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Attention, welcoming arms, from big city hubs to small town vibes, American vintage cars and horse carriages, salsa in the blood and proud people and a little bit of scamming.
Okay so one thing you need to know is that as a girl you're gonna attract attention. That's just a fact. Especially if you're a white AND blond girl. 💁🏼♀️
However, there is no reason to feel threatened in any way. We were welcomed with open arms everywhere we went and could count on our hosts. We received recommendations, got into nice and interesting conversations with locals and were able to be part of their lives for a short period of time.
That being said, you still feel a difference between the touristic hubs like Havana or Varadero and the smaller towns like Viñales or Trinidad.
Varadero for one is a peninsula full of beach resorts, made for tourists and only a handful of locals live there. Yes the beaches are absolutely stunning there! 😍 But unfortunately we really need to search for a place with good food. Luckily we had Maps.me to help us out there. Although the people there were still very nice, they kept a certain distance. They live off of tourism there and therefore most things are totally overpriced.
To be fair, the whole island mostly lives off of tourism but there's a huge difference between resort areas and other cities or towns where you're able to interact with more locals.
Havana was already much better. This city is so lively and colourful! Just as its people. To be honest, I was surprised how well people spoke English there! I guess that's the plus side to being in a touristic place. People stopped their cars to ask where we were headed and were happy to give us a ride. Happy because they get to meet us and also happy to make some extra cash on the side for driving us places.
The cars usually were so old that we almost feared they'd fall apart while driving around corners but we always made it to our destination safely. In Havana those colourful dreamy American vintage cars are totally living up to the image. Most of them are actually family heritages coming from several generations. In most cases those cars are also their most priced possessions and they'd do anything to keep them in good condition.
One time we also got to ride in a very tiny classic Trabant car from this elderly man, we barely fit in there with the four of us plus the driver. While some might feel uncomfortable or unsafe, we had quite the fun ride. 😄
Btw, you know what Cubans listen to when they feel sleepy behind the wheel? They listen to Salsa music! A few of the drivers said so, apparently it's in their blood and it pulses through their veins. 😉
The most authentic experience I had was in Viñales, hands down. Locals commuting in horse carriages, these one story houses everywhere with a patio in front. That's basically where life happens. Whether it's getting a shave or haircut, shouting over to their neighbors, playing domino, listening to the blasting TV from their living room, observing the passers-by and gossiping with their friends that casually walk by.
This is where I got to see how life happens in Cuba. There's this cheerful vibe to it too and I just couldn't stop admiring this place. For them, this is their every day life and I get to see only glimpses of it. Which by itself is already intriguing to me. 😃
Cubans are very proud people, especially proud of their land and culture. I admire that endlessly, even though it was a challenge sometimes. However, that is only because I don't know any differently. Our motto for our trips was "Hakuna Matata", just because some things were totally out of our control and we got to take it as it came. But that's exactly what makes it so interesting and fun! And these moments definitely leave me with greater stories to bring home and share. 🥰
Funnily enough, "Hakuna Matata" was the first tattoo I got on our last day on Cuba. I thought it fitting for not just travelling but life in general. 😉
Trinidad was just as charming but much more alive with music pulsing through the whole town. Live bands playing in bars, dance classes happening around every corner. This town is so alive with locals and tourists alike. It's so refreshing to see how dancing can bring so many people from different parts of the world together! And boy, seeing the locals in their element Salsa is just so beautiful to watch! 😍
I could've gotten lost in these streets forever!
The only place that I personally didn't like as much was Cienfuegos. As beautiful as the old town was, with the amazing colonial houses everywhere, the people there were much more reserved and not like we experienced in all the other places. People were more minding their own business, maybe that's because it's a bigger city? 🤔 But that's not how Havana was at all so I'm not sure what the reason behind that was.
Usually we could count on Cubans to hold their words when making out prices for taxi rides and stuff. Apparently in Cienfuegos it's not valued as much because we almost got scammed twice in that town. Okay, maybe scammed is over-exaggerating it but they definitely weren't nice about our deal. I will get more into that in an other post though.
So to sum it up, Cubans are overall very nice, outgoing, helpful and hospitable people. I definitely loved their whole seemingly carefree vibe and had some great conversations with them. Plus, I got to freshen up my Spanish a bit. 😉
Sabbu ❤️
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