April 18, 2010
April 18 - Soroa Sorrow: No More Cycling for Me on this Trip... Grrrrr!!!
A WOEFUL day indeed and the end of cycling for this trip. The remainder of my dream to cycle this route here will have to come another day.
Through the night my foot hurt a lot unless I lay on my back - so, I slept poorly. We went to the bad breakfast buffet then decided I would try a walk today. We went down the road to El Salton where the hiking trail goes to the Mirador... or lookout. Up, up and up we went with my foot in a fair bit of pain, but I managed. The jungle was thick and beautiful, the sun was out, and many birds were singing including one with a warble that really resonated. We never saw it though. There were also a lot of gecko-like critters scurrying about.
It must have taken us more than an hour, but the reward was 360 degrees of views around the area from the huge peak just south of us. The Caribbean Sea way to the south, Pinar city to the southwest, and mountains on the other three sides. The views were unbelievable - the best yet in Cuba, methinks.
On the way down I slipped and it really hurt my foot, but then the pain went away. At first I thought it might have sorted out my toe, but I think I was just in shock!
Back down we had a drink beside the river but chose against going to the cascade for now. My foot in pain, we returned to the hotel to get the process rolling to change our plans and return to Jibacoa. Alipio at the counter said to come back after lunch when people were back to work. So, we went for a hamburger by the pool then I went back.
It took a long time to reach anyone since the phones were not working due to the weather, he suggested. We got a huge runaround until finally he got an answer - go to the Havanatur office tomorrow and ask for the money back; but pay for a new taxi to Jibacoa now. Then I gave him 5 CUC which is a third of his monthly salary. Interesting, he also said when Cuba sends their doctors elsewhere they also send a case of free meds; yet for Cubans there are none. He thinks meds from us would be best distributed house-to-house. He says Cuba is not a great place. Sad!
I returned to the room to elevate my foot and watch a movie on tv when Alipio called me back to the front desk. I hobbled down to the office where he said that he had organized a microbus from Villa Soroa to Breezes Jibacoa tomorrow at 9:30 am for another 170 CUC... grrr. Prices here are incredible. However, Alipio had been awesome and still had to e-mail Havanatur to give all of the details of why we had to make the change. When I asked if he could cancel tomorrow's hotel in San Diego de los Banos I handed another 5 CUC to him.
I returned to the room to watch the end of the movie then went with MA to the Villa Soroa restaurant; however, it was buffet again so I passed, MA chose a sandwich at the bar and had it in the room so I could rest my foot. The foot is starting to turn black now. Cycling over right now. Something broken, I'm pretty certain.
It was interesting that while we waited for Alipio to call we saw the UK family with the four kids again. We chatted about food here, Cuba, cycling (they have toured before), the UK, and our Olympics. They said they were very well-received. Then they were into their taxi and off to Havana, though they still did not know if the airspace was open in Europe (due to the volcano in Iceland).
Before bed I packed a few things to leave in the morning then watched more movies... all I can do now. Crap!
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