Cuba's free travel strategy+precautions

Cuba is a very mysterious country and one of the few socialist countries in the world at present. It has a high reputation. The Cuban missile crisis happened here, and the famous Cuban cigars are world-famous. Let's share with you the free travel strategy of Cuba.

Strolling through the streets of Havana, I suddenly remembered that in a chat last year, I was inadvertently asked if there was any special place I wanted to go next year, and I mentioned Mexico and Cuba without hesitation. So I am really a person who travels for a long time.

At the beginning of this year, Aeromexico made several waves of promotion, and watched the air ticket from Shanghai to Havana drop from 5 to 4 and then to prefix 3. I was so angry that I didn't do it at the cheapest time.

After sitting, I felt that mohair was unexpectedly ok. Like South Africa at this time last year, going to Cuba this year is also a welcome for nearly 20 hours of economy class trip.

Walking alone, always taking pictures with your mobile phone. I brought my camera, but I didn't take it out.

The days without internet

It is said that Cuba was almost completely isolated from the world a few years ago, but it is much better now, except for a few specific points where there is Internet. I am used to opening the complete list on my mobile phone in other places, but this page is often empty in Cuba.

Some high-end hotels have internet, and the front desk arrogantly says that network cards are only sold to hotel guests. Most tourists and locals buy Internet cards from telecommunication offices or street vendors, and then gather in small parks to surf the Internet. The picture of a bunch of people squatting in a row playing mobile phones is beautiful.

The network card is calculated in hours, counting down from the moment of login, which is very expensive.

Accustomed to the days without internet, I realized that I don't need to surf the internet anymore. I don't know what to do if I connect to wifi. Thousands of group messages on WeChat pop up bit by bit, but I don't want to open any of them. Two days ago, I will need to check something and interrupt a few words to find a sense of existence.

On the third day, I didn't know what to do with my mobile phone, so I began to search for the names of the stars I saw last night-Orion led two hounds, one big and one small, chasing the Taurus in front, the three that were particularly bright were the "Winter Triangle", and the one that glowed with cold blue light was the brightest Sirius in the legendary night sky.

I didn't even buy a network card after that. It feels good to be isolated from the world. There are not so many people looking for you, and there are not so many things to deal with. People don't need mobile phones, the Internet, memories of the past and expectations of the future.

Havana

Latvia has gorgeous ground sculptures, South Africa has colorful blocks, India has broken buildings and little people who take pictures casually, Cuba has all three, and there are old cars running all over the street.

In the downtown square, you can choose any colorful convertible classic car, one is more coquettish than the other, and one ride is to keep the program. You can see it from time to time in the street. Praise it a few more words, and the driver will let you take pictures, which is very generous.

It's fun to paint the streets in Havana. After listening to the piano and mass, the square church in the traditional tourist area of the old city will not be discussed for the time being. Every alley has patches of colorful broken buildings, winding like a maze.

Rickshaws move slowly, students in brown school uniforms and white stockings pass by, and people queue up in front of shops like supply and marketing cooperatives to buy food and daily necessities. The shit all over the street doesn't look so bad.

On the last day, I met two compatriots. When I first arrived, I was exhausted by chatting with vendors all over the street. Why am I seldom called a taxi, or asked for change, or sold cigars stolen from the factory? Maybe I have a cold and pitiful face.

Indeed, the Cuban people are very savage. Idle people in twos and threes sit at the door, praising your beauty (all women passing by praise your beauty), staring at you for putting on airs, and what's more, blowing kisses in the street.

But there are many jokes, and there is nothing really offensive, and it will not pester people. After wandering freely in Havana for three or four days, I still feel very safe.

There is always a band playing in the roadside pub. Occasionally I walk at night, and on several occasions I only listen to loud Latin American music more than ten meters away. I thought it was the legendary Cuban nightlife. Take a closer look, there is a stereo in the street. A person is a big disco, and the picture is so beautiful.

These buskers can be seen in almost all Havana travel notes.

Caribbean girl who buys papaya

A little brother is holding a woodchuck, and another little brother is carrying a fish.

Cubans queuing to buy newspapers

I don't know why, but I feel that there are many barbershops in Cuba.

Hemingway is in Cuba.

Hemingway lived in Cuba for many years. Before buying FincalaVigia in the suburbs of Havana, he lived in Ambos, the old city.

On the top floor of Mondos Hotel, in Suite 5 1 1, there are three books written: Death in the afternoon, Castle Peak in Africa and Although I still have nothing. The elegant green lobby of the hotel is covered with Hemingway's photos, and the room is reserved as a museum, so you can buy tickets to visit. Hemingway's room is surprisingly much simpler than expected. Outside the window, you can see the roofs and streets of the old city. The walls are covered with impressionist paintings such as Manedega, as well as various versions of translations and typewriters and windbreakers used by writers.

