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DAYS 212-218: Havana, Cuba Photo Tour

12/29/2013

One afternoon, Pepe from Casa de Ana y Pepe offered to show us around the old city of Havana. On another day, my cousin Tere and her family brought us around the neighborhood to see many of the notable areas of Vedado and Miramar. When we weren't with family, we also spent some time on our own in Havana, exploring the old city, walking along the Malecon (Havana's sea wall) and wandering through the streets of Vedado. Much of the city has been frozen in time since the 1950's, so it's a fascinating place to simply wander around. Here's a photo recap of many of the things we saw.

Pepe gave us a lift into town in this old Ford from the '50s.

We drove through a beautiful park called Parque Almendares.

Old American cars at Parque Almendares

Monument to Jose Marti, a famous Cuban poet from the 1800's. The monument is located in the center of the Plaza de la Revolucion, where many of the government offices are located.

One of the government buildings in the Plaza de la Revolucion. Che Guevara is a national hero in Cuba and his image can be found everywhere.

This is Camilo Cienfuegos - one of Fidel Castro's top commanders. Below his facade it says "Vas bien, Fidel" (You’re doing fine, Fidel), representing the famous response of Camilo to Fidel when he asked, "Am I doing all right, Camilo?".

Old cars parked along the Plaza de Revolucion

This is the main entrance to the University of Havana. It's a huge university with tens of thousands of students. University tuition is free to Cuban students, but they must pass a test in order to enroll.

This is the athletics area of the university which has clearly been abandoned. I imagine at one point this pool hosted swim meets. A common theme we saw around Havana was pools and fountains without water. We suspect the fountains and pools remain waterless due to the electrical requirements and associated cost of operating pumping and filtration equipment.

The Capitol Building, modeled after the US Capitol

The Payret Theater with the Capitol in the background. This main street is called the Paseo del Prado.

Gran Teatro de la Habana, home to the Cuban Ballet and currently undergoing renovations. It is a stunning building, reminiscent of something you'd find in Paris or Vienna. The building was originally built to hold social gatherings for the immigrants from Galacia, Spain in the early 1900s.

In some respects, not much has physically changed since the 50's other than the passage of time, and certain things that either were or were not given a fresh coat of paint.

Across the street from the Capitol building

This is the Havana Libre hotel in central Havana. It used to be the Hilton pre-revolution. The Hilton opened a matter of months before Castro took control of the government. It was then taken by the government and was home to Castro's offices for several years in the early 60's.

Statue of Christ overlooking the city

This is Havana's oldest cathedral. My mom and uncle were baptized here.

Inside the cathedral. The chandelier was a gift from Mexico and is supposed to represent a traditional dress worn by Mexican women in the old days.

Plaza next to the Cathedral

Beautiful windows in Cathedral Square

Students visiting the Museum of the Revolucion. This building used to be the Presidential Palace for Cuban presidents prior to the revolution. This is where Castro's army attempted to assassinate Batista. You can still see the bullet holes on the marble wall behind the students pictured above.

The Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway lived for several years.

In the hotel lobby

We passed by this place - La Bodeguita del Medio - where Hemingway is said to have gone for his mojitos. We stuck our heads inside to check it out.

Despite the fact that the bar was tiny, they had an amazing band playing,

More cowbell!

Chris in the doorway of the Bodeguita del Medio

This guy was rolling cigars in a local shop.

A smoking room near the cigar roller

Sevillanas! The Spanish culture is still alive and kicking in Havana. We spotted these flamenco dancers while passing by a restaurant named El Meson de la Flota on calle Obispo.

An old fashioned pharmacy named Taquechel. In the old days, the chemists used to keep medicines and herbs in the porcelain jars in the glass cabinets. They would mix them in the back lab and send them off to their customers. Today it's still a pharmacy - but the things that are actually for sale are on the lower cabinets. The jars are just for show.

We climbed up to the top of one of the taller buildings in old Havana to catch an aerial view of the city.

Up on the roof

How cute is this little ice cream shop on the roof?

The Capitol building in the distance

Looking down on the square

This is one of several old train cars that were used to shuttle Cuban and visiting presidents around the country in the old days. The US President had a special car reserved for him when he was visiting Cuba. Today it's on display in the old city.

Pretty street in Havana Vieja

Car trouble

This mini church is a Greek Orthodox chapel on the grounds of a larger church

In the same garden was a lovely memorial to Mother Teresa

Headless geese wander the premises

We peeked into the lobby of the Havana Club distillery

These mail slots are all over old Havana.

Happy New Year! This restaurant is located right in front of the Cathedral.

Strolling back along the Malecon

Lots of people come here at dusk to fish

Even more common than classic American cars from the 1950's are these Soviet-built Ladas from the 1970's and 1980's. There are also Mercedes from the 1980's. We were in one with almost 800,000 miles on the odometer.

This is the Hotel Nacional, maybe the most famous old hotel in Havana. It sits upon a promontory overlooking the Malecon and the sea. It's an art deco style building constructed in the 1930's. They keep this one in very nice shape.

Looking up at the Hotel Nacional from the street

Built into the rock outcropping is an old fort used during the time of the Spanish Conquistadors. It currently houses an exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Sunset over the Vedado neighborhood of Havana

View of the Malecon and old Havana in the distance. People are just starting to gather along the Malecon around sunset. On Saturday nights, the Malecon is full of thousands of Cubans hanging out, talking, playing music and dancing until the early morning hours.

Granizado is like a slushie in the US or a piragua in Puerto Rico. It's shaved ice with some kind of sweet flavoring.

Colon Cemetery in Vedado. With 500+ elaborate mausoleums, it is one of the great historical cemeteries of the world. It is said to be the second most important cemetery in Latin America after La Recoleta in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, we only saw the cemetery from outside the gate as the guards tried to charge us to enter (even though I have family buried here).

There are no advertisments in Cuba since it's a communist society. However, there is a lot of propaganda like this billboard saying "Everything for the revolution".

This flag was at half mast for Nelson Mandela, who died the day before.

