Pilote's Travel Blog no. 3 - The Great Internet Caper

The Great Internet Caper

The day progressed rather uneventfully.  The weather was still crappy with lots of wind although the sun did start appearing here and there.  We walked all the way into Varadero and back, approximately 10 kms.

Our quest was for an elusive internet connection at calle (street) no. 30. We found it stocked with 4 computers, only 3 were working. I had to buy a card, 6 pesos for one hour.  We get 95 centavos for every Canadian dollar, the cost therefore was about $7.50 an hour that’s the most I’ve ever paid for an internet connection.  It’s all dial up and exceedingly slow, we also had to wait about 1 hour for a computer to become available.  Cuba is not an easy place to manoeuvre from that point of view.  There is a satellite provided by the Russians but because of the U.S. embargo the wireless connection is very difficult to have (border issues) not sure I understood when it was explained to me in Spanish.  Sent an email to the family, should have no problem getting there.

Some observations:

It’s generally clean, much less options to buy therefore less plastic crap on the street.

Crime rate is very low here, higher in a bigger city like Havana but there are no cops, only security outfits which are not very visible.

No soldiers either which is a big change from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The t.v. reception is abominable, barely watchable.

There are no book exchanges which are common in most of the small hotels we’ve been in during our travels.

The food is very very bland.

It’s very quiet, no hustle and bustle, no street music at least not where we are.  Heard a band today in Varadero centro.

Of course we are hoping for better weather tomorrow so we can go swimming or attempt sunbathing but for the moment Cuba Si is more like Cuba NO.

Pilote's travel Blog no. 2, Varadero, Cuba

I haven’t talked about the sea yet, it is the Caribbean and it does have the brilliant turquoise color we have come to associate with it. Unfortunately the weather has been really crappy, huge wind, big scary waves with lots of foam. We haven’t been able to go swimming yet which is a total drag. This weather is expected to last till Tuesday with a gradual improvement on Monday.  Today we started walking towards Varadero center, the town is like one long strip without too many curves. There isn’t much of a center, a few restaurants, a few mercados nothing too interesting in terms of crafts. I think Cuba is mostly about the rum and the cigars with the odd wooden sculpture or leather item thrown in. It does not have the cultural craft richness of Mexico.  We ended up hopping on a double decker bus, 10$ for the two of us but you can get off and on at will.  We rode it all the way to the end where the big 4 and 5 stars all inclusive are, mostly with security gates and difficult to view from the vantage of the bus.  I’m sure the rooms are more luxurious and the food is probably better, with more a la carte restaurants to choose from. We only have one restaurant a la carte at Club Karey and you have to reserve otherwise it’s buffet style, plentiful but rather bland, they make little use of pepper or spices.  The all inclusive advantage, you don’t have to go running around for a place to eat but I know we’ll be very bored with the menu after 2 weeks in the same place.  The one interesting thing most of the guests here are Russian, yes the place is crawling with them.  Maybe they still have a fondness in their hearts leftover for Cuba from their Communist days.  In so far as the internet is concerned our search has come up empty.  We keep being told there’s internet at this hotel or that hotel but it never pans out.  Tomorrow we will try to find the one and only internet café in Varadero, 4 computers and it’s the old dial up so it’s going to be very slow going.  We’ve decided on two excursions we’re going to do, they’re not cheap, we must choose wisely but Havana is a definite.  Some Canadians arrived today and they thought Club Karey was heavenly. They had the all inclusive from hell near the airport, dirty and NO WATER. They complained so much that the company had to move them. No water is an absolute deal breaker, don’t blame them at all.  

Pilote's travel blog no. 1 - Cuba, Varadero

Pilote’s Travel Blog no. 1 - Varadero, Cuba


Left a snowy Montreal at 3:30 a.m.  Arrival at the airport was uneventful, not a lot of traffic at that time of the night although I was surprised to see city buses already running at that time, that’s dedication for the late night workers who don’t have access to a car or choose to go green.  The line up at the ticket counter was impressive and we thought we were early!  We were unable to secure side by side seats but there’s never much talking going on when we’re flying therefore not much of a difference in that respect.  The flight took a little longer than advertised more like 4 and a half hours than the 3 hours we expected.
The airport was quiet and orderly, a big change from the usual chaotic mess of Mexico.  You go through the customs area one at a time, you also get your picture taken and then you walk through the “magical” door to the other side, welcome to Cuba.  A parade of buses await the new arrivals.  We found our bus easily onward to our “resort” Club Carey.  Club Carey is given 3 stars in the brochure I think it’s more on the 2 star range.  The bus was full and we were the only two passengers to get off at that destination. Haha.  The hotel itself is quite spread out, some buildings are too old and will be “shortly” replaced with new ones, for the moment they sit forlorn and empty.  No high-rises here, the buildings are all squat and rectangular with no distinctive features. We registered at the front desk which has the nicest building around and the one which was featured in the brochure, you can never trust those pictures.  We were able to change 40$ at the reception but didn’t get a very good rate.  First major disappointment, no internet connection and none available nearby.  I’m typing this blog into works and will transfer it time permitting which is a real drag because I like to make it available in real time.  Our room is big and faces the ocean which is really nice, you can hear the constant roar of the waves through the closed windows. The windows must remain closed, there are mosquitoes around, they’re tiny but they still sting.  There are two beds, both comfortable and the pillows are rock hard like in so many hotels in Mexico.  For our first ever all inclusive it’s a little disappointing I thought it would be more luxurious with more bells and whistles.  Nevertheless, in the end, this suits us better.  We can’t complain about the food, it’s very plentiful and the booze is also free.  Most people we talked to seem to just hang around the complex and not venture out too much. It’s not that easy to get around. Varadero, the town, is further away than we thought, we’ll explore tomorrow.  We were very tired today, took some time to rest and when we woke up again discovered there was no water. Luckily we had taken showers earlier but the situation needed fixing.  The staff was very amenable but everything was poco a poco and it took a little while before water gurgled through the pipes again.  The weather is humid and it won’t be that great for the next three days, Sunday should even be quite chilly but the following weeks should be hot and sunny. I’m too tired to make a lot of pithy observations right now. First impression, a little rugged, friendly staff, their Spanish has a lot of rough edges. We still plan on going to Havana but without internet connections we will have to rely on a tour since I won’t be able to do a lot of research to find a B&B etc…Oh well it’s our first time, a voyage of exploration and discovery. Hasta luego.

