Day 15: Leaving Cienfuegos

I had a wonderful stay with Elio and Elana. Even met their daughter and his momma this morning. I suggested they needed a book for guests to sign so they started one.


After pictures and bike rides, I headed out of town. They had all agreed that the mountain route was not possible by bike, so I decided to do the back roads to the coast road. What an adventure that turned out to be. It looked so simple on my app. Just follow the blue line. Not! Very confusing back in the orchards on the dirt road. And people telling me not to go the way my app wanted to send me. And me not understanding their directions.























Ola! I did manage to get out on the coast road eventually but my route took me 6 miles longer than if I'd stayed on main roads:). And it was a lot more fun!! When I got to the turnoff for the mountains, I decided to go for it. So I turned up. There was a town about 5 miles up and I figured I could get a casa particulare there then head on. Well, it's quite primitive up here. The woman at the store where I bought water said there was no place to stay and that I could not take a bicycle into the mountains. Not possible. As I was preparing to leave someone comes and tells me to stop. A young man has offered a place. For $20 with meals. So I followed him home. This is a true Cuban experience!! He's sold me his bed! He's going to his grandparents for the night.


I'm sitting at the table watching Momma clean the rice for dinner. He just gave me a bracelet that he made. How do these miracles happen to me? I couldn't have orchestrated this. And tomorrow I'll ride back down and take the coast road. I came up that hill just for this and it was worth it!!!

There are banana, mango, and coconut trees in the back yard. It's lovely and rustic.





















The bathroom is the most primitive I've been in. Washing in a bucket. Flushing with water from a bucket. Wiping with newspaper and putting it on the basket. This is probably how many people live here.

Daniel, the young man, is quite a horticulturist. The plants around the yard are all his doing. And there are potted plants and hanging plants everywhere! He wants to work in a museum for plants. He does little log gardens and sells them in the market. His girlfriend, Yumi, does nails. What an artist she is! She showed me samples of her artistry and I was flabbergasted at her talent and creativity.







Tonight for dinner we had rice, beans, some pork, and yucca, fritters, and a salad. I skipped the salad but everything else and it was delicious! After dinner Daniel and Yumi gave me dancing demonstration.

Later we went to the girlfriend's house and through the help of Google Translate and Yumi's bright mind and some English we had a lot of laughs! What an extra special evening this has been!!!!! I'm blessed, that's for sure. Best $20 I've ever spent. And Daniel will make good use of the money. I know that. So kind!




Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 14: Rest Day in Cienfuegos

Downtown village square



Pedestrian mall



Che, the second symbol of the Revolution!



Palacio de Valle



Punta Gorda

I decided to stay 2 nights here to have a day to wander the shops and see what I could find in the grocery stores. Just because I found canned fruits and veggies in Matanzas doesn't mean I could find them here. Nope. Not a one. Went into about 4 stores. Lots of oil, sugar, canned or powdered milk, olives, ketchup, mustard, Mayo, and crackers. No canned food. I was hoping I could carry that for a dinner.




I did find a farmers market with lots of veggies though. Some things I didn't even recognize. I hope it's open tomorrow morning. I have a hard time making decisions at a farmers market because I wonder for buy from him or him or her or her? What to do? Then I just walk out. It's the strangest feeling to be so indecisive. Finally I'll push myself to just buy something. But I'll procrastinate first. Like deciding not to buy until tomorrow. It's possible there won't be the market tomorrow then the decision is made for me:). I wish I wasn't this way. It's so frustrating.

I got some more Internet cards today. What a procedure. I went to the telephone office and there was a crowd. Then dome young guy offers to sell me an hour for I don't know what price. I'm not about to buy this on the street. I wasn't born yesterday :). But he says I can't get a 5 hour card. So I say then I won't get any. I walk away. Awhile later I'm walking by chain and the line is shorter so I commit to the wait. I can't figure out who's actually in line and when I ask, their response doesn't make sense. So I stand in the middle. And like most businesses, their's a guard at the door keeping the crowd outside and letting only a few in at a time. Some more ladies come up and barge in front. People are constantly going up to her front to knock on the door and talk to the guard. Some get inside. Finally after about 30+ minutes I get inside. I have to be aggressive. He who hesitates is lost. There's no politeness in these people when queued up. I finally get my cards. 10 hours = $15. When I went outside the young man yells 5 hours?...cinque huras, I yell back.

I didn't bother with the money exchange as that is a mile out of the center. I'll go tomorrow. So I wandered. I needed lunch but again indecision. Nothing was striking my fancy. So I kept walking. I walked down to the water to sit, drink pina juice and write some postcards. Lovely. I wandered into the Teatro Tomas Terre. Magnificent! There were 3 balconies wrapping around this ornate stage. The details were do intricate. It was built on 1889 but was on incredible shape. Old chairs were still in all the boxes of the balconies for private settings. Louvered doors opened to allow access from the hallways to each private box. I've never seen anything like it!! They just don't build anything today as elegant as these old buildings. I'm glad to see them renovated or at least maintained. I believe this theater is still in use.

I finally found a place to have a sandwich. Of course the prices on the board and what I was charged was significantly different. Like 3x. No argument. Just pay it. Only $3 for a sandwich and soda. The trick is to carry pesos and pay in that currency. It's when they show prices in pesos then give you your ticket in CUCs. I can do the math. Not equivalent. But I don't want to fight. It's not much money. Always an issue, though. I had some pesos so I was able to get some pastries when I found a hole-in-the-wall place that was selling to locals. That was delicious! When I change money tomorrow I want to get pesos to use when I'm on the road. Much easier as that's how locals buy.

