Havana, Cuba

INTRO

5/15/17. Mother's Day. 9am. Wake up. Several reggaeton songs flooding through my window. Guy throwing news papers at second story balconies. Screaming and wooping of kids chasing marbles in the street. Car horns introducing each other in rhythm. Fire in the middle of the street to cook stew for the block. People asking how goes the fight while eating cake for breakfast. 9pm. Dudes no shirts booty shorts dance parties in almost every ground level apartment. Fold out tables in middle of street studying dominoes. Full tranquil family meals with open doors like the window of retail spaces. Spilling neon lights of unseen rooftop parties. A kid kicking her heels on a bed to reggaeton while and her mom dances on a stripper pole revealing her baggy white panties. Little kid peeing off a curb while his dad laughs. Cops ask for a light. Cops taking a sip off someone's cocktail.

NOTES

From centuries of fighting for liberation under colonial rule, a dominant political system enforcing cooperation over competition of the individual, and an economy that allows little room to close yourself off to those who may offer you a hand when you need it, comes a community that literally spills into the streets. With this said, because of these same reasons, it is also a difficult country to travel. The near elimination of free market, huge cuts for the government, the idea that tourists are all super rich due to restricted access of internet/state news, and the mentality of struggle to get what's justly theirs, and severe untried penalties to citizens who are even accused by a foreigner of something as simple as a conversation, makes getting around on a budget as well as making authentic relationships rather difficult. With a little bit of know how however, you can get by for cheaper than any country I've been to as well as meet some of the sweetest most interesting people ever. Here's a few things I found that were less commonly listed on the internet, but not nearly everything helpful. Do more research before you leave.

PREPARE

Internet is very limited in Cuba, so do all your research before going. Get the app Maps.Me and

download Cuba. Find blogs you like and print and save them as PDF. Airbnb actually has good stuff in their place/guides section, so write down or screen shot the stuff you like. Watch youtube vidoes on Cuban history (Netflix has a really good series). Pack light if going on a budget airline. Book an AirBNB or hostel the first few days, or research a few good Casa Particulares to knock on the door of. Save pictures of the bus map line. Most important is cash, passport, and flip flops.

GETTING INTO CUBA

Flying to Havana is likely the cheapest. I use Goolge Flights. You must meet one of twelve reasons to travel to Cuba as a US citizen. To prove you meet your selected reason, you check a box at the airplane gate and sign the paper. NO FURTHER PROOF IS NEEDED. I checked people to people. Literally brought no paperwork. Other than this, you need a visa and health insurance. Some airlines have visas they will sell you when you check in. The price depends on the airline. I flew Delta because it was the cheapest at $50. Some airlines, such as budget airlines like Spirit and Frontier, you need to buy your visa from a 3rd party company. This will run you something around $110. Health insurance is included with Delta so I didn't need to do anything else. Not sure about the others.

AIRPORT TO DOWNTOWN HAVANA

You will probably be staying in Centro Havana, Vedado, or Old Havana. To get here, you can either take an expensive 25 CUC taxi, or take the local bus called the “Guagua.” To get to the bus, walk out to the main road from Terminal 3 which you will likely fly into. You can either find a local bus here for 1 CUP toward Terminal 2, or walk 2 km. Take the bus shortly after Terminal 2 to where Avenida Rancho Boyeros intersects. Take a bus on this ave from another 1 CUP going North toward the city. Use your bus map to figure out how to get to where you stay.

STAY

Casa Particulares are houses with extra rooms people rent. In any area with tourists, there will be

many if these. My favorite area to stay is Centro Havana. This place is dirty and real and a party.

Vedado is a little nicer and quieter and still legit. Old Havana is for spending a lot of money on Fidel

hats and Che t-shirts. Knock on the door of a Casa Particular and ask for a price. Usually you pay by

room and not by person, so traveling with others or meeting people will save you money. Depending

on where, Casa Particulares will cost $15-25 CUC. You can, and should, always haggle. If you are

willing to put in the effort, you can find your own room for the same price of a hostel bed ($10).

MY FAV CASA

Casa de Rubia & Yor - if you are looking for a casa, this was by far my favorite in all of Cuba. Amazing hosts that will help with anything. You can never get sick of someone calling you "my love" all the time. Yor will stay up with you and talk about anything. I bought Rubia a bottle of rum for Mother's Day and we all get hammered and partied. They don't speak a lick of English. Next to Hostal Tu Casa en Cuba.

Escobar #116. Animas and Laguna. +5378648327. Ask the hostel to get a hold of them for you -

they're friends.

MONEY
CUC VS CUP - CUC are pesos convertables. These are 1:1 with the US dollar. These are what you will use in most situations. However, if taking the bus or eating at a cafeteria, you will use CUP. There is about 25 CUP to 1 CUC. You can typically pay in CUC at placed that take CUP. 

