinidad the following day by bus.

Read More

Learning to Twerk from a Three Year Old

By Sunday I was ready to get out of La Habana. I had been there for two weeks and the city was starting to get to me. I hadn’t found anyone else to travel with so I decided to just head to Trinidad solo the following day.

Read More

Beach Days and Hurricanes

 

My German friend Tim and I decided to finally go to the beach! It only took me two weeks to finally leave La Habana. Tim is traveling around the world and on a tight budget like myself so we decided to take the bus. We both had been to scared to ride it alone, him because he speaks no Spanish and me because they pack people on there like sardines.

Read More

Eating Ice Cream and Getting Wet

 

Ice cream is by far my all time favorite food. I had heard about this amazing ice cream place from one of the employees at my casa called Coppelia. Apparently for only 5 CUP, a little less than .25 cents you could get a huge bowl with 6 scoops of ice cream. A little side note, CUP is different from CUC. CUP are Cuban pesos, the national money that is to only be used by Cubans. There are roughly 24 CUP to 1 CUC. Tourists use CUC and generally pay more for things.

Read More

How I Almost Shit My Pants in Cuba

 

Well we all have to get sick at least once in a foreign country and I did…

I met up with my friend Tim to go to the beach and all the sudden my stomach started to ache with pains. Thank god we were close to a hotel so I could use their bathroom. Bathrooms are hard to come by in Cuba, they are always usually missing a toilet seat, toilet paper, soap and sometimes even running water. Make sure to always carry toilet paper on you and use hotel bathrooms because they’re sure to have the most amenities.

I thought I could walk it off but it just started to get worse and worse. My doctor had prescribed me some medicine in case this happens. I had left some items with my Couchsurfing host in Mexico City because I had too many things to carry and of course I stupidly I left those pills.

Read More