A long way to Cienfuegos

We had an early pickup today so had to be up earlier than usual, which is difficult when you're out dancing and chatting until late. We got on the bus and drove 2 hours to a rest stop. At this time, Orledis asked me how much a picture was worth. I was confused so told him that it depended on the picture. This is when he flipped his phone around and showed me a terrible picture of myself sleeping, head back, mouth open...just like my dad. I laughed and he told me he was a business man so not to worry, we could make a deal. Little did I know this would be the start of something! I don't think I will sleep in the van again!

Our plan to surprise Orledis was supposed to happen at this first rest stop but the place was packed so we asked the driver to pull off to the side of the road when it was safe. We drove for over an hour, and Orledis had said he would play a documentary but Nelson, our driver, told him not to. He finally pulled over and Orledis announced that the driver needed to go to the bathroom, but he started playing salsa music. We all filed off, and Orledis stayed seated, looking at us in confusion. He kept talking about how we had already stretched our legs! We all did the salsa in a big circle, and Orledis, being the dancer he is, couldn't resist joining in. We passed a hat around, putting in 5cuc each, as Orledis had kept joking how we should pay him for all the salsa lessons he gave us. Once everyone had put money in we all shouted "Happy Birthday" and handed him the hat full of money. He was so surprised and shocked. He said he knew we had been planning something but we still managed to shock him. He had even taken money out to put in the hat as well before he realized what it was for! It was such a great moment! Cars drove by yelling and honking! 

I hope we helped make his birthday away from home a good one! Afterwards we drove until lunch (with a quick stop in Australia).

 Then, a short 30 minutes later we got to the Bay of Pigs. The water was so blue, it was gorgeous.

We also saw a sink hole which is 70 metres deep and apparently full of fish.

But, I chose to go in the ocean instead. The waves were pretty choppy and it was hard to stay balanced between them and the sharp rocks and coral around. When we were all done we got in the bus and drove about 90 minutes to Cienfuegos. On the way we stopped for gas and 2 gas stations were all out of gas. Apparently it's very common in Cuba.

Here we stopped at the Museum for the Bay of Pigs defeat

 We finally made it to our guest house, and although the room decor is a little dated, the owner was really lovely and brought us a glass of freshly made mango juice. We all decided to head out for dinner together. Lily, the lady at our casa recommended a restaurant. We were enroute when a guy started chatting to Janet. He convinced us that where we were headed was really expensive and very touristy. We went to a place he recommended (he said he was a boxer who was just visiting). We were the only people in the place and several people checked it out before leaving while we were sitting there. The drinks were good and so was the food. But when we went to pay, they had no change. Once the bill was settled the waitress came back and said she forgot to charge the 10% service fee, we should have just left.  And it turns out, the boxer is a local who gets commission for bringing customers. What a scam. We should have known to trust the lady from the casa instead of Joe Blow off the street. The only good thing about the place was the amazing music they had. The singer was fabulous!

After our meal, we headed back to our casas as we had another early morning the next day. 

Salsa Dancing In Viñales

We woke up fairly early as we were being picked up at 8:30. Breakfast was delicious, once again. A plate of papaya, mango, bananas, and watermelon, followed by custom eggs served with grilled cheese buns, and turnovers (just because). The only bad thing was that there was no tea at this joint. The group was split into two different casas so Orledis picked us up first and then we drove a block to pick up the rest. We then drove to some caves where we got a short boat tour. And by short I mean 5 minutes, no exaggeration!

Afterwards, we drove to see a mural called Mural de la Prehistoria, which was painted by farmers on the side of a cliff face. The mural was painted after Fidel Castro said the cliff should be painted with snails, dinosaurs and a family of cave persons. Luckily, Orledis was all about saving money, so we stopped on the side of the road to take our shots instead of paying the admission of the actual Attraction.

Our last stop of the morning was at a tobacco farm where the farmer's son showed us the process of drying the tobacco leaves and even rolled us a fresh cigar. 

Tobacco leaves, hanging to dry

Rolling the cigar.

We all took a try of it to see what it was like. It was interesting, not like I expected.

Sorry it's blurry...

 Afterwards we walked around a bit and Orledis showed us the different fruit trees, coffee plants and animals that lived on the small farm (small being 10 hectares).

Giant avocados!

We had some time to ourselves between 11:30-245 then we would get our salsa lesson. Some of us had lunch on a rooftop, which is not at all pleasant, if you ever sat on a roof when it's 30 degrees plus crazy humidity. Did I mention their BBQ was also on the roof? So ya, hot. I walked through a little side street market full of the exact same things in every stall, before heading to the casa to rest, with AC. When I got back to the room, there was no power. It was still cool from when Diana had been in there so I lay quietly resting. Soon enough, we were being picked up. We had salsa lessons at a hotel and then we were going to steal some time at the pool.