Hemingway said: Mymojito Indabodeguita. Mydaiquiriinelfloridita。

These two places where he often goes to drink and meet friends have created two kinds of cocktails, mojito and daiquiri, as well as the two most famous pubs in Havana.

Nature is crowded with tourists inside and outside, and there are often live performances. Elevated railway

There are dozens of daiquiris on Floridia's wine list, so it's difficult to choose. I tried to order more glasses, but my uncle picked up tons of rum bottles and poured them in. Boy, a glass is a little too much.

Most people will order the iconic DaiquiríFloridita. My cup is named after the writer himself.

Hemingway drank grapefruit juice and more rum, and sat under the green forest tree in the weapons square for more than an hour before he recovered.

Caribbean blue

Havana has a sea, but not a beach, but a bay. Local children skateboard under the huge monument by the sea, and some people jog on the road by the sea. Before the classic car turned the corner, there was a sea between the two broken buildings, and the wind came head on, which was amazing.

When I was in Trinidad, I went to Playa recommended by my landlord.

A beach more than ten kilometers away from the town. There are only one or two hotels in Fiona Fang within a few kilometers, and the beach itself is free for everyone. The sand is warm and delicate, and the layered Caribbean is like jelly.

The deep blue sea is connected with the skyline, with the blue of robin's eggs in the middle. The innermost part is completely clear and transparent, reflecting white sand, and the water waves are rippling in the Caribbean sunshine.

The locals took their families and mouths to soak in the water and poured rum in plastic cups. European and American tourists in twos and threes put on bikinis and swam lightly in the empty sea.

Trinidad, day and night.

Trinidad, a small town in central Cuba, is said to have completely preserved the features of19th century. It arrived on a sunny day and looked more like a hot and dry Caribbean town.

The streets are full of colorful low huts and carved doors. The main means of transportation is horse-drawn carriages, plus narrow stone roads. Really like a movie. It's really beautiful.

Trinidad is so small that I seem to have walked all the streets more than three times in two days. Every family runs a homestay, and few people lock the door-so in theory, you can visit anyone's home.

As many as B&B are galleries, the walls are covered with large and small paintings, and occasionally there are amazing works.

Sunrise and sunset, moonlight and starry sky, photos can not be completely recorded, and words can not be completely described. Sitting on the stone steps near the church, drinking Cuban beer, the sunset reflecting red clouds, the band playing, people dancing salsa, after dinner, it was all dark. I went back to the rooftop of the hotel and sat in a rocking chair listening to music. The breeze blows across my face, and the night is gentle. Moonlight illuminates half the sky, and the other half can see sparse stars. The night sky is like a dome and rushes.

Life without internet is very simple, just go to bed early and get up early. At half past six, before dawn, I climbed onto the roof and turned off the light. The moon has already set, I am with the starry sky, and Orion is clearly visible. The pounding of hooves, the barking of dogs, the crowing of roosters from dozens of families nearby, and mountains and low-altitude clouds appeared in the distance. When the morning star lights up in the east and gradually disappears in the morning light, the sky becomes bright and illusory pink blue.

Then it is breakfast time. I didn't book a place to stay in Cuba for the next few days, so I asked the driver to take it to his acquaintance's homestay. The old couple can't speak English. I am the only guest in this family.

The small roof is covered with a diagonal tablecloth with omelets and fresh fruit on it. Guava rustles and there are hard snacks such as peach crisp.

The peddler peddled bread along the street with sacks on his back. When he saw the landlord sticking out his head and buying two pieces, it quickly became a bread basket cut on the table, which contained coffee, hot milk and honey, and a large bundle of freshly squeezed mango juice.

The picture in the middle is eaten at an unknown rest stop, a common snack in Cuba, roast pork sandwich.

The blue anchor is the symbol of the hotel, which is found in almost every family in Trinidad.

Cigar puzi

take a risk

I was too busy working before going out, so I only booked the accommodation for the first three nights in a hurry and made a strategy at the airport. As a result, I found that airbnb in Cuba could not be booked on my mobile phone.

(? _? You need to fill in something extra. In Lithuania, there is no language barrier, no strategy and no Internet. I think this is a great adventure. Four years later, in the face of Cuba, which has no strategy, no network language and is more difficult to move (and looks more dangerous), it is also alone, more calm, and its intuition and judgment on the unknown are much more accurate than at that time.

Some of the things I ate in Cuba these days, many high-end restaurants are flies, and I need to keep catching up while eating, suggesting that they have not climbed before.

