May 23, 2004
Remedio: There and Back

Road trip! Nothing would make your stay in Cuba so worthwhile as a little outing into the interior.

While in Caibarien, I was glad to take a somewhat rare opportunity for cruisers to go inland. Away from endless paperwork, searches and the prying eyes of uniformed man in the "international" marinas Tobi and I tasted the dust of real Cuban roads, towns and people. The word on the street was that Remedio is worth seeing and cheap to get there, you just hitchhike and pay few bucks to a driver taking the risk. Drivers of private cars in Cuba are fined if caught driving foreigners around in their cars; because hitching foreigners in private cars pays nothing to the Cuban government, it is therefore illegal. And what a treat it is to ride 50s and 60s Plymouths and Fords kept on the roads by industrious Cubans. These poor people make good use of their ingenuity, patience and hard work to make up for shortages and lack of parts and materials. Their poverty, in the true spirit of communism, is blamed on outside powers, namely the US. Don't get me started here. I grew up in similar nonsense minus the warm weather.

Remedio is famous for its beautiful cathedral built by the Spaniards and rich in gold ornaments. So we were told. Unfortunately we didn't get to see if it was true or not, as the building was closed, but town was pleasant enough to walk around and exchange glances with curious residents. Tobi even had her go at the local clothing store and fished out a gorgeous blue third hand Banana Republic shirt (with the Value Village tag still attached!) which, because of the setting we found kind of amusing. Remedio is a one-day-visit town and after cooling off in a colonial house converted to an upscale bar we hitched our ride back home. I loved the ride back the most. Sunk in the back seat of 63 Plymouth I felt like a million bucks.

I could drive around Cuba forever.

Maciek