No rest for the weary

Trip Start Feb 21, 2004
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Trip End Apr 26, 2004


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Flag of Cuba  , Sancti Spíritus,
Friday, March 12, 2004

I only spent the one night in Santa Clara, and it took a good four hours the next morning to get from Santa Clara to Trinidad, as we took what looked on my map like the extremely long route! I met an Aussie couple on the bus here, Lee and Pailin, who I would hang out with for the next few days. I was met at the bus station by Mirisabel, my new host, and I was glad too - there were hundreds of touts waiting for the bus! Mirisibal couldn't speak any english either, so my spanish definitely looked like it would continue to improve.

I spent the afternoon wandering around the beautiful UNESCO town, taking some great photos. After dinner I met Lee and Pailin for a few beers at the Casa de la Musica. This soon turned into a MASSIVE night! After a while we found a guide in Pepe, who took us to a house party that had it all - Mojitos, a Salsa band, locals, and a chevy parked in the backyard! Fantastic! When this wound up we went to Palenque, another salsa bar in the centre of town.

I woke up pretty hungover, but Mirisabel managed to get a bike for me, so I decided to see out the hangover on Playa Ancon, 10km away. It was fantastic to take in the rays, and swim in the lush warm water. My first dip in the Caribbean! I left at 4pm to go to go to a percussion class, but unfortunately I didn't make it. My bike got a puncture! Before I had a chance to figure out what the hell I was going to do, a random dude offered me a ride to the nearest town, Casilde, on the back of his bike! His mate then fixed the puncture for me! While I was waiting one of the guys brought a chica round to hopefully entice me with. I think it was his daughter. It made me really depressed to see the lengths these generally good people would go to make a few extra bucks.

The next day was equally as jam packed. At 10:30am Lee, Pailin and myself got a cab up to Topes de Collantes. There was an amazing view over the coast from the hills up here. We went on a one hour hike to a waterfall, Salto del Caburni, which was pretty cool, but none of us were game enough to go for a swim. We got absolutely drenched on the hike back. The heavens opened and there was no hiding! When we made it back to the town we started from, the clouds had lifted to reveal a macabre ghost down. There were about fifty identical houses, painted in different colours. It had an Edward Scissorhands feel to it! Later on I finally managed to score my percussion lesson, which was great.
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