Views from the hotel...

When we arrived, the pool was packed and it turns out we were going to be taking salsa lessons in the packed restaurant...not my idea of fun! Unfortunately or luckily, depending how you look at it, the salsa teacher had an emergency and had to leave. Instead, we changed into our bathing suits and enjoyed the pool. It was actually pretty gross water so I stayed in for a bit, but then once cooled down I hung out with Orledis and some of the girls, chatting and getting taught some salsa steps. When we were all done, we headed back to our rooms where we had a couple of hours before dinner. The power was still off so I lay on the bed in my cold, wet bathing suit, hoping to keep cool. Just as it was starting to get warm in the room, the AC beeped. WE HAD POWER! Thank goodness! I had a bit of a snooze while Diana was showering and getting ready. I got ready myself and we headed to this organic farm (which was basically a huge garden) where we looked at the amazing plants and sat with the most gorgeous view. 

Just as we were picking up the group from the other casa, one of the girls, who was being difficult the whole trip, leaving the salsa dancing early the night before because she was bored, and not having dinner with us either, said she didn't feel well so would be staying back...to have pizza. Her loss!

We drank their own homemade special Piña Colada and enjoyed a family style dinner with food from the garden. There were Yucca chips, taro root crackers, soup, salad, sweet potato, regular potato, squash, pork, chicken, fish, rice and beans, and perhaps even more. It all finished with some dessert of candied papaya. It was very sweet! The food was delicious and we got to watch the sunset over the mountains (or hills).

Once we were all done, we decided to go out for some salsa! We met up in the town square and checked out a few places before finding a tiny place with a great, local, live band playing traditional music. I was pulled up by the dancers who performed while the musicians rested. And then the whole group salsa'd through a couple of songs.

We found out that the next day was Orledis' bday so we made a plan to surprise him. It was back to the casa for a quick shower and bed. Another fantastic day!

The road to Viñales starts with a bang!

Today our tour officially started. Orledis picked us up at our casa at 9. We packed our bags into the bus and were driven the short distance to Plaza De La Catedral where I had been before for the hop on hop off tour. It was nice to hear about some of the history. We walked along the streets while Orledis described history and events that happened in the different areas. 

It's supposed to be good luck to step on his foot, grab his finger and his beard! He was a man who walked the area around the square handing out flowers to ladies and coins to men.

The post office box, still in service!

They made the specific street with wood instead of stone to quiet the noise of traffic, this is an redone version.

Yep, those are eggs

Famous place that Hemmingway went to.

A famous Flamenco dancer!

Perfumerie

Famous Perfumerie

After about 2.5 hours, we stopped for lunch. I didn't know if I could stomach it, with the heat and all, but once it came, it was delicious. We made our way back to our starting spot and to the bus. We loaded up and headed towards our next destination, Viñales. Oledis talked a little on the way but soon enough, most of us were dozing off, when BAM, our tire blew. Our driver, Nelson, quickly pulled our bus to the side, investigated the tires, and before I knew it, he was stripping off his tie and dress shirt and pulling on a pair of coveralls. In less than an hour, the tire was changed and we were back on our way! Thankfully they left the bus running and the AC blasting the whole time! I dozed, off and on, until we reached a rest stop where we took some time to use the bathroom and stretch our legs and then we were off. 

In about 30 minutes we were pulling up to a hotel with an amazing view point of the valley. I took this picture of this awesome statue when all of a sudden, the statue moved, I gasped and jumped and everyone laughed....even me.

I totally thought it was real! 

Ottawa!!!

We jumped back on the bus and our next stop was our Casa where 5 of us were staying. We had enough time to check in and leave our bags before Orledis picked us up and took us on a tour of the 2 street town! He said he'd meet us at the main square at 9:15 for live music and dancing. Eight of us decided to stick together and picked a place for dinner, meeting an hour later. I ran to the ATM and then met up with the other girls at the wifi hot spot. I chose not to log in when I heard how slow it was. Three of us decided to go get a table and order a round of drinks until the rest of them joined us. When we got to the restaurant, the waiter actually laughed at me when I asked for a table for 8. Rebecca, asked about 2 tables of 4 and he said it would be 20 minutes. It wasn't and he insisted that our friends had to come or we'd lose the second table. Just as he was about to give it away, they came walking up, thank goodness. We enjoyed a delicious Piña Colada and I had roast chicken. Afterwards we headed to the square to meet Orledis. We headed into the club and listened to great music, watched some great dancing and other performances.

The sunscreen, bug spray, sweat and bugs were starting to get to me so I decided to head back to the room and grab a shower. It was a pretty good first day, flat tire and all!