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| Central America - The Journal |
Flying an Old Plane Into a New World
Day 50 - Part 1, Cancun to Havana
Ready to start the next leg of our adventure, we arrived early at Cancun airport and after a quick check in (not many people flying to Cuba it would seem) we had a long wait in the departure lounge. We used the time to plan our intended route for the surprisingly big communist island.
Our first sign of the 2 weeks ahead was the rickety plane we'd boarded; a Soviet YAK, a hand-me-down from mother Russia. The small plane seemed basic and very worn, its simple and barren interior a sign that if the place flew, that was all that should be expected, comfort and style were not important.
We were mildly alarmed when shortly after take off, the plane began to fill with a thick white smoke. The belated and unclear announcement made us feel slightly more comfortable when it stated that this was just how the air-conditioning worked.
Despite our misgivings about the aged plane, we were soon in Cuban airspace and landed in Havana with a round of polite (and relieved) applause from the passengers.
The airport was functional, if a little austere and gloomy and were welcomed to Cuba by stern faced border officials who were disappointed to find all our papers in order. As we wandered through to the baggage claim, we tried to find somewhere to get hold of some local currency.
For those of you who haven't been to Cuba, a small aside about the currencies. There are actually 2 currencies in use, the Cuban Peso (CUP) and the Convertible Peso (CUC). 1 CUC is roughly equal to US$1 and there are 24 CUPs to 1 CUC, making them roughly equal to 4c ($0.04). It is no coincidence that expensive things are priced in CUC, and tourists are expected to use these, whereas cheap things are priced in CUP, and these are usually only used by locals. In fact, many things, such as museum entry fees, are priced so that locals pay, for example, 2 CUP whereas tourists will pay 2 CUC. Dual pricing reigns where prices are set by the government. However, there is no law that any one currency cannot be used by locals or tourists. Things priced in CUP are just rarer when tourists are around and take a bit of effort, skill or knowledge to find.
Our first attempt to get money was blocked by an angry woman who proudly told us she did not speak English, so we could only guess at the reasons for the denial of service. In the end, we guessed this particular exchange window was only for returning Cubans and we soon found a window which we could use.
Of course, it wasn't too long before a taxi driver approached us. There is no public transport between Havana airport and the city or its suburbs, making taxis the only option. The owner of the accommodation we'd pre-booked on the Internet had told us that we should pay no more than $20 for a taxi to Vedado, the suburb where we were staying. As the driver quoted us $20, we decided to take the offer and we were soon in a comfortable air con taxi being whisked towards the heart of Havana.
Looking around as be sped down the neither busy nor quiet road, we quickly noticed that our modern car was relatively unusual. The most common types of car were: classic American cars from the 1950s (at one time the US was on good terms with Cuba) which continued running due to skilled and loving mechanics; and battered, box-like Soviet cars, which continued running due to the Russian ability to transfer the constitution of its rugged citizens into its automobiles.
We were eventually dropped of on a leafy street in Vedado, a peaceful and comfortable looking suburb but an apparently unlikely place to find accommodation. Nevertheless, we did find the placed, a flat on the top floor of a simple but modern looking 3-floor building. We were buzzed into the building and were greeted by a big cheery man with bronzed skin, dark hair and a gleaming smile. He had a thick grey beard and held himself comfortably, stroking his sizable brown belly, which he stroked proudly as he stood bare chested at the top of the stairs. Come to think of it, he looked very much like a Caribbean flavoured Santa Claus! This was Nelson and he was to prove one of the greatest characters we met and possibly the key to our successfully Cuban adventure.
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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