February 16, 2019
Out of date, out of luck!
We actually had a very good sleep in our tiny tiny casa and woke to a lovely breakfast which we enjoyed just outside our room. We will really miss these outdoor breakfasts when we get home – I’m pretty sure we would freeze if we attempted such a feat in Nanaimo right now! We said goodbye to our casa host, Judy, and set off, following our 20 year old guidebook so we could travel along the beach as much as possible today. Unfortunately, there have been some changes to the Guanabo area since this book was written! We were expecting to cycle along a few resort type hotels but when we reached the area where they would have been, we only found desolate abandoned hotels and homes. What was once obviously a coveted spot to come and stay is now a ghost town. However, the walkways to the beach remain and we stopped to see what was there. Darn! We have missed the best beaches in this area!!! And virtually deserted too!!! Ah, rats! Next time!
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It became a bit of a game then, trying to match what was once there to what was now in order to see where we were with regards to the book. I was looking for a bike path we would be able to use, but unfortunately I forgot a key detail from the book (it was after the bridge, not before) and we turned off too soon. It looked as it the path we were on continued on the other side of the bridge, but once we got to the bottom, we discovered a trail that led nowhere.
Backtracking, we cycled back up to the Via Blanca and finally located the hoped for bike route which runs along side of the Via Blanca for quite some time. We got off to check out the large housing complex of Alomar seeing only a tiny portion of it before hoping back onto the bike path.
Our goal for this day was Cojimar, a mere 20 kms from Guanabo, so we weren’t in any particular hurry. As such, we took a detour around on the Marti Real and ended up with a nice uphill climb. All of this in order to see a wonderful old building at the