Final Thoughts
Walking around Havana was a fascinating experience, not just because it hasn't changed much since 1960, but also because of the of influences of the communist system on everyday life. For example, it occurred to us that neither of our careers (marketing and investments) exist in any form here. These are two growing industries worldwide, and neither career path is an option for young people in Cuba. Even China, which is still politically a communist society, has evolved to a largely free market economy. In one way, it's unfortunate that the people in Cuba can't benefit from these opportunities. However as a visitor, it was refreshing to experience a society free of chain restaurants, hotels, stores, in-your-face ads, etc. In many respects, life is much simpler here and people really seem to enjoy the company of one another. You'll find some of the friendliest people in the world in Cuba, even if you are an American:)

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Days 212-218: Meeting family in Cuba

12/28/2013

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In my last couple of posts, I mentioned that we were traveling to Cuba to meet our family there for the first time. The trip to Cuba was long and complicated but well worth it! It turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of our entire trip.

Background
Before I describe our experience in Cuba, I thought it would be helpful to provide some context.

My mother was born in Havana, Cuba in the 1950's. During the Cuban revolution, right after Castro nationalized all private property in the country, my grandparents left Cuba for the USA with my mother and uncle, and my grandmother's parents. They were only allowed to bring one suitcase of clothing each and $5 per person. They left everything else behind, including many family members who stayed in Cuba. Eventually my grandparents settled in Puerto Rico, where my grandmother continued her career as a teacher and my grandfather, an architect, built a successful contracting business. This is a familiar story for many Cubans. Many of my grandparents' family and friends eventually left the country and started new lives all over of the world.

My grandparents still have close family members living in Cuba, most of whom, still live in the same homes their parents and grandparents lived in before them. My grandmother is still in touch with our family in Cuba and has even gone back once to visit. Prior to our arrival, she called ahead to let them know we would be visiting.

Because things in Cuba haven't changed much since the 50's, we were able to get a good idea of what Havana would have looked like when my mom and grandparents lived there (though the buildings are much more run down now than they were back then). Our family members in Cuba still have lots of old photographs and newspaper clippings of my mother, grandparents, and great grandparents during their youth. These were things I'd never seen before, since my grandparents couldn't take them when they left Cuba.

So here is part of their story. Meet my grandparents:

My grandparents: Susana Bertha "Baby" de la Cuesta y Alvarez & José L. "Bebo" Hernández y Suárez

My grandparents on their wedding day in Miramar, Havana, Cuba December 21, 1952

My Grandmother's Side - de la Cuesta
My grandmother's great-great-great grandfather was a notable figure in Cuban and Spanish history. His name was Santiago de la Cuesta y Manzanal and he was a Spanish count, holding the title Conde de la Reunion de Cuba. He came to Cuba in 1790 from northern Spain at the age of 12 with his older brother Pedro, who was 22. The two became very successful businessmen. Pedro died sometime between 1820 and 1833 without children, leaving Santiago with the business. In 1824, the Spanish King Ferdinand VII gave Santiago the title Conde de la Reunion de Cuba. Santiago married Concepción González Larrinaga, the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Cuba and thus grew his business and position in Cuban society even further. The family owned several successful businesses across different industries in Cuba and by the 1830's the fortunes of Santiago were ranked as third in the country.

de la Cuesta coat of arms

The former house of the Condesa de la Reunion (Countess of the Reunion - wife of Santiago). Currently, this is a foundation dedicated to the famous writer Alejo Carpentier, who wrote several novels while living here in the 20th century.

This plaque is inside the building pictured above.

The history between Santiago de la Cuesta Manazanal and my great-grandfather Pedro de la Cuesta is not well-documented. According to my grandmother, Santiago's descendants maintained his title Conde de la Reunion de Cuba until her great uncle spent most of the family fortune on lavish parties. When there wasn't much money left, he sold the title. I found this family tree that documents the de la Cuesta family through 1988 (I'm listed as Eva Alexandra Wallman y Hernandez de la Cuesta. Quite a long name!)

Fast forward to the 1930's-50's. My grandmother's father, Pedro de la Cuesta, a successful real estate agent in Havana, married Carmen Alvarez and then my grandmother came along in 1930. Pedro's brother and Carmen's sister were married to each other and had two sons, the younger of whom - Guillermo - is close in age to my grandmother. So my grandmother and Guille are "double cousins" and grew up like brother and sister. My grandparents married in 1952 and then Guille and his wife, Marlene, married several years later. My mother was the flower girl at their wedding! Guille and his wife, Marlene, were also fantastic dancers and traveled to New York in the late 50's to perform at the Waldorf Astoria and on the Steve Allen show.

Guille and Marlene on their wedding day

My mother (on the right) as a flower girl at Guille & Marlene's wedding.

Marlene's bridal shower. My grandmother is the second lady from the right and Marlene is standing. For other family members who are reading: Olga is second on the left followed by Mirtica and Ninfa.

Fast forward again to 1960 - my grandparents left Cuba for the US with my mom and uncle and my grandmother's parents. Guille remained in Cuba with his family. Since the relationship between Cuba and the US has been tumultuous since the Cuban revolution, it hasn't been easy to travel between the two countries. Therefore, my grandmother has only seen Guille and his family in person a few times since she left.

Dinner with the de la Cuestas
After arriving in Havana, I was very excited to finally meet everyone! One evening, they invited us over to their house for a delicious dinner prepared by their daughter, Miriam. She made us a typical Cuban meal - pork, rice, and black beans and it was fabulous (especially the flavor of the black beans). We met Guille, Marlene, their daughters, grand children and great grand children. We spent lots of time talking about family, looking through old photos and newspaper clippings and discussing life in Cuba.

Me with Miriam, Guille & Marlene

Chris with Miriam & Marlen

My cousin Maria Karla with her adorable daughters - Maia (baby) and Maria Alejandra

with Maria Karla

My Grandfather's Side - Hernández
My grandfather's grandfather was a man named José L. Hernández Guzman and he ran several large newspapers in Cuba at the turn of the century, the largest of which was called La Lucha.

His son José L. Hernández Bauza was known for his talents in taxidermy, particularly with birds. Everyone who knew him said he had a natural talent for putting life back into dead birds. His animals are still on display at a museum in Havana and he's been referenced in several bird books.

Both men wore wire-framed tinted glasses all the time - even in an oil portrait!

José L. Hernández Guzman - the newspaper man

José L. Hernández Guzman

José L. Hernández Guzman and his family. The boy on the right was my great-grandfather, José L. Hernández Bauza.