Originally this blog was intended as a travel blog but I'm going through a bit of a transformational experience and would like to veer away from strictly travelling to exploring the concept of change and how difficult it is to change,not only location but oneself.  Not sure if there's an appetite for this kind of reading.  I might end up just writing this for myself as a way of venting or an avenue to explore whatever little remnants of creativity I have left within myself.  A sort of free flowing, with some context, flow of consciousness blog, not even sure if I can let my consciousness flow that easily. It seems pretty rigidly fixed at the moment.

Edward Copeland on Film...and more: Boardwalk Empire No. 24: To the Lost Part II

Edward Copeland on Film...and more: Boardwalk Empire No. 24: To the Lost Part II

My travels: Almost home and catastrophe hits crops in Sinaloa

My travels: Almost home and catastrophe hits crops in Sinaloa: "Yes we're almost home, in Hood River tonight back where we started. I just wanted to add a few things since we ended up taking a different ..."

Almost home and catastrophe hits crops in Sinaloa

Yes we're almost home, in Hood River tonight back where we started. I just wanted to add a few things since we ended up taking a different route so new stuff to blog about. We left Guyamas no problem. We had heard about the catastrophic frost in the Sinaloa valley but it's one thing to hear about it and another entirely to see it. Hundreds of thousands of acres of mostly corn completely gone, some tomato acreage as well along with orange groves. Sinaloa is one of the biggest growing areas in Mexico. They are well known for their tomatoes, they have a tomato on their license plate. The corn is, unfortunately, all of the genetically modified variety courtesy of a big Dupont subsidiary called Pioneer. I kept seeing those signs with the word Pioneer and WBG1234 or something of that ilk and knew it was a market for the corn. Obviously it may be resistant to disease but it's powerless against frost. GM corn has had a devastating impact on Mexico's native varieties which used to be plentiful and have now either been contaminated or dwindled down to the odd "cottage, indigenous" variety. It's a shame really I would even use the word criminal. Regardless the price of tortilla is bound to go up since corn is the premier ingredient wheat being too expensive for your average tortilla. True the government subsidizes tortillas quite heavily and they'll probably have to do it again.
While on the road we saw 3 men on top of a train heading for the border, long, dangerous journey ahead of them no doubt about that. I also saw another man who's head, covered with a woolen cap, was sticking up from inside one of the containers. I know he couldn't see me but his image haunts me. He seemed to be staring straight at me, right into my soul asking the question WHY?
I didn't have an answer that would satisfy either one of us. On this topic of dangerous journeys to El Norte a plug for a little, Mexican film called "Sin Nombre", rent it if you have a chance, it deals with this topic very realistically.
The border crossing was totally uneventful. We didn't even have a chance to buy Teguila and Cointroy before we knew it we were in the line, on our way and into the U.S.
We managed to find the casino where we had eaten the delicious salads on our way down, same price, same great serving and the weather was gorgeous around 23 degrees. It's always sunny in Arizona. The first night we drove a little bit further than anticipated, way past Phoenix and ended up in a town called Quartzide where there was exactly one motel, a trailer motel, yes we slept in a trailer. It was a little chilly but otherwise fine. Next door was a hopping country and western bar where Stetsons were definitely de rigueur. We felt like aliens from a strange planet visiting earth for the first time. Yes it was weird, a patriotic bunch too, lots of flags including army flags and of course the old stars and stripes. They even had a Polish flag but, unfortunately, it was hung upside down....ooops.
Left Quartzide the next day and headed past L.A. Instead of heading for the #5 we sort of made a mistake and ended up on the 101 instead which turned out to be a fortuitous mistake. I wanted to take the coastal road and Stan was reluctant but fate more or less decided the outcome for us.
Traffic was horrendous all the way to Ventura and it was a Sunday! We're gonna die in a sea of cars and twisted metal. I know we were driving too so it's hypocritical to complain but honestly I just don't get where all the people were going early in the morning on a Sunday. In any case the weather was gorgeous, we stopped in Santa Barbara a lovely slice of heaven well for the people who are lucky enough to live there. After Santa Barbara we took the Big Sur, Monterey highway 1 and what a spectacular drive that was. Probably one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Soaring cliffs, big waves, hills dappled with yellow, incandescent mustard seed and flashes of silvery pampas grass. Truly it was a magnificent if difficult drive. We stopped where elephant seals were gathered to mate and give birth to their young ones. They are strange looking animals especially the males who can weigh up to 5000 lbs. whereas the females only weigh 1,500 lbs. We managed to drive all the way to Monterey unfortunately we were too tired to actually visit anything.
Leaving Monterey we drove all the way to Eureka and left today still on the coastal road going through the magical redwood forest. I always remembered an earlier trip with our daughter when I pretended Ewoks were roaming around the forest. I think she knew it was a lie but she was happy to play along.
Today was a grey day, lots of wind and rain and some very hard driving by the coast. We were fortunate in that we never saw any snow. We're in Hood River now staying in a lovely room with a view of the river. It's a special deal for Valentine's Day. This is definitely the last blog. Thanks for coming along.