Cienfuegos to Trinidad

I have to say I didn't warm to Cienfuegos and the energy it gave off. The street where I stayed was right off the main square where the statue of Jose Marti was and all the nice looking ornamental buildings, like window dressing. The outskirts of the city were like shanty towns and although there were some magnificent buildings, all were in ruin and dilapidated, it's such a weird thing to see. This island, in its pomp, as I mentioned before, must have been out of this world gorgeous. In the town there were lots of touts and beggars and it took me back to the feeling I have in South Africa where everyone is looking for a hand out and a foothold without trying to better themselves. A cripple in a wheelchair who harassed me so much the previous day, wanting my shorts that were hanging over a bench in the park ( like how was he going to use those as much as I was)? So eventually today I had just bought some biscuits for my trip and passed him again with his hand out, so I gave him a whole lot of them. I didn't even get a thank you or an acknowledged grunt. That kind of irritated me and I feel I have definitely lost my charity somewhere. It's not that I don't feel immensely sorry for the people who have nothing or have a hard life, but I also feel there is just such an expectation around getting charity regardless.

I stayed in a really nice little spot. By that I mean, it had aircon. These places called Casa Particulares, are not flash but are literally everywhere and easy to find, they actually come and find you. All you have to do is be in a touristy area, and it's done. The bed I had was hard and awesome, just like I like it, but still didn't sleep that well. She did my washing at no extra cost and made me a nice breakfast. The communication is so funny. Nobody really knows what is going on but the message eventually gets across and whatever is intended does get across in the end...then if that fails there is always the English Spanish language translator app. It was so hot today and the road was lumpy, unlike it has been before. The temperature was 35 degrees most of the day and on my left, as I rode towards Trinidad, was a mountain range and I could see the clouds looming up over the top. All of a sudden I got absolutely pissed on from above. It was so awesome and I tried to get a video, but it turned itself off before I had totally finished it. The temperature fell 10 degrees and I was drenched, it was so lovely. As I got down near the coast again and crossed many bridges, which traverse the rivers flowing into the sea, kind of like the South Coast of KZN past Umumzintoti, where all those rivers flow into the sea. Just after one bridge I stopped at a restaurant to see if I could stock up with some food for my wild camp evening somewhere in the vicinity. I got 2 amazing pork sandwich rolls and a coke for a dollar. I asked the only table in the place if they lived around the area and it turned out the guy I was chatting to, somehow, was the owner of the compound the restaurant is based inside and he gave me permission to camp on the grass nearby. I had a swim in the river and have had an awesome dinner and a few beers for the equivalent of 5 USD. Sorted after my 70 kms today in the heat, grateful to what has presented itself. Tomorrow I have 15kms to Trinidad and have to meet Bo and Zoe at 1 at the Plaza Major.

My ride here in the morning was punctuated by seeing the first other bike packers since I arrived in Cuba. A Dutch couple on a cycling holiday. We chatted a bit about Holland and that they had never heard of the Netherlands cricket team, normal story...and secondly by getting up really close to a vulture on the last bridge into the town, such amazing birds and the inspiration behind my first poem I wrote. Trinidad has a better feel than Cienfuegos and I plan to stay a few days and check out some of the surrounding beaches and mountains. Penny will be unracked, unbridled and let loose I think. She will be happy to not bear the brunt as will I. The climb up to Topes De Callentas looks hard, around 800 metres elevation in around 15km. One thing about the Cubanos, as they refer to themselves, they are not shy of a bit of volume. The music is always played as loud as possible, even if the speaker is 2 foot away, giving little or no chance for any conversation. I also find their music to be quite harsh. I've generalise of course, as there is some lovely rhythmical stuff, but I haven't found that I am drawn to the live sounds at bars and on terraces that much. I have to admit though, as A nation, they have incredible rhythm when they move and dance, it's very impressive to see. It's not like watching our South Africans on the dance floor at all. I haven't actually stayed out late enough on any occasion yet to really comment on the nightlife, as am usually asleep by 9pm, but I guess I owe it to myself to venture out and see for myself at some point. Today I rode up to Topes De Collantes. It is very much a tourist destination, with canopy tours, and waterfall viewing to do, which isn't really why I am here. Again, there were loads of weird massive apartment type buildings, with unbelievable views over the surrounding forested valleys, completely derelict and abandoned. I took some photos from the one building, seriously special. The climb up to the viewpoint which comes after about 7kms of relentless gradient. There were patches of flat areas, but when it went up it was in excess of 10% and usually between 14-17%, which is nasty in anyone's language. Penny loved being free and she felt light and nimble again, which was a consolation. In total I did 43km and 1300 metres of ascent, for those of you who don't understand riding language, it's a lot. Basically it was 1040m in 21km. Also the descent was too steep and bendy to actually let go and have some fun. The temperature at the top was also a lot less than when I returned to Trinidad, so felt the need to retire to the comfort of the air on for a bit of R and R. That's the nice thing about a Casa, is that they all have air on in the rooms, which after oppressive heat is always so welcoming.

I rode to the beach called Playa Ancon, it's really nice and long with clear Caribbean seas lapping up on the white beaches. I posted some pics on my Facebook and Instagram feed from in the water. One can just lie in the shallow water all day. There is no wind and the water is warm. One thing about the Cubans, for a nation who were seriously into communism, they sure have learnt quickly about capitalism. There seems to be one rule for locals and a different rule for tourists, which always has a side spin of making some money too. Perhaps that's why there are two currencies and one is a quarter value of the other, I think that's for the internal exchange rate and charge to visitors. I rode to the beach and got to an area where a woman came out and stopped me and indicated that the road was being worked on and must go by foot to carry on. I showed her Penny, and that she was well versed at off road activities. She said something about the police not wanting anyone to ride further because there was some construction. Ordinarily I may have debated this but due to the language barrier, got off the bike, locked it to a pole and off I walked. Not having gone 5 steps she again approached and asked for a dollar as a security fee to watch my bike. Seriously. This is how to make rules to make money. Sounds like she should or could be a branch of the ANC. That sort of exploitation annoys me, and about 100 metres down the beach I saw a few locals riding their bikes to where I wanted to go.

I am staying in Trinidad a day longer than anticipated, I'm not sure why, I just arrived at that answer yesterday. I was contemplating catching a bus to Santiago de Cuba then riding around through Guantanamo Bay and to Baracoa, which I still might do. Some automotive transport maybe exactly what Penny needs, and maybe me too. I need to renew my tourist visa in 2 weeks today and there are other towns one can do this in, not only Havana, so may just venture further down South before heading towards the East of the island, some 1500km away. Yip, Cuba is massive. I am however getting a bit agitated by some underlying stuff, a slight reluctance or something, I can't quite put my finger on it yet. I guess when one travels for a long period, one starts to feel less and less like a tourist each day and part of the place, but that is never the case and I'm starting to see that clearly. Cuba is lovely in many ways, it's actually just remarkable, but in others it's so behind the eight ball. There needs to just be an acceptance around that, from the get go. Now I'm not setting out my stall of expectations to feel like I'm in an upmarket westernized society, otherwise I wouldn't want to be here anyway, and I could have chosen an easy option, like riding down the Danube. Bike travel here is hard, especially on ones own. Don't get me wrong, no complaints, I am enjoying my time, but 2 months may have been a bit long. I am getting company in 23 days time and it actually can't come soon enough. Just the ability to sit and talk shit to someone without having to gesticulate and do charades every sentence will be nice...sounds like, 2 words, movie, Hugh Grant...fuck man! Everybody dies, not everybody lives so do something special with your day and play charades with a deaf mute with no arms, for appreciation of how good you have it.