I am now back from holiday. With Tracy and Sara I have just returned from a really interesting holiday in Cuba. Regrettably there was little opportunity to blog from Cuba, with internet access in hotels limited and on one occasion not capable of use as the entry code cards hadn’t been delivered.
Cuba is now a fairly standard holiday destination, but we were keen to see a little more than just the capital or beaches and learn something of the country's recent history . So after arriving in Havana and spending a few days there we drove to a resort into the east of the country at Cayo Lavisa. After resting for a few days on the beach there we flew to the second city in the south of the country, Santiago da Cuba, before another car journey to an “All In Resort” at Guradalavaca. We then took a further plane journey back to Havana before coming home.
I hadn't previously visited a Communist country and what I saw was a society continually looking backwards towards the 1950s revolution rather than one looking forwards. The vintage American cars are well-known, and now a tourist attraction, but the whole economy, industry and infrastructure is left behind in the 1950s as well. Some development took place in the 60s and 70s a time when Cuba was allied to Soviet Russia and so attractive colonial buildings sit side-by-side with more recent brutal concrete blocks. Many of the buildings are run down, most of the roads are a very poor state, factories are crumbling and there is evidence of much poverty.
We visited several museums and monuments to the revolution aiming to understand what happened at that time. In Santiago we visited the barracks where the revolution was launched and where the bullet marks in the external plasterwork have been preserved. We saw the balcony where Castro addressed the people once the previous president had fled in 1959. We went to the museum in Havana housing the boat that Castro and Che Guevara took from Mexico to launch the revolution. All very interesting, but little compensation for the low standard of living we could see experienced by the people living in the countryside as we drove by .
Cuba has finally recognised that it has one big asset, which is fantastic beaches and a very warm climate, making it ideal for tourism. Interestingly the all-in-resort we visited was opened by Castro five years ago and the speech he made at that time is written on the wall where he claimed credit for the entire enterprise being of Cuban construction. Now that tourists are welcomed and with a possible relaxation on travel arrangements from the USA it is likely that Cuba will be able to earn valuable overseas exchange and reinvest in its economy and provide growth which will enable living standards to rise.
We enjoyed spending time in a society very different from our own and experiencing a different culture. Everywhere people were pleased to talk to us and learn about where we were from (as well as trying to sell us cigars or earn a tip!). I have returned refreshed and ready for the next few months leading up to the General Election.
Cuba is now a fairly standard holiday destination, but we were keen to see a little more than just the capital or beaches and learn something of the country's recent history . So after arriving in Havana and spending a few days there we drove to a resort into the east of the country at Cayo Lavisa. After resting for a few days on the beach there we flew to the second city in the south of the country, Santiago da Cuba, before another car journey to an “All In Resort” at Guradalavaca. We then took a further plane journey back to Havana before coming home.
I hadn't previously visited a Communist country and what I saw was a society continually looking backwards towards the 1950s revolution rather than one looking forwards. The vintage American cars are well-known, and now a tourist attraction, but the whole economy, industry and infrastructure is left behind in the 1950s as well. Some development took place in the 60s and 70s a time when Cuba was allied to Soviet Russia and so attractive colonial buildings sit side-by-side with more recent brutal concrete blocks. Many of the buildings are run down, most of the roads are a very poor state, factories are crumbling and there is evidence of much poverty.
We visited several museums and monuments to the revolution aiming to understand what happened at that time. In Santiago we visited the barracks where the revolution was launched and where the bullet marks in the external plasterwork have been preserved. We saw the balcony where Castro addressed the people once the previous president had fled in 1959. We went to the museum in Havana housing the boat that Castro and Che Guevara took from Mexico to launch the revolution. All very interesting, but little compensation for the low standard of living we could see experienced by the people living in the countryside as we drove by .
Cuba has finally recognised that it has one big asset, which is fantastic beaches and a very warm climate, making it ideal for tourism. Interestingly the all-in-resort we visited was opened by Castro five years ago and the speech he made at that time is written on the wall where he claimed credit for the entire enterprise being of Cuban construction. Now that tourists are welcomed and with a possible relaxation on travel arrangements from the USA it is likely that Cuba will be able to earn valuable overseas exchange and reinvest in its economy and provide growth which will enable living standards to rise.
We enjoyed spending time in a society very different from our own and experiencing a different culture. Everywhere people were pleased to talk to us and learn about where we were from (as well as trying to sell us cigars or earn a tip!). I have returned refreshed and ready for the next few months leading up to the General Election.