On the right is the local shop that follows the driver. 2 yuan a plate. Pork is soft and rotten and delicious!

In Trinidad, the landlord showed me a small park where I could go to the beach by bus. The departure time is not fixed, the boarding place is not fixed, and the conductor does not know what it is. After two days in prison, I really can't find out the logic, so I have to give up.

Somehow, I got into a broken taxi and didn't wear my seat belt. The driver's uncle didn't speak a word of English, and he soared to 90 yards on the suburban highway, surpassing several cars.

As soon as I got on the bus on the return trip, it rained cats and dogs. I shook my hand for a long time and barely rolled the window halfway. Then the broken car began to leak, and water droplets dripped from various unknown places. While driving, wipe the water on the windshield with a rag. It's raining and foggy ahead, but the speed is not decreasing (no seat belt! )。

The driver motioned for a detour to the neighboring town, drove to a local village, stopped in front of a broken building and shouted Spanish. A woman came out and took some money and drove back to Trinidad.

On the way, the driver also pointed out his own home to me. There is water all the way, splashing half the height of the car from time to time. I've always been forced.

Cuban coke, frozen chocolate, Cuban beer

Two kinds of coconuts, local people spread a few cents for a glass of iced lemonade.

Later, I carpooled with three strong Cuban men and returned to Havana, where I lived on 23rd Street in Vidado, a new town. Let the driver get off at the intersection, take a screenshot of Spanish translation such as "I don't have a reservation, can I have a room tonight", and follow the sign of Blue Anchor's B&B to find a desirable home and ring the doorbell. When the host learned that I had to find a car in the street to go to the airport at four o'clock the next morning by verbal agreement, she was equally surprised, because I met an unexpected guest who could not speak Spanish.

You think I ate the food stall in Havana?

Local buses in Havana

23rd Street is very close to Havana University, and there are many locals and students, which is completely different from the old city. Punch in Coppelia, one of the most famous ice cream shops in the world, and then fall in love with the bus that no local tourists want to take.

Peek at the passenger in front to buy a ticket, one peso for a trip, don't know Spanish and the route, get on the bus when you see a car coming, and get off when you look at the gps and think the route has dropped. It's exciting not knowing where to go.

That night, I got on a bus in front of the museum. Then the car drove out of the city through the bay and stopped at a toll station by the sea. I took a photo of the beach at sunset, and then took another bus to cross the road back to the city.

It's like eating the same food with the locals at a roadside stall. Put a handful of coins in your palm and let the other person pick out the correct number. Just like a black car driver will take the initiative to offer a return trip to pick up another business;

It's like booking a taxi on the street and picking it up at the appointed time and place; Just like not following the established plan, there will be solutions to various situations.

After going through some places, I realized that traveling depends not on homework and language, but on intuition and instinct. I would rather follow the laws of the world and listen to the voices of the world half a world away than prepare everything in great detail.

Above.

(The gameplay is more casual, so please don't follow suit easily. It is recommended to do a good job of raiders and book the whole process. )

Air ticket/visa:

Aeromexico Shanghai-Mexico City-Havana, returning via Tijuana, which stops at the US-Mexico border, and the common domestic departures are Aeroflot (connecting in Moscow) and Air Canada (connecting in Toronto).

Mexico needs to go through customs and present a valid American visa or other mainstream developed country visas.

Domestic departure to Cuba can buy a visa card in Taobao in advance, and the materials are simple.

Food and drink:

ElChanchullero, Havana: The ribs without English menu are also delicious.

Lamparillatapas & Havana cervezas: 15 Roasted lobster and large cocktail.

La Portia, Trinidad: Spanish snacks are cheap, full of weight and strong in alcohol.

LaBodeguitaDelMedio: Translated, it is a five-cent pub, which is famous for Mojito.

ElFloridita: Translated as Little Florida, it is famous for its daiquiri.

Sue:

There are few hotels that can be booked in Cuba, and they are very expensive. Basically, they rely on homestays, airbnb reservations or landing.

Airbnid14107435: I broke into the homestay on 23rd Street.

Money and price:

Foreign currency (cuc) and domestic peso (cup) are two kinds of currencies. The exchange rate of the former is close to the US dollar. All ATMs in Cuba can use UnionPay cards to withdraw cuc, and cuc can be exchanged for local cup at banks for roadside stalls. It can be cheaper to use cups when dealing with some hawker drivers.

B&B: Book 30-40 in advance, find 20-25 when landing, and add 5 for breakfast.

Transportation: From Havana Airport to downtown, carpool 20; Carpooling 25; Take a taxi for one kilometer in the city1cucs; It's about 25 to take an intercity taxi home.

Dinner: 10- 15, a glass of mixed wine 3-4.