TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

So once again, it is time to move on, to the next town in our road trip journey in Cuba. Breakfast at Camino de Hierro Hotel in Camaguey consists of papaya shake and fresh tropical fruits: guava, pineapple and mango. Then we had some omelette as well. BAYAMO RECAP We slept very well in Camaguey. We liked our room, colonial-styled yet simple, and I made sure that the air-conditioning is blowing on my side of the bed and not on Blondine’s. She cannot handle the air-conditioning while I cannot sleep without it. This is the dilemma we always have when travelling together which is quite odd. Blondine, who is born in the Netherlands have a low tolerance for the cold weather. She is always bundled up at 15C when we go out and cannot handle too much air-conditioning otherwise, she will get sick. While I, born and bred in the tropics prefer to go out at 15C (as long as it’s not too windy) without a coat and will not survive the night if it’s too warm in the bedroom. I p...

We only have less than CUC$15 in our wallets and we’ll have to wait for the morning to withdraw money at the bank, so Blondine and I were desperate to find a reasonable restaurant nearby our hotel. Some place that looks nice (very important!) and affordable. We didn’t want to go that far, as well as we didn’t want to dine at the restaurant in the hotel because we want to try new places but we did have our pre-dinner cocktails of margarita here. We spotted Restaurante 1514 Piano Bar along the pedestrian zone and noticed that it is mainly patronised by locals. We scanned the menu quickly and were initially turned off at the prices. It’s too expensive for what the restaurant is worth, but to make sure, we did some due diligence. Perhaps they are CUP$ prices instead of CUC$. The waitress who attended to us confirmed that it is indeed in CUP$ but that they accept CUC$ for payment, of course with proper forex conversion. Great, our lucky night. At ‘Restaurante 1514 Piano Bar’ our tota...

After the displeasurable chill out experience on the plaza and our encounter with the latino intermediary for the 3 local Camaguey guys who pledged their love to me , we decided to go for a city stroll. We wanted to get away from the plaza and from the spotlight, and just be with ourselves, and check out other parts of Camaguey as well. I have to admit that as a woman I like attention. I am not ugly and more than often I get a lot of attention from men. Well, I get a lot at home anyway, haha. But there are certain types of situations and certain types of attentions, especially from certain types of men that you would not want to be at the receiving end. Like what just happened. Anyway, while walking, a blonde man approached us, obviously he is a visitor as well and cordially asked us where we were from. I thought, ‘Not again…’ haha but he was just really curious, nothing more. He recounted seeing the excitement about us at the hotel café on the plaza so he and his local friends (he...

For my Cuban travel diaries, a trip I made last May together with Blondine, we are still in Camaguey, located in the central part of the country (Havana is Northeast). And my last entry was, ‘Where we stayed in Camaguey and the annoying welcome.’ Blondine’s and my priority upon arriving in Camaguey was to withdraw money in the bank. Unfortunately, the hotel personnel told us that the banks are closing in a few minutes and its best to go the next day early in the morning. They open at 8. We initially struggled at the idea of going in the morning to the bank because we only have around CUC$10-15 left in our wallets. Yup, that is our combined money left. That’s about EUR 7-12 which should be fine in Cuba, however, we are not spending based on CUP$ standards but CUC$, which costs us more. Cuba has a 2-currency system: CUP$ for the locals and CUC$ for the foreigners. We know for sure that we will survive dinner but we won’t be able to go to the fancy restaurant I was eyeing at because t...

We were told that our hotel in Camaguey, Cuba is the best hotel in town. I am not sure if that’s true but historical hotel Camino de Hierro is centrally situated in the historical centre, right beside the pedestrian shopping zone and in front of the La Nuestra Senora de la Soledad Church and Plaza del Gallo. Hotel Camino de Hierro on Plaza del Gallo. When we arrived in Camaguey we were surprised at the aggressiveness of the men here. At the rotunda before reaching the centre we were intruded and followed by a man on a bike frantically waving his arms and giving us directions, which I presumed to the direction of Camaguey centrum. We were initially perplexed at this sudden unrequired attention but my gut feel was not to follow him even if I knew he is showing us the correct way. I mean—What does he want from us? Welcoming us to the city? Sheesh. You are scaring us stranger. Go away! Do not bother us. My golden rule when travelling alone or with another female companion is SAFE...