The butterflies were from my great-grandfather, the taxidermist - José L. Hernández Bauza. On the left is a photo of his dad, with the tinted glasses, of course.

This was the home of my great-great grandfather (the one who owned the newspapers). My grandfather's cousin currently lives on the first floor with his wife and daughter.

The interiror of the home hasn't changed much! I showed this picture to my grandfather and he remembered everything - the chandeliers, the vase and even the the marble pedestal by the chair. He told me that back in the day, the maids had to take the glass chandelier down and clean each ball of glass one by one.

My grandfather had a sister very close in age nicknamed Beba, as well as a much younger half-brother named Julio. His brother lives in Miami now and I grew up knowing him and his family, since they had previously lived in Puerto Rico for a long time. I still see them from time to time and several of their children still live in PR. Beba, on the other hand, stayed in Cuba with her husband and my great grandparents. I never had the opportunity to meet them.

Beba & Bebo (my grandfather)

Newspaper clipping of Beba's bridal shower. My grandmother is seated next to her on the right.

Newspaper clipping of Beba on her wedding day

One day we went to visit my grandfather's niece, Tere (Beba's youngest daughter), her husband Miguel, and their son. They picked us up at our casa and brought us to their house, which was nearby in Vedado. This house was built by my grandfather for his sister Beba. She lived there until she passed away in 2003. Now her daughter (Tere) lives there with her family. Tere and Miguel showed us lots of pictures of the family (including the newspaper clippings above). They told me all about Beba and how she was the nicest and happiest person in the world. My grandparents have always said the same thing about her and I'd soon learn that most people felt this way about her. She was clearly a very loved person.

On another day, Tere and Miguel took us on a tour around town and then to visit my grandfather's cousin Mickey, who lives in the beautiful family home pictured above. Mickey was quite a character and told us stories from his days in Africa working for a micro-finance company. Old age left him a bit forgetful and kept turning to Chris and asking the group Who is this giant??? We'd explain, but then he'd forget in about 10 minutes and ask again. It was pretty funny after the the third time. What made it even funnier was that Mickey is only 3 inches shorter than Chris! I guess next to the rest of us, Chris looks like a giant!

We had a wonderful time meeting this part of the family, seeing my great-great-grandfateher's house, and hearing old stories.

With my grandfather's side of the family: Mickey - my grandfather's cousin - is in front. His daughter, Baby is on the left next to Tere, her son Cutu, me and Miguel.

My Grandfather's Buildings
My grandfather is an architect and has built many houses in Puerto Rico, including the one he lives in now. Before Puerto Rico, he built many homes in Havana and in a little beach town right outside of the city named Tarará. It was in this town that he lived with my grandmother, mom, and uncle. Both of his parents and my grandmother's parents lived here as well. He also built the town's yacht club, where Ernest Hemingway kept his boat. In fact, Hemingway docked his boat right next to my grandfather's! Tere had a photo album full of the homes he built during the 1950's. Here are a few:

My great-grandfather's beach house

"Ledon y Hernandez" sign in front of one of their houses. My grandfather's business partner - Ledon - also left Cuba and his sons currently live in Puerto Rico - right down the street from my grandparents.

My grandfather's yacht club in Tarara. The club is no longer there but Tere kept this drawing, which is hanging in her house.

We had a wonderful time with all of our family and really appreciate all their hospitality. I hope it's not too long before we can visit again!

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Days 209-211: Long Journey From Caye Caulker, Belize to Havana, Cuba

12/22/2013

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As mentioned in our last post, we were journeying to Cuba via Mexico City. But getting to Mexico City from Caye Caulker, Belize turned out to be a bit trickier than we'd expected.

Journey Stage 1: Caye Caulker to Mexico
We learned that the most 'efficient' way to go was to take the daily ferry from Caye Caulker to Chetumal, Mexico, which lies on the Mexico-Belize border. Then we'd hop on a flight from Chetumal to Mexico City. There was one catch - there's only one ferry per day from Caye Caulker to Chetumal, and only one flight per day from Chetumal to Mexico City (or to anywhere for that matter).

The daily ferry leaves Caye Caulker at 7am, stopping in Ambergris Caye. It then supposedly departs from there around 8am for the 90-minute ride to Chetumal. This would have put is in Chetumal around 9:30. The daily flight to Mexico City leaves from Chetumal at 11:20, so we thought we'd be there with time to spare.

Of course, we did not take into account Belizian Time (i.e. the notion that schedules are meaningless). It turned out that the customs guy who stamps your passport in Ambergris Caye had overslept and didn't show up for work until around 8:30. This meant we pulled out of Ambergris about 40 minutes late. To make matters worse, the boat driver told us the trip to Chetumal would take closer to two hours that day due to the windy conditions and passing thunderstorm. We told him about our flight and he promised to do his best.

After a tumultuous ferry ride through very choppy water and rain, we ended up pulling into the Chetumal pier just a shade under two hours later, around 10:30. This left us with 50 minutes until our flight. Next, the Mexican customs agents had to line up everyone's luggage on the pier and wait for the drug dogs to sniff through them all...twice. Then, we had to go through the standard immigration procedure at the pier, which included paying $25 each to enter the country. Fortunately, they brought us to the front of the line due to our flight!

We ended up clearing customs around 10:45 - 35 minutes before our flight. We found a cab driver at the pier who, fortunately, was willing to take US Dollars and also had a heavy foot. He got us to the airport in about ten minutes (we tipped him well!), just as our flight check-in was closing. We made it with literally one minute to spare!

So if you are thinking of taking the ferry from Caye Caulker to Chetumal and then catching the only flight out of Chetumal that same day - YES, it is possible, but NO, we do not recommend it!

Journey Stage 2: Mexico City
Our flight on Interjet was wonderful! They provide tons of leg room and free tequila. We met a really nice lady from Argentina on our flight named Patricia. She had lived in Mexico City for a year and was going to back to see some friends. We spent the entire flight talking about traveling in Argentina and Cuba - she had a lot of suggestions! She also gave us a recommendation on where to eat that night in Mexico City. After we landed, the three of us decided to split a taxi to Zocalo, the historic old town of Mexico City. This is where our hotel was located.

