Horse Riding in Venales

We take a morning horse riding trip in Venales. The guide wants to take us on a 5 hour tour of the mountains. However, after 2 hours, we are red, dehydrated and getting pains in our behinds ! We convince him to start back to town earlier.

Here is a picture of me on my horse - my ass is very sore after 3 hours of this



Toria is feeling ill, so decide to take it easy for the afternoon - she seems to have caught a heavy cold - not alot of fun.

On the road to Vienales

Talked to some Swedish guys staying at the same house as us. They said it is possible to buy local pesos at the bus station. We went straight to a pizzeria and bought our first local meal for $1 – which paid for 2 pizzas and a plate of spaghetti. However its unlikely we will be able to use local currency in most places.

We take a bus west to the country town of Vienales. We are met at the bus and stay in a "home stay" - which is basically somebody's spare room that they rent out - the cheapest form of accomodation for tourists. It lacks a little privacy though. Our hosts are Roberto and Lola - who are very friendly and eager for us to try cigars and the local drink - "mohito". I reluctantly oblige !

Havana - Day 2

Toria arrived yesterday, so we hit the Havana Old Town and did some sightseeing. The main squares are very nice - lots of Spanish colonial architecture, but as soon as you leave the designated 'tourist' area the place becomes really run down. They also have 2 currencies - the national peso and the tourist peso. We are obliged to use the tourist peso, which basically means we get charged 25 times as much as the locals for the same thing, which sucks. Here is a picture of Toria and a lovely car!:

Havana - Day 1

Just had a lovely breakfast of fruit and eggs served by the hostess Tamara. She speaks no English, so had my first chance to practice Spanish – seems to have gone OK.

The Cuban guidebook and map will come in very handy – thanks Auntie Patricia!

Havana here I come

Arrived in airport in Dublin, 6:00. Flight to Paris is slightly delayed, but no worries as I had a long connection in Paris

Get upgraded to business class for the flight from Paris-Cuba! Turns out to be a good thing as the flight is much longer than I thought – 9 hours. But the time passes quickly with the luxury of having a whole row of business class seats to myself. I could get used to that!

Arrive in Havana at 17:30 local time. Get a taxi to Casa Tamara – greeted by a very Contemplate going out, but decide on a quick nap and end friendly Cuban couple. Staying in a basic, but nice room. Sleep until morning – the effects of jet lag I guess.