CUBA (2). Local life. Cienfuegos city

Cienfuegos is the medium-sized city with 150.000 people population. We have chosen to visit Cienfuegos as an alternative to the very touristic Trinidad.

Architecture in Cuba is wonderful – all those colours and all the doors facing the street with their typical Cuban style. One thing that always surprised me was how empty streets were during the day.

What’s on TV?

Maybe it is because of high temperatures (around 30°C during the day) and very high humidity, but perhaps it is rather a cultural habit. Cubans seemed to be staying at home a lot. Behind every window there was a TV switched on. I am not sure what they were watching on a communist TV. Several times, I noticed Cubans gathering and watching Mexican telenovelas together. It just put a smile on my face – another déjà vu from Soviet Union times.

Cuban vintage cars

Cuba is famous for vintage American cars. The truth is that cars are very expensive, this is why they have kept renovating them for so many years. There are no service companies, every husband, brother and father can repair the car. Anyways, it is not that often and at least not in huge numbers that you find them in local towns.

At the Varadero airport, it was different; there were only modern car taxis – “touristic” Cuba and “local life” Cuba are like two different worlds.

I steal, you steal, he/she steals. It is not stealing

The red Russian Lada car in the photo hereinabove is our taxi. We have successfully made more than 200 km with it. It is incredible how locals manage to keep those old cars in good conditions. Such a Lada costs around 14.000$ in Cuba. Fuel officially costs 1,20$, but locals get it for 0,20$ on the black market. Someone whispered to us how it works – national companies get fuel for free so their employees re-sell it. In, Cuba if you want to survive, you have to be creative. Following laws and rules is not a priority.

Once upon a time, we were rich (or horses are trendy again)

Those old Russian cars are Soviet Union gifts. The photo hereinabove shows that there are rails for a tram, maybe during better times there was one, today no trams to be seen outside Havana.

People like me, coming from countries once occupied by Soviets, have a very negative approach to communism, but Cubans’ perspectives are very different. Their country was doing much better during those times, and it lost a lot after the Soviet Union collapsed. Fidel Castro had an exceptional relationship with the Soviet Union. Cuba was used as a strategic partner during Cold War and it was overwhelmed with Soviet gifts and donations. On top of that, it had a major sugar industry.

Today Cuba is very poor, no sugar industry and no trams in local towns. Actually, horses are trendy again and very widely used for personal and public transport. Of course, you would not notice this if you only visit Havana: it is like another Cuba.

Cuban schoolboy

We were walking in the centre of Cienfuegos when a local man passed by with three cakes on a plate. We bought one for 2$ to try. A boy coming back from school wanted to chat with us and take a picture. He was a very friendly and communicative local boy, wearing his daily school uniform. In case you wonder, that cake was only beautiful. However, congratulations for creating that piece of art from so little ingredients available.

Great medical services

Cuba is known for high-level medicine; universities are excellent and services in hospitals are good. This is what I have read, and local people confirmed it – many foreign people are coming for cheaper but good quality medical services in Cuba.

However, local pharmacies seemed poor in variety. It had maybe 10-20 different bottles on shelves. Is this enough to cure any disease?

In Cuba, it does sometimes feel like walking in some old movie. Perhaps it is just for people like me, who have lived and still remember Soviet Union times.

Luxury zone

There is a district of rich people, which has beautiful parks, seaside coastal roads for a walk and beautiful big villas.

How we got stopped by police

Cuba has official taxi companies. Locals are not allowed to drive foreigners. We did not know it and happened to be stopped by police on the highway. Our driver was a local guy without any special license. I was told to hide under my hat and not to say a word, Adriano spoke fluent Spanish and looked more like a local. This time, the policeman let us go. Police officers in Cuba have the authority to give you a penalty based on their best estimations. They might believe that you have speeded too much and even have an idea how much precisely. They have no tools to measure it, but you cannot argue. Usually, a local driver told us, they are just looking for cash bribes.

Great empty highways of Cuba

Highways are of good quality. Even European cities could envy such roads – three lines one way, three lines another way, no holes, no any problems, they are just perfect. But how sad they look nowadays! There are almost no cars. Nobody uses those roads. Maybe it was needed during the “great times” of Cold war while the sugar industry was strong and Soviets dreamed of keeping military forces in Cuba.

The picture hereunder was taken at midday. The quality of this photo is not great because I made it through the tinted window, but clearly illustrates how wide and empty the highways are.

Next stop in our trip was famous Havana (read CUBA (III). Havana)