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.