Monday, May 1, 2017

Day 12: On Towards Cienfuegos

What a day! Longest miles: 52! Longest hours pedaling: (I don't dare go look because the bugs will get in...I'll look tomorrow)

I met Juan Carlos, a young scuba diving instructor from Spain on his first bike tour, and we rode together for several hours.



I was pushing my little heart out and he slow down so it worked out OK. His English was pretty good so we were able to have some good conversations and some laughs! He even tried to help me find food. I'm desperate to find food, it's not easy to find. There are a lot of places set up like restaurants that want to feed you a big meal… That's not what I was looking for. Finally about mid day I got a ham sandwich at a bar. It tasted delicious! I wish I'd bought a second one for dinner. Tonight's meal was a few Pringles, some olives, a couple of crackers, andbreath mints...that's a new food group! Oh, and don't forget the banana that had slipped down in my pannier. The bananas here are sommuch more delicious than ours back home. I just love them! That will sustain me until I find something tomorrow. I've never known finding food could be so challenging. Sure glad I brought some from home. I still have in my pack some noodles, tuna, soup, chocolate, dried mango, and canned peaches and canned pineapple. Since I don't know what future days may bring I feel I should save the food if I can. Nope. I just broke down and ate a small can of pineapple. I couldn't take the rumbling in my time anymore. I don't think I'll ever take for granted being able to walk into a grocery store in any town and have your pick of food on the shelves. That's just not possible here. I know there's a super market in Cienfuegos, but I don't know what they'll have. That's the hard part. It's rarely anything nutritional.

We came through Playa Giron which is where the Cuban refugees attempted to overtake Fidel Castro with our training and assistance… The Bay of Pigs invasion. There were a lot of signs about the invasion and the victory that they had here. They even build a wall in the water so that no future invasion could take place… But they could invade further up the beach:)


















Playa Giron and the wall to prevent further invasions.
The


These are Cuban beach houses.

At the bar where I finally got food I met some French Quebec Canadians and was invited to visit them at their house. How great is that! I would love to cycle to Quebec exclamationat the bar where I finally got food I met some French Quebec Canadians and was invited to visit them at their house. How great is that! I would love to cycle to Quebec exclamation.

Today after Juan Carlos left me to make it to Cienfuegos for dinner I was going to take a route across instead of out to the main road. It was paved where I turned so I was hopeful my map app had a shortcut but a farmer in a cart came up to me and said not to continue to go back the other way. I guess I couldn't get through to the castle this way. I was glad for the help instead of finding out further up the road I couldn't get through. That's happened to me with this app.

And I almost forgot to mention the headwinds today!! How could I forget? It blew in my face all day long! Towards the end of the day it was the worst wind I've ever biked in!! And yet I made the miles, go figure! The good news today is it was overcast most of the day and that was a relief.

The one thing I'm uncomfortable with here is the fact that whenever I go to buy something and don't understand the price they're telling me I know they're going to charge me more or give me the incorrect change. It's not that I don't mind paying more, that's all right, it's that I feel like they're stealing from me and I don't like that feeling. I think I'm just going to give them more money than I expect it to be and tell them to keep the change...that way they get the extra money and I don't feel like they stole it from me...it's a gift to them. That changes the whole nature of the relationship. I've got a pretty good sense now of what I should be charged for water or an orange soda. And they certainly need the extra money.

I'm camped tonight in a young forest and the wind has been flipping through the trees. I love being so alone in the woods where no one knows I am. I feel part of something bigger! One with the universe! A part of all that is! And I could be on any continent anywhere in the world. Like this they all feel the same.





Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 11: To Bay of Pigs

As I cycle along the side of the road I often see animals tethered there to graze. This can be horses or cows or goats. It appears that people that have only a couple of animals and don't have land, use the sides of the road as pasture. And tethering is cheaper than putting up fence and tethering is cheaper than putting up fences. There are a lot of animals tethered here and there.






Many areas are fenced with barbed wire and then this form of cactus that grows very dense and is cut to about 6 feet high nothing is getting thtough that!! I've also seen scraps of metal sheeting used to make fences. Very innovative!


Today I saw a well worn weathered man with the cigar hanging out of his mouth and tattered cowboy hat on with this horse next to him getting ready to cross the road. It would have made such a classic photo!

A bus full of teenagers taking pictures of me out the open door and yelling to me out the window, none of which I understood but it was funny.

Busy busy Saturday towns full of people all smiling and laughing and out and about the roads full of horses and buggies and bicycles not to mention the trucks and cars too. But still I can't find food!

A car stopped on the side of the road and the guy got out to take a picture which is the first time that's happened in Cuba and he said yesterday he saw me and Mantanzas and now today here and he was amazed that I had gone that far. His whole family is in the car cameras out the window taking pictures… So cute.

A man with the big camera pulled his car over to take my picture he was from Italy and he spends five months a year here in Cuba. He was taking photos of unusual things that he sees.

Stopped in at this tourist trap crocodile place and I was hungry so I ordered hamburger. It was frozen patty that was just wared through and did not fully cooked. He wouldn't cook it more. I hadn't paid for it. So I just walked out. He wouldn't give me the time of day so why should I pay him?

Later I stopped in this area with a collection of houses with tables for seating people and I just wanted a cold bottle of water. They wanted to feed me a meal: "special offer"! A tourist bus was unloading. Bad sign. But these guys were checking out Blaze (she gets more men oggling her than I do:)) and I mentioned I needed "agua fria", so this guy signals for me to follow him as he goes up the side of the road lifting rocks out of my way asking at other houses if they have any water. Finally he finds some. Overpriced but cold and wet. He was so cute with his big smile. I get so wrapped up in living life, I forget to get pictures!

I was cycling out of Playa Largo down the road along the bay when I decided to pull into one of the resorts because I could see the water. I just thought I'd check it out and also see if I could take a break in some shade as the road was in the sun totally. Who did I meet there but the young man who earlier in the day had stopped me on the road to take my picture who I had also seen me the day before and Matanzas. How cool is that?!? What are the chances I stop into the one resort where he was staying? And what are the chances he'd be out and about when I did? He introduced me to his little son too. He's a computer fixer in Matanzus. Says that since they've been allowed to have their own businesses things have gotten much better in Cuba. He owns a car and can afford vacations. He loves his country! We're gonna be Facebook friends:)



I'm getting a bit nervous about the food I'm eating.. I went to a little lady's stand today in Playa Larga for lunch. I had really good potato balls with ground beef inside. But I also ordered lemonade and I don't know what water it was made with and I ordered a hamburger and have no idea what I ate! I think it was raw hamburger with some kind of coating on it. It was served with tomato and cabbage. Tasted really good! But I'm nervous. Hopefully I have enough metronidazole with me in case I do get Giardia.

I'm going to camp tonight on the beach at Bay of Pigs. I found a secluded spot. For dinner I have banana and pineapple. And Pringles! Hope that's enough. Oh and I had some crackers and olives. Yum! As I watched the sun set over the water I thought of all the times I've camped at the water's edge watching the sun go down. It's been quite a lot over the years! One of my favorite places to spend a night!! Lucky me!!!!!!






Live YOUR dream,

BagLady