It was supposed to take us 15 minutes to get to our hotel. It took 2 HOURS, and we didn't even get all the way there. We eventually got out of the cab and walked the rest of the way through the jammed packed Saturday markets in Zocalo. This was our introduction to Mexico City traffic, which after all of our travels, now holds the title of the worst we've ever seen. Lesson learned - if you show up in Mexico City on a Saturday afternoon, stick to the subway.

We booked one night at the Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico, one of the city's beautiful old hotels. It sits just off the central Zocalo. Here are some photos of the building and the surrounding area:

Inside our hotel

View from our room's balcony

Outside Mexico City's beautiful old cathedral on the Zocalo

Happy New Year!

Mexican Food - just what the doctor ordered
We took Patricia's recommendation and hit up Cafe de Tacuba for an early dinner. This old restaurant, a few blocks from our hotel, offered a huge menu of traditional Mexican dishes at great prices. After a long day of stressful traveling, chili rellenos, tamales, tacos and guacamole were just what we needed. Mexican food makes everything better!

Cafe de Tacuba

Journey Stage 3: Off to Havana
The next morning we headed back to the airport to catch our flight to Cuba. Fortunately, the traffic was non-existent early on Sunday morning so we made it to the airport in about 15 minutes. We bought our Cuba visas, checked in for our Interjet flight, and soon were off to Havana.

The flight was uneventful, although at one point the crew made an announcement that the Cuban government requires them to disinfect the interior of the plane and its passengers before arrival, in order to eliminate pathogens. Then, a flight attendant walked up and down the aisle dousing everything with some sort of aerosol spray. After visiting 40 countries, this was the first time we'd seen anything like this.

We arrived in one of Havana's older airline terminals. Going through immigration was a little strange, as you are only allowed to go one at a time (usually Chris and I go through immigration together), and you have to go into a small vestibule with the immigration agent where you wait while they examine your documents. If you pass muster, they unlock a door on the other side of the vestibule and you exit. Then the next person comes in.

Once we passed through immigration and collected our bags, we found our taxi driver who had been called by our Casa Particular (B&B). He showed us where to exchange money, and then we were off to our Casa. As a side note, the exchange rates at the airport are among the worst around, so it's best to exchange as little as possible there, then hit one of the official Cadecas in the city later on.

Upon exiting the airport terminal, we saw a small parking lot surrounded by lush green countryside. The parking lot wasn't completely full of old 1950's American cars as we'd hoped. The cars in Havana are a mix of old American cars from the 50's, lots of small Soviet-made Lada sedans from the 70's and 80's and increasingly, small late-model Hyundais and Kias from Korea. There are also a handful of German luxury sedans cruising around. Our taxi was one of the Hyundais.

Casa de Haifa y Pavel
When Cuba was opened to tourism in the mid-90's, there was a shortage of decent hotels available for people to stay. The government's solution was to allow Cuban citizens to apply for licenses to rent out extra rooms in their homes. These houses are known as Casas Particulares. We had done a bit of research online and knew we wanted to stay in the Vedado neighborhood (just west of central Havana) because it's a nice neighborhood that is close to my family and only a short taxi ride from old Havana. We found a place online that had received great reviews called Casa de Ana y Pepe. Ana, who has one of the oldest continuously operating Casas in the city, was booked (as she usually is), but referred us to a house around the corner called Casa de Haifa y Pavel. We booked a room here for just $30 per night. This is about the average rate for nice Casas Particulares in Havana and represents a great value relative to traditional hotels, where prices are similar to those in other countries. And while Casas are a bargain for travelers, they're also a great source of income for Cuban families, who typically earn an average of about $12 per month from government jobs. Best of all, you get to stay with a Cuban family and see what life is like for ordinary people there.

We were greeted by Pavel, who was excited to have only his second set of American visitors ever! He is a biochemistry professor at the local university and hosts frequent classes and study sessions at the house. Pavel enthusiastically showed us to our room. Our place was around the back of the house with its own entrance, terrace, kitchen and bathroom. The room also had A/C, which we didn't need as it got very cool at night.

Outside our room on our private patio

Sunset behind the house

View of neighboring buildings from our terrace. The buildings run the gamut from good condition to barely habitable. Our casa was in very good condition, likely because Pavel & Haifa can use money earned from renting out their rooms to maintain their large home.

Our private kitchen

Looking out to our terrace

Our habitacion. It was simple, but very quiet, clean and comfortable.

With Pavel and Haifa

We really had a wonderful stay with Pavel and Haifa and enjoyed getting to know them over the next several days. The room was clean and comfortable, and their hospitality was amazing. We had a home cooked breakfast at their house every morning for $5 for the pair of us. This included scrambled eggs, a cheese sandwich, fruit, toast and Cuban coffee which was fantastic!

One night, we all stayed up late discussing the latest American movies and TV shows, about which Pavel and Haifa are much more knowledgeable than we are. Apparently many movies from the US are available in Cuba even before they are available back home. This was just one of many fascinating tidbits we'd discover about Cuba over the coming week.

A couple of nights during the week when we weren't with my family, we ate dinner at Ana & Pepe's house. We had read that the Cuban restaurants can be very expensive and the food is usually sub-par. Ana & Pepe cook meals every night for their guests as well as guests from other casas in the neighborhood, and the prices are reasonable relative to restaurants. So we ate twice with them and got to know them a little better and met other travelers from Hong Kong, Germany and Italy. Like most Cubans, Pepe loves to dance and after dessert he threw on some salsa and gave his guests dancing lessons!

The thing I loved most about Pavel & Haifa and Ana & Pepe was how welcome they make you feel. It reminds me so much of my own family. For example, anyone who visits my grandparents' house is greeted with "welcome to your home in Puerto Rico!". Well, it was the same in Cuba. Both couples insisted we think of their homes as our Cuban homes and by the end of our stay we felt like part of the family.

Stay tuned for the next couple of posts, where I'll introduce you to my family and take you on a tour of the neighborhood and old Havana!

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Traveling to Cuba - Tips for Americans

12/20/2013

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For our last international destination this year, we decided to visit my family in Cuba. My mom, uncle and grandparents left Cuba during the revolution and I've heard countless stories about Havana and my family who still resides there. I couldn't wait to see it all for myself and finally meet the rest of my family in person.

I'll provide more details about our experience in Havana and finally meeting our relatives in the next post. First, I want to talk about getting to Cuba, because traveling there is complicated, especially for US citizens. Therefore, I've put together some tips based on what we learned from our trip.