I got an email today from my newly engaged daughter that they've set the date: 10/07/17. Guess it's going to be a busy summer planning a wedding from the road. The wedding will be in St Augustine, Florida where most of her fiancé's family lives and they met and used to live. Both of my daughters have married into wonderful, loving families and I'm so happy for them! Their lives have rich connections. (Unlike their wandering, disconnected mother :))

It's evening now and as I wait for my spaghetti with tuna, I'll share my evening observations. This afternoon back in my room which is just past the living room and dining room and has a window to the open air hallway to the back of the house where my hosts live, I could hear the wonderful sounds of families reconnecting at the end of the day. All the neighbors sounds joyously bounce around the inner courtyards of the houses. From the outside they look stark and rough but behind the front door there are inner courtyards and open houses and the sounds of children playing and mommas chatting could all go heard in my room. Loved it!

I then wandered down to the square to get on WiFi. What a great concept. Online yet in community. (If I repeat myself it's because sometimes I don't know if I've shared a repeating thought in a previous post or just thought about it.) Yes, everyone's on their phones but some are chatting and there's a connection still. And everyone's outside together. What a concept!



Grocery store. Lots of the same thing.



Colonia architecture



See the American flag material!



Flirt!



Cuban art.




A theater built in the 1860s



Beautiful interior, well maintained



Artistic elements





I loved this old theater with its wooden box seats and divided compartments.


Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

Day 13: Castillo CEN and then to Cienfuegos

I awoke after another great night's sleep in my tent. Packed up and was biking by 7:30. That's early for me considering I'm usually on the road after 9 am:)

Another lovely day of lots of sun and blasting winds. Just makes my legs that much stronger. I refer to the winds as "air conditioning" and believe me I'm glad to have it. It would be unbearable without the wind.

I wandered down an old broken road passing lots of carts and farmers all smiling and waving. I got a great photo of a wagon pulled by oxen with the weathered farmer driving, his wife sitting in the back and the little dog trotting underneath. Their smiles are priceless.







I wandered on down past their nuclear power plant to the coast and the mouth of the Bay of Jagua. Here is a castle or actually a fort in excellent condition. It was built by a Spaniard. I'd have to Google the rest of the history. I just know the moat was never filled and that this fort protected the city of Cienfuegos from pirates.





I had just left Blaze sitting outside the castle while I toured around. She's hard to steal. When I came out some young folks were admiring her. Then the guy asked if I was interested in a restaurant for later. I said Now:). And followed him and a woman down the street. We parked Blaze out on the terrace and the assured me she'd be fine.

Hunger has gotten me into a tourist restaurant in a beautiful spot. Spending $12 for a small portion of their dinner which was $18 for a full one.








My take out box!

I'm tired of struggling to find food. I stopped at a gas station that had stuff for sale. Nothing like crackers or cookies. Candy, pasta, mayo, and lots of liquor and soap...a whole case of bar soap. I must say they are clean and always smell so nice! They must live on alcohol but I've never met anyone who seemed drunk. Got my orange soda...another new food group:)

Where I am is the mouth of the Bay of Jagua that Cienfuegos sits at the head of it. I figured out today I can take a ferry up to the city so I'm going to cut out about 15 miles this afternoon...yippee. I also learned that March brings the wind. So I guess they may be here to stay. Fun pedaling ahead with these headwinds!!

As I sit in this lovely spot awaiting FOOD I realize the ambience is worth the price. And I got ferry info from the waiter who speaks English. What a beautiful spot!!






This lovely German lad who spoke many languages fluently was so kind to help me negotiate getting on and off the ferry. My only regret was not taking my ginger pill before getting on the ferry. You knew it was going to be rough. But I must say even though I was inside and had a plastic bag out just in case, the ginger kicked in about the same time the nausea did and the ginger won!! I even sat on my bike and fell asleep the last 10 minutes or so.

Landing in a new city and getting grounded is getting easier. Head to the main square. So I circled the square and beyond looking for a Casa particulare for the night. And as luck would have it, one found me!

Elio was in the street with cardboard and the symbol of a sideways H and a laminated sheet about his Casa. I said great! How much? $20. OK! Follow me. And he took me a few blocks to a less pretty neighborhood. Real Cuba.






These casa owners have to work hard every day to find their guests. It's a significant source of income for their family. I usually don't liked to be hawked on the street, but I understand their situation a bit better. And looking for a place isn't easy either.

But behind the front is a beautiful little house and Blaze is sitting in the living room. We had to unload her and tip her sideways to get her in the door. I have a lovely room with a private bathroom.










The shower water was a bit of a disappointment. After 4 dusty hot days I was looking forward to a great shower. This was not it. Barely any spray. Spitting would have been more water. And only cold. (Because I hadn't yet learned to turn on that electrical box at the shower head ...more later). But I managed. Just had to stand under it longer to get wet. The cold water actually felt good. I like experiencing the challenges Cubans face every day. Water pressure may be one of them. And I'm glad to pay directly to the host for the night. I decided to stay another night. This city is so beautiful! (You'll see tomorrow:))

So after my shower I was off to dinner. Elio told me about a pizza place. There I met 2 lovely American young ladies and we joined up for dinner sharing stories of our travels and what we've learned about Cuba, putting the pieces together. Was so nice to be able to speak English for a whole evening! And they were witty and well educated. I learned a lot!! And I had an evening out with company!!!!!

To bed. It's late. I'm tired!


Live YOUR dream,

BagLady

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