CUC - Upon arriving at the airport, you should exchange your dollars for CUC at a "Cadeca." These Cadecas are all over cities and all have the same government regulated rates, but sometimes have long lines, so getting a bunch of money at once is nice. ATMS are available, but at times don't work, so cash is best. For USD there is a 3% transaction charge as well as a 10% "fine" for being from the United States (we tried to kill their president hundreds of times, it's only fair). That means one of our dollars is .87 cents of one CUC. 1:0.87. You'll quickly learn how shitty this is with one walk through Old Havana. 

CUP - At the airport they will not give you CUP. At other Cadecas, however, they will. You can also get change in CUP if you pay for something in CUC at a business who's items are lised in CUP, but be careful because they may try to give you a shitty rate/rip you off. NOTE: Many people will tell you CUP if for locals only and CUC are for tourists only. Both of these are wrong. 

Haggling - as a tourist, you will often be asked to pay extremely inflated prices for what things cost. Example - a taxi ride that would cost a local 10 CUP ($.40) might cost you 10 CUC ($11-12). Since you won't know what things are supposed to cost, it's difficult to know what's a fair price. Ask your hostel or Casa Particular person what is fair. If you are told a price that is unfair, suggest what you think is fair, and always be ready to walk away.



TRANSPORT
Local Bus - "La Guagua" is one peso nacional (CUP). Save a map of the bus line to your phone before you leave.

Viazul - the one and only national bus line for tourists. There are others (omnibus, astro) but I've been told they are for locals. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Taxis - there's a lot of different kinds of taxis. A quick Google should get you a bunch of info. Basics - taxi collectivos are cheap and run routes. These are your friend and you should do some research before you go. 



INTERNET
Wifi is only in some parks in hotels and is slow. A wifi card is needed and sold hourly. Find an official place to buy the cards for 1.50 CUC, or buy one off people in the street for 3 CUC. Go at weird hours for faster connections. 

BEACHES
Santa María is the main beach tourists go to. There's a beach bar that sells coconuts full of rum for a couple CUC. if you take the bus past Santa María you get to a beach town with restaurants and bars and clubs that's more frequented by locals. You can find a bus at Parque Central that will take you there and back for 5 CUC. I believe you can also take the guagua. Don't ask taxi drivers for info about buses - they lied to me every time. 

There are also small beaches scattered along Vedado and the rest of the coast. A popular one just called "Playa" is a a wall jump and behind an amusement park. Take the city bus.

FOOD/DRINK
Cafeterías - usually just windows on the side of a building with menus in CUP, but sit down bar style as well. You can get an egg sandwich, fresh juice, coffee, and a pizza all for $1.

Chanchullero (plaza del christo) - really good food for a good price, delicious $2 cocktails, cute rooftop bar. Come around 7pm for dinner or there is a line. After go to the roof for drinks and figure out what's going on for the night.

Cuba Libro - calle 24 y 19 - café with coffee, juice, books in English, queer info. Come here first and ask about events, shows, rad stuff.

Markets - outside of tourist areas you can find markets selling fresh fruits and veggies for cheap. Find one with a menu of items and prices to know you are getting a good deal.



BARS/PARTY
Find a "Cerveza Dispensado" bar. $.25 draft beers that are disgusting and flat and sort of taste like milk. Most popular in the afternoons and close early. Practice incredibly difficult Spanish. Super legit. Be very respectful.

La Rampa - This is 23rd Street between A and the Malecón. Lots of clubs and bars. Party area. 

Casa Balear - "cheapest mojitos in the city" 15 cup. 23rd and G.

La Gruta - reggeaton, pop, choreographed salsa, etc on La Rampa. This is the place to party hard with locals and tourists. Wednesday is choreographed salsa night - must see. 3 CUC cover. Cheap beers.

Malecón - the seawall that borders Havana. Especially on weekend nights there is a big party here. Walk up and down with a beer or bottle of rum and watch the show. Good place to meet travelers and locals. Where La Rampa meets the Malecón is the craziest.

King Bar, 1830, Corner Cafe, and Hotel Florida are bars/clubs/venues that I hear we good as well. Google them.



SEX
Though illegal, there are many prostitutes in Havana. Some are obvious, and some are less obvious, and if you're drunk you might be having a conversation for a while and then go for drinks and go to a park and then there is suddenly a pimp but he is nice and doesn't let you know he's a pimp and then you start to figure out what's going on and you have to explain yourself and she wants your sunglasses for the trouble but you still don't give her your sunglasses. Be careful. 



QUICK NOTES ON PLACES I WENT OUTSIDE OF HAVANA

Viñales - Super tourist town with beautiful stuff around it. Find the scooter rental shop on the main drag and get a scooter for 24 hours fro $25 CUC. Look out for misinformation from people trying to make money. 

Cienfuegos - Nice quiet city with wide streets. Stay for a night and find a way to El Nicho waterfalls and swim a while. Sneak past the gate and go explore caves naked. (10 CUC entry). We found a taxi for 40 CUC rt. 

Bay of Pigs - Playa Girón, Playa Larga, and Cueva de los Peces are beaches/caves with beautiful coral. Go to Cueva de los Peces and rent snorkle gear for 5 CUC and swim in the ocean. If deciding to camp at Playa Girón in a hammock, be aware of billion of mosquitoes eating you alive.