Hello from Cuba (2) - Rain in Vinales
Hotel Havana Libre, Tuesday April 5, 2005, 6:24 pm
So Saturday I had already planned to go to Vinales, a beautiful
area in the province of Pinar del Rio, 190 km west of Havana. I
took the Viazul bus from the Havana station, which is a modern
bus network more or less for tourists and the one way fare is
US$12 (way too much for the locals, most of whom end up taking
local taxis or the cheaper and less reliable, more decrepit
Astro bus system).
A young Cuban man sat down beside me in the bus terminal and
tried to offer me accommodation in his private home in Pinar del
Rio (one version of the shadow economy which is centered around
tourists).
After I told him I already had accommodation, he started to talk
to me about life in Cuba and how hard it is and that is
extremely difficult to survive economically. He told me he only
makes US$24 a month, working for the national(ized)
telecommunications company. He also said that recently financial
transfers from Cuban emigrants, particularly from Miami, have
been cut back to US$100, which works out to CUC 92 (Cuban
Convertible Pesos, which used to be 1:1 with the US Dollar) and
that soon US$100 would work out to even 8% less. He basically
just spilled over with unhappiness about the economic situation.
The trip to Vinales was about 3.25 hours long and along the way
it started to rain. Vinales is known for its beautiful limestone
formations, the "Mogotes", box-like mountains that grow straight
out of a flat valley floor with often vertical walls and
hundreds of limestone caves.
Probably 30 or 40 people were waiting at the bus stop in
Vinales, all owners of private bed and breakfasts (or "casas
particulares") ready to pick up tourists staying with them. My
hostess, Sandra, a beautiful young woman of 28 years, was there
too with a sign saying