Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share our experiences there.

Well, we thought we'd try Cuba as a winter vacation this year (been to Mexico a few times) as we got a good deal. The weather was fantastic, beaches and ocean were amazing, but wow, the living conditions of the locals are horrid. The Cuban's make the Mexican's look like rock stars in terms of standard of living.

On the resort, things are similar to mexico, but the food is very bland. We took a trip to Trinidad and wow, they still plow the fields with oxen, they spray quarter sections by hand (imagine spraying 160 acres with a backpack sprayer and no masks) and they were watering the fields with a small hose. On the trip back, driving through the towns, there was NO ONE around. Streets were empty and just a few lights on in some houses. There were huge apartment blocks built and you could see people in there, but it all had a very cold, industrial look. After driving for 20 minutes or so on the highway, the bus driver would slam on the brakes because there would be some guy on a bicycle riding in the middle of the highway waving part of a reflector behind him.

We probably will never go back, there were always people who did not quite fit into the crowd watching you. It was a bit unnerving, I mean I'm from Saskatoon and if I can pick you out watching us, your stealthy skills are not that great. Some of the strangest things I observed were by the resort, a big market was built, but all the restaurants and shops were empty. No locals were around at all.

These people are absolutely dirt poor. Our tour guide, used to be a university prof and she said she was teaching at 3 university's at the same time trying to make ends meet. She gave that up to give tours and makes more money just from the tips.

I wish the people who want "wealth redistribution (there are numerous ones that I work with)" could see what we saw with a open mind. They would think twice. Yes, no one is rich, but guess what, EVERYONE (except for a select few at the top) are very, very poor. We went away to have a relaxing vacation, instead, it opened our eyes to how good we have things (and exactly how communism does not work). I knew we were blessed before we left and count ourselves extremely lucky to be where we are. The absolute best part of the trip was when I felt the wheels of the plane lift off of the island on our way back home.

 

Thanks for the write up.
Were you allowed to venture very far from your guides or the resort (or would you have wanted to)?
Any restrictions on taking photo's?

 

These people are our neighbors and it is ridiculous for them to be that poor.

I hope in my lifetime they can ally with us and get out from under that idiot castro family.

I am conservative all the way, but good neighbors are hard to beat. This would definitely be a worthwhile investment in democracy.

 

It was interesting, you could go pretty well where you wanted but I did some research before we went. If you rent a car, you can purchase insurance. But if you get into an accident and they think it could be your fault, automatically you have no insurance. Plus you go to jail immediately to wait your court date (which can be up to 30 days) and if they find it was your fault, you must pay everything in full BEFORE you are allowed to leave. It really cuts down on people renting cars. You can take pictures of anything that you wanted, but I think the tour bus goes on designated routes away from sensitive areas (as sensitive an area can be in Cuba).

There are some absolutely beautiful Spanish churches that are almost 500 years old which were pretty cool (will post some pictures later) and cobble stone streets.

I did pick up some really nice cigars though for $1.66 each and ice cream was only 25 cents a cone(I gave him a dollar and it blew him away), which after, I realized is about 10 times the price the locals are paying.

 

This is how desperate they are to get off the island.

 

That isn't distribution of wealth but a perfect picture of a governement that controls everything.

 

Im going to try one some day just to see if they are as good as they say.

 

Please don't mention this again. I am paying almost 6 bucks a stick for my favorites in Washington state.

 

What do you smoke that's $6 a stick?

I started smoking ciagrs here in Iraq almost 4 years ago, and honestly there are good ones out there for $60 (or less) for a box of 20.




-Kris

 

They are. Won't say how, but I get them from time to time.

You can get the same thing in Canada though, and not have to fly halfway around the world.

 

Man am I getting old. I quit smoking cigars for economic reasons......when they hit $5 a box.

 

Amen brotha I remember back in the 80s I was in east Germany and saw first hand how redistribution of wealth was working out them.every where you looked the buildings were still shot up from WWII no one would do anything because it wasn't theirs to worry about . sad thing people don't realize that even in a socialist regime there are wealthy people ,BUT you have to belong to the right club,,,if you know what I mean.

 

Rocky Patel 1992 Maduro 6.00X 54's. I usually get 'em online for a lot less but with the current economic situation I am facing I can only buy 1 or 2 at a time every couple weeks and the kid in town has a nice shop so I try to "Keep it Local"

 

Monte Cristo's are like 10AED each in the dubai airport.

And for bark, take a trip over to canada, pick one up and smoke it looking at the US border guards....

 

Great write up. Thanks for sharing!