The Embargo
The USA still imposes an embargo against Cuba. It has been active since 1962, when the Cuban government nationalized everything, including the property of US citizens and corporations. The embargo was codified into law in the 90's, imposing further restrictions on Cuba unless the country moved toward democratization. This means that legally, most Americans cannot spend money in Cuba.

There are exceptions.

We Traveled Legally

***UPDATE*** As of December 2014, restrictions for US citizens traveling to Cuba have been relaxed. Please read the latest guidelines from the US Government here.

The Obama administration eased the travel ban in 2009, allowing Cuban-Americans to travel freely to Cuba. Students, religious missionaries, journalists, researchers and other special interest groups may visit if they meet specific requirements and apply for authorization from the Treasury Department. In all cases, Americans must have a purpose to travel to Cuba other than tourism - whether it's to see family, volunteer, or participate in some kind of research project.

Our purpose was to meet and spend time with our family and see the neighborhoods where my grandparents lived and my mom was born. We read the government's guidelines, which permit Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba as long as they have "close relatives" living there, defined as any individual related by blood, marriage, or adoptions who is no more than three generations removed from the visitor. You are also supposed to adhere to the US Government's per diem spending limit for Havana. As we'll discuss in the next post, this is very easy to do in Cuba.

If you are a US citizen without close relatives residing in Cuba and are interested in traveling to Cuba within the US government's guidelines read this document to see if you qualify for any special licenses.

Money
Since US banks can have no relationship with Cuban financial institutions, US ATM and credit cards won't work anywhere in Cuba. This means you'll need to bring all your cash with you. Even if you are not American, it's smart to bring a lot of cash with you as we've heard the ATMs are few and far between and can be very unreliable. Traveling with a lot of cash is a bit unnerving so take precautions - wear a money belt, keep your cash in several different places, and buy locks for all your bags. Cuba is a relatively safe country, but it's always best to be careful.

Exchanging Money
You can only convert money into Cuban currency when in Cuba - it is not available in any foreign countries. The Cuban government imposes an additional tax of 10% when converting US Dollars to the local currency - this does not apply to other currencies. Therefore, it can be more cost effective to convert your dollars to a third currency before going (ie Mexican Pesos or Euros), and then convert that currency to Cuban money when you arrive. This will depend on the exchange rate you're able to get. Since we were going to be passing through Mexico on the way to Cuba, we withdrew Mexican Pesos from the ATM there which ended up being much more cost effective than bringing US Dollars.

Cuba has two currencies - Pesos and Convertible Pesos - or as they are referred to locally, CUPs ("coops" or "pesos nacionales") or CUCs ("cukes"). Almost everything a visitor will buy is priced in CUCs. The CUC is fixed to the US Dollar 1:1. However, local people who work government jobs (which is the vast majority of Cubans) are paid in CUPs. A CUP is worth about five cents. These can be used to buy government subsidized necessities, such as staple foods, utilities or basic clothing. We never ended up receiving or needing any CUPs while we were there. For anything over and above these necessities that locals wish to buy, they will also likely need CUCs.

Only change money in official casas de cambio - usually called Cadecas. You will need your passport to exchange money. Hustlers will come up to you on the street and tell you there is a third currency in Cuba that has a much better exchange rate, but only Cubans are allowed to exchange the money - not tourists. They will then offer to exchange your money for you. Don't fall for this and never give your cash to anyone else to exchange (unless it's someone you know and trust). These hustlers take all shapes and sizes - well dressed business men, kids, and older gentlemen. Just tell them that you are out for a walk and don't have any money on you. Eventually they will go away.

Departure Fee
You are required to pay a departure fee of $25 CUCs ($25 USD) per person. When you arrive, exchange some money for CUCs at the airport and save $25 CUCs in your passport for your departure fee.

Flights
Since there are only a handful of direct charter flights from the US to Havana, we found it easier - and more cost-effective - to travel through a third country. Since we were in Belize before going to Cuba, we booked a flight leaving from Mexico City. Originally we'd planned to travel from Cancun, but the flight ended up being sold out on the days we wanted to travel. Also, the flight from Cancun was on Cubana Airlines, which made purchasing the flight with our US credit card challenging (Cubana also 'boasts' the worst airline safety record in the world, which made us a bit uneasy). We ended up flying on Chris' new favorite airline, Interjet. All visitors to Cuba are required to obtain a visa/tourist card before arriving - in our case, we were able to buy this when we checked in for our flight for about $19 each.

Internet
Internet is very scarce in Cuba. There are a few internet cafes and some hotels or casa particulares (B&Bs) offer access but the rates are very high and the internet speed is extremely slow. For example, Chris needed to send one important email while we were there and it cost $5/hour and it took him 20 minutes to send one email. If you plan on traveling to Cuba, let your friends, family and colleagues know that you will be off the grid and consider activating an automatic response on your email letting people know when you'll be back. We also sent the telephone number of our casa particular (B&B) to our parents so they knew how to reach us in case of an emergency.

The lack of internet connection means you should book everything before you leave. It also means you must research everything too. While we don't usually buy guidebooks when we travel since we can look up everything online, we would recommend buying one for Cuba. If a question comes to mind while traveling, ask a local (Cubans are very friendly!) and jot it down in a notebook so you can look it up when you get home. You might find that you get two different answers! It was useful for us to have family there, as we were able to get a lot of helpful tips, advice, and perspective.

Health Insurance
Your health insurance is probably not valid in Cuba (definitely not if it's an American company or is affiliated with one). Therefore, you must purchase the Cuban government health insurance for the duration of your trip. It's not expensive - about $5/day - and you can buy it from many different agents online. Make sure you print out proof of health insurance before you go as you may be required to show it to officials at the airport. More importantly, you'll need it if you happen to need medical care while there. This didn't happen to us, but you never know.

We hope these tips prove helpful. Stay tuned for the next post where we'll talk about our (stressful) journey from Belize to Havana!

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Days 203-208: Caye Caulker - You Better Belize It

12/15/2013

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After completing 10 dives each in Australia and Thailand, we were hooked! Since we had already visited the largest barrier reef in the world - The Great Barrier Reef - we decided to check out the second largest barrier reef - the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. This reef runs along the coast of Belize so we chose the tiny island of Caye Caulker as our home base. Caulker has no paved roads or cars so people navigate the sandy roads with golf carts, bikes or on foot.

Caye Caulker's philosophy is "Go Slow"

Getting There
We flew into Belize City, then took a 45-minute ferry ride out to the island. The ferry then continues on to Caulker's more developed companion island, Caye Ambergris. Another option is to take an 8-minute flight from Belize City. However, we couldn't do this because we arrived in Belize City after sunset and the last flight leaves well before dark, since there are no lights on Caulker's tiny runway.

OASI Apartments
We booked five nights at a place called OASI, a collection of four apartments owned by a friendly Italian lady named Luciana and her husband. While the location was on the far side of the island from the central town area, it came with free bikes and nothing was more than ten minutes away. The apartment was perfect for us!

Biking Around Colorful Caye Cualker
Caye Caulker consists of three major sand roads: Front Street, Middle Street and Back Street. It's a really laid back island, full of small colorful beach shacks. There are really no large sand beaches on the island, but there is a local hangout called "The Split" where people gather to swim , drink beers and watch the sunset. For us, it was the perfect vibe - not too developed but plenty of activities to keep us busy. Here are some photos we took around the island:

Biking is the best way to see the island!

One of the few sandy beaches on Caye Caulker

One of the many docks lining the shore

One of the reasons they say "Go Slow" in Caye Caulker is because there are two cemeteries and zero hospitals!

Beer in lieu of flowers?

Traffic enforcement

Stunning Sunsets and The Split
We saw a couple of spectacular sunsets on Caye Caulker. Our favorite place to watch them was the little bar at The Split. In Belize they say "If you haven't been to The Split, you haven't been to Caye Caulker".

Waiting for the sunset supply ship to arrive

Beautiful Caye Caulker sunset

Hanging out at The Split

Sunset at The Split

Team B at The Split

Diving & Snorkeling
We spent the afternoon of our first full day snorkeling. Our guide brought us to three different spots and pointed out several varieties of coral and local fish. One stop was Shark Ray Alley, where we swam with stingrays and nurse-sharks. The guides jump in the water and feed them bits of conch and fish so there were swarms of rays and sharks thrashing around in the shallow water. While it was cool to see the animals up close, I didn't like the idea of the sharks associating food with people.

Swimming with stingrays and nurse sharks

Storm clouds approached as we finished snorkeling

On our second day, we investigated several of the local dive shops and settled on a small operation called Black Durgon. We went out the following day for two dives on a part of the reef called Esmerelda. The coral here was much different than what we'd seen in Australia and Thailand, and as a bonus we got to swim with nurse sharks, as well as green moray eels. Luckily we had another very small group in our boat, with Chris, me, a Korean guy named Lee, and our dive leader Mynor. Toward the end of the second dive, two dolphins joined us - a first for me and Chris! While we really enjoyed our dives, the boat ride was a little rough. The wind was strong, the waves were large and we were on a small open-air speed boat so we had to hold on in order to stay in the boat. I'm so glad I brought my wind-breaker and hoodie along for the ride because it was cold!

Black Durgon Dive shop

Quick stop in San Pedro on Caye Ambergris

Our dives were on Thanksgiving day

It was chilly post-dive. I'm glad I brought a hoodie and windbreaker!

Amigos, indeed!

The Blue Hole
One of the most famous dives in this area is the Blue Hole, a perfectly round abyss in the middle of a coral shoal, which drops straight down 450 feet. On the way down, you can supposedly see caves along the side walls full of stalagmites. If you're lucky, you can also see hammerhead sharks swimming in the middle of the pit. So badass.

Sadly, we missed out on the Blue Hole for a few reasons:

We discovered that a worthwhile dive in the Blue Hole requires a descent to about 40 meters, which was a bit beyond our comfort level as novice divers.
It was about a 2.5 hour boat ride each way through rough seas.
It was wicked expensive - too much money to spend when the weather conditions for diving there were less than ideal.

For all these reasons, we decided to back burner the Blue Hole until we get some more diving experience under our belts. Here's an aerial photo of the Blue Hole that we found online:

One day. Photo courtesy of United Academics

Roses Grill
We found a tasty seafood spot near Front Street called Roses Grill. The menu is simple - you choose your seafood from the ice tray out front and they throw it on the grill for you. We couldn't decide so we tried a little bit of everything!

Roses Grill

Yum!

We loved Caye Caulker and definitely want to come back one day (especially to conquer the Blue Hole!). We'd recommend this place to anyone who likes to dive/snorkel and wants a really laid-back vacation that doesn't offer your typical chain restaurants and hotels. It's truly unique!

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Days 197-202: Bye Bye Thailand, Hello LA

12/14/2013

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When the time came to leave Koh Samui (and Thailand for that matter), we were very sad to part ways with Thailand's lovely beaches, colorful reefs, tasty food, cheap massages, exceptional service and laid-back lifestyle. But alas, more adventures awaited us on the other side of the globe!

Sad farewell to beautiful Thailand

World's Nicest Airport
To make leaving Koh Samui even more difficult, its airport turned out to be the nicest one we've ever seen. And we've seen a lot of airports! Check out the outdoor Koh Samui airport terminal:

Eva Air
After a quick flight to Bangkok we checked in for our flight to Los Angeles. We chose Eva Air for a few reasons:

1) Cool name, obviously
2) Reports of decent leg room
3) Reasonable price & flight times
4) They have a plane painted in a Hello Kitty theme!

Neither of us are Hello Kitty fans but we liked the idea of getting the Hello Kitty themed plane, envisioning pink seats and kitty themed snacks. When you travel as much as we do, these types of gimmicks actually work. One of us was a lot more excited than the other. Let's just say that the first question Chris asked upon check in was if we got the Hello Kitty plane:) Sadly, we did not. But the flight was fantastic. We got a row to ourselves, watched lots of movies and even got to check out the Taipei airport during our connection (more Hello Kitty). Also, incredibly, the food on the plane was delicious - what kind of airline is this?

Pointing out our Eva Air plane. If only it were my private jet!

We had to have one more mango sticky rice before we left Thailand!

Hello Kitty store and terminal in the Taiwan airport. Chris had to wait in a queue of teenage girls to get this shot, and goofily feign excitement (or so he claims).

Los Angeles
We spent five days in LA, adjusting to being back in the western hemisphere. Luckily we got to see some good friends and family while in LA, making it a very memorable stop on our journey! Hopefully we weren't too out of it due to the jet lag.

Our friends Kraig & Agnes treated us to a delicious home cooked meal at their beautiful new house in Newport Beach!

We went out in downtown LA with my cousin, Chabeli!

We stopped by Encino to see our friends Dave & Alana and meet their ADORABLE twin boys - Dylan and Gavin. I swear, our friends have the cutest kids! I'm pretty sure that is Dylan making the funny face in the picture. Already an entertainer!

Gavin

Dylan

The boys are all dressed up for a party. Watch out ladies!

Scenes from LA
Since we were either snoozing, catching up with friends, or avoiding the rain, we didn't spend a lot of time outdoors. This was disappointing since I love taking pictures in California. To me, it offers the same dramatic landscapes that I've found in South Africa, New Zealand and Peru. Here are a few random shots, all taken with my phone.

Redondo Beach

Pit stop on our way to Newport Beach

One of the best sunsets I've ever seen. This was taken from a strip mall parking lot on our way to Newport Beach. How I wish I was closer to the shore with my Nikon!

After five days in LA we were re-energized and ready for our next destination - Belize!

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Loi Krathong and the Full Moon Party That Wasn't

12/12/2013

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Loi Krathong is the annual Thai light festival that usually occurs in November (but always on during the full moon of the 12th lunar month) of every year, so we had to stick around to see it. The absolute best place to witness this celebration is in Chiang Mai, which we learned while we were there two weeks earlier. Had we known this ahead of time, we'd have planned to be in Chiang Mai for its observance. In Chiang Mai, you'd partake in a magical scene like this:

Sadly, we did not see the lantern festival in Chiang Mai. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Since we'd already done the whole Chiang Mai thing, we decided to see how Samui celebrated this time honored tradition. We'd heard the best place to see the show was at Chaweng Lake, so we made our way over around nightfall.

Loi Krathong
Here's a quick explanation of the holiday. It's celebrated throughout Thailand and in certain parts of Laos and Myanmar. Loi Krathong literally translates to floating crown and is signified by floating decorations that are lit with a candle and released en masse into a body of water. It symbolizes all the bad things floating out of your life, and the light is supposed to honor Buddha. The floating concept can also applies to a similar holiday called Yi Peng. This particular celebration hails from Laos, but today is most famously celebrated in Chiang Mai, where large numbers of floating lanterns are released into the sky. Though these are actually two totally different holidays, Chiang Mai today celebrates them together on the date of Loi Krathong. These floating lanterns can be seen throughout Thailand as well (we had previously launched one from the beach in Koh Lanta).

Chaweng Lake
This is where most of the Koh Samui locals go to celebrate Loi Krathong and launch their decorative floating crowns. As you approach the lake, the streets are lined with people selling hand-made Krathongs. We picked our our favorite so we'd have one to launch!

Krathongs for sale

Our little Krathong!

The festival is packed with vendors selling all types (and I mean ALL) of interesting foods.

Whole grilled salted fish

Seafood

Lots of insects! Don't those grubs look yummy?

Just some of the food stands along the lake. The tiny specs in the sky are floating lanterns.

Not knowing what to expect, we anticipated everyone waiting around for some predetermined hour and all simultaneously unleashing their Krathongs upon the lake. This was not the case however. It turns out that people haphazardly release their Krathongs whenever it strikes their fancy. People were also lighting floating lanterns so the lake was peppered with floating Krathongs and the sky above twinkled with lanterns floating into space.

With the help of one of the locals, we lit our Krathong's candle and incense and then launched it into the lake, making a wish for continued happiness in our lives.

Locals launching their Krathongs into Chaweng Lake.

Launching our own Krathong!

The floating Krathong represents all the bad things in life floating away.

People also launched floating lanterns.

Krathongs and lanterns floating away

The festival also includes a beauty pageant and live music later on at night. We considered sticking around for it, but it began to rain and we had plans to check out the full moon party on Koh Phangon later that night so we departed after launching our Krathong.

Leaving the festival's main gate

The Full Moon Party that Wasn't
You may have heard of the legendary Full Moon parties at Koh Phangon, and island located right next to Koh Samui. It is supposedly the biggest all-night beach party in the world and a must for backpackers. Typically I avoid massive crowds of drunk 20-somethings, especially those drinking rum or whisky out of children's plastic beach pales. However, since this was a famous party we decided to take a boat over to the island to check it out for a couple of hours and see if it lived up to it's reputation.

Our hotel advertised a transfer that would pick us up and bring us to a speedboat which would take us to and from the party beach. Then we'd have to pay a 100 baht entrance fee for the party, which mainly goes toward clean-up the next morning (this includes scraping drunk kids off the beach so they don't drown when the tide rolls in). It was a rainy night with occasional thunderstorms, so we were a little bit on the fence about going but decided to have them pick us up at 10pm. By 11pm we were still at our hotel, waiting for the transfer. The hotel had no idea where they were. At 11:30pm we decided to call it a night and fell asleep. We still don't know if they ever came by to pick us up. Oh well.

It was an anti-climatic night and we regret not getting to go... a little. I have a feeling we would have been entertained for a little while by the crowd, but would have soon started to worry about so many people doing stupid things - swimming in the ocean during a lightning storm (someone did this in Koh Lanta), drowning, cutting their feet on glass hidden in the sand and who knows what else.

This capped off our Thai adventure and two days later we headed back across the Pacific for our next few stops...stay tuned!

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Koh Samui: Yet Another Beautiful Thai Island

12/11/2013

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On our seventh day in Koh Lanta we decided to leave, in order to break out of the all-too comfortable routine we'd eased ourselves into. We had to check out of our hotel by 11am and at 10:55 we booked a flight for that afternoon to the island of Koh Samui.

Initially we had decided to pass on Samui, as November is the height of the rainy season for the eastern Thai islands (which generally have opposite wet and dry seasons from their western counterparts). Ultimately, after consulting the weather forecast which was prognosticating a 50-50 shot of a wet week, we decided to roll the dice. We ended up spending a week in Samui, and the weather gods smiled upon us for the majority of our time there.

