Havana — Cuba
Travel through time to a strange mix of 1950’s American cars and post apocalyptic Cold War ruins. Drink mojitos and experience a different perspective on the latin revolutionaries.
On our first night in Havana it poured with rain and the street traffic retreated to the sidewalk to wait it out. We had some Mojitos at the famous Inglaterra hotel and caught a live band while watching the pedestrians.
Further down the street we found an old propaganda store and spent some time looking through latin revolutionary books and posters.
Taking a visit to some of the state run super markets is a bizarre experience. I wasn’t allowed to take my camera but the shelves were bare. Water, rice, bulk chicken meat, soap and lots of cheap rum.
Havana is a vertical city with activity occurring on all levels. Every building has a unique mis-mash of Colonial style and colour mixed with peeling paint, hung out washing and ad-hoc electrical wires.
One block from San Rafael we found this building decaying, the insides completely collapsed, a beautiful tree thriving in its place.
The colourful streets are a photographers dream. You only need to wait a few seconds and your framed-up shot will be filled with these vibrant retro cars.
The graffiti throughout the city seems to speak of a tragic population suffering in public silence, lacking the freedom of speech to voice their dissent.
The streets are alive with people working the tourism trade, bars, cafes, and so called “Paladars” or private restaurants.
Yet, Havana feels like has not recovered from the Cold War. There is something eerie about buildings collapsing before your eyes, while bright shiny 1950’s automobiles zoom around to the sounds of Chachachá.
We watched a great Netflix series called Cuba Libre which explained the entire history of Cuba from José Martí to the end of Fidel’s reign. Regardless of if you blame Fidel or America for the failed Cuban project, the results are clear.
Cubanomics is a confusing thing. The country operates a dual currency system designed to extract tourist profit while supporting its population on heavily depressed wages. Despite nearly 85% of the population being employed by the state only a few years ago, the number of people working various black markets or alternative money sources is huge. The average state wage is between 17 and 30 US dollars per month, even for Doctors. It’s no wonder many educated Cubans drive Taxis. It’s easy to make 5 CUC (USD) extra on a single ride by quoting a higher price to an unsuspecting tourist. Who can blame them?
Havana is constantly abuzz with 1950’s cars zooming around in circles giving tourists joy rides.
Ironically under the hood of many of these American beauties, lies a Russian LADA engine spewing out horrible pollution into the air. With restriction on importation, Cuba’s cars are a Mad-Max like mish-mash of old parts constantly under repair.
A trip to Havana isn’t complete without walking the ocean view promenade called the Malecón.
We took a free Walking Tour from the José Martí square to the Fortress and saw the sunset over the city.
The next day, hungering for some Vegetables we decided to checkout the local markets on San Rafael.
On our last day we saw this man operating an ancient camera, I estimated the shutter speed from his hand to be about 1 second exposure time. 😂 The ultimate Hipster Instagram!
It feels like the Habanero’s (People of Havana) derive their strength from being in perpetual motion. As though if they stopped moving even for a moment, then the wheels of the revolution would fall off.
Extras
Next Up
Viñales — Cuba
Just a few hours from the hectic bustle of Havana, nestled amongst giant limestone cliffs we found the small agricultural town of Viñales.