On the way there, we saw this ad for a restaurant in Samui which resulted in fits of laughter. We interpreted it as a sign that we made the right decision to visit Koh Samui.

I was really intrigued by this chef posing seductively with a terrified fish tossed over his shoulder like a sport coat. Had this restaurant been nearby, I would have considered stopping by.

Knowing little about the layout of the island or which of its many beaches would be most to our liking, we booked one night at the Bophut Resort, on Bo Phut Beach, in the northeastern corner of the island. We thought we'd spend one night there to get the lay of the land, then figure out our next move. However, after the first night there, we decided to spend two more, and then the whole week!

Bo Phut and Bophut Resort
Koh Samui is an island roughly in the shape of a square, which takes about an hour to circumnavigate via car. The most touristy areas are concentrated along the east coast, although beaches can be found along the entire perimeter. Bo Phut is a town on the eastern portion Samui's northern coast. It's not as populous as the more well-known tourist areas of Chaweng and Lamai, but still has plenty to keep busy including a beautiful beach and Fisherman's Village - a collection of bars and restaurants along the oceanfront.

We ended up staying at Bophut Resort, which was right on Bo Phut beach. We really liked this place, and thought it had the best service of just about any place we've ever stayed. They upgraded our room to a top floor room with a hot tub on the balcony and the free breakfast was phenomenal! Here are some photos.

Bophut Resort Lobby

Mountain view from our front door

Welcome gift

Bophut Resort

Our room

View from our room towards the beach

View of Bophut beach from our breakfast table

Pool/breakfast area

Bophut beach....ahhhh!

A Chance Encounter
On our second night in Samui, we took a stroll down the beach to find a place to eat in Fisherman's Village. While passing though one of the beachfront restaurants, we heard a couple calling out to us. Turns out it was a couple of Australians - Adrian and Emma - who we had met a few weeks earlier in Cambodia! Amazingly, they were staying at the hotel right next door to us. They are also traveling the world for eight months, so we had a lot to talk about! We ended up having dinner together and closing down one of the local bars.

Samui Circumnavigated
On our third day we rented a car to check out the rest of the island. Our plan was to see a few other areas we had considered staying in and potentially spend the rest of our week in a different area. Ultimately, we decided that Bo Phut was the perfect spot for us. Chaweng and Lamai had beautiful beaches, but were very crowded and party-central. Most other areas of the coastline were too remote for us. Bo Phut presented a perfect mix of the two. We decided to book the remainder of the week at the Bo Phut Resort. Here are some pics from a couple of the more remote areas and Chaweng, where we stopped for a spot of lunch and a dip.

One of the more remote beaches on Koh Samui. It was very picturesque but a little too quiet for us. You'd need a car if you stayed here.

Chaweng Beach

Lunch spot on Chaweng

Waterfall #1 and Waterfall #2
Samui boasts two waterfalls, cleverly named Waterfall 1 and Waterfall 2. We stopped off at one of them on our drive around the island (I think it was Waterfall 2). You have to park a little ways from the falls, and then you have three options of how to reach them - by foot, by off-road truck, or by elephant. We ended up hoofing it, which was a good choice because I think taking the elephant would have eaten up the rest of the day, judging by the pace they were making up the hill. I did get to feed one of the pachyderms a bunch of bananas, however.

These particular elephants were, in fact, fake.

Feeding the mama elephant bananas

I saved a few for the baby.

I'd be surprised if these two made it to the falls by sundown. I think paint dries faster than these elephants can trek a few hundred meters.

View from the quick hike to waterfall 2

Washing up after feeding the elephants

One benefit of our travels is having a lot of waterfall experience. These were just ok. The best ever in our book still belongs to a secluded jungle waterfall near the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica.

November Rain
We spent the first part of our week in Samui checking out the island and the beach. We had a few other things planned for the rest of our time there, such as another dive or two at the famous Koh Tao, but old man weather had other ideas and threw a monkey wrench in the works with the promised November rain. In the end, we didn't totally mind, as we got to catch up on email, blog posts and plan our next few moves.

What does one do when the rain spoils your beach day? Drink pina coladas out of ceramic coconuts!

We planned to stay in Samui long enough to check out the most famous of all Thai festivals...stay tuned!

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Last Night in Koh Lanta - Friends and Floods

12/1/2013

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On our flight from Bangkok to Krabi we met a girl named Karin from Germany. She was heading to Phi Phi to meet some friends but would be in Koh Lanta later in the week so we decided to meet up when she arrived. On our last night, we met Karin and her two friends on Long Beach for dinner at the Funky Fish.

Hanging out with Karin, Maika and Kosi at the Funky Fish

We were having a great time getting to know each other. Eventually we noticed that were the last people left at the restaurant, but kept chatting since it wasn't that late. Suddenly a crazy storm approached from the sea and we were in the midst of thunder, lightning, and a torrential downpour. We stayed at our covered table hoping it would be over quickly, but after an hour it didn't let up and the wait staff was getting antsy.

Unfortunately, Chris and I didn't have our truck so the bar called a taxi and Karin and her friends waited with us until it came. They were staying at the hotel next to the restaurant so they didn't have far to go. When our taxi arrived we said our goodbyes and all five of us ran outside into the cold sheets of rain. Once Chris and I arrived at our taxi (we sat in the back of a covered pick-up truck) we were thoroughly soaked. We rode back to our hotel on the flooded main street where people were trying to drive their motor bikes in knee-deep flowing water. It was insane! While it only took us about 10 minutes to get back to our hotel, we were slightly terrified, yet we laughed the entire way.

We had such a great time with Karin and her friends. Hopefully we'll meet again in Boston or, one of our favorite places, Deutschland. Let's hope the weather is better next time!

Completely drenched in the taxi ride home!

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DAYS 212-218: Havana, Cuba Photo Tour

Days 212-218: Meeting family in Cuba

Days 209-211: Long Journey From Caye Caulker, Belize to Havana, Cuba

Traveling to Cuba - Tips for Americans

Days 203-208: Caye Caulker - You Better Belize It

Days 197-202: Bye Bye Thailand, Hello LA

Loi Krathong and the Full Moon Party That Wasn't

Koh Samui: Yet Another Beautiful Thai Island

Last Night in Koh Lanta - Friends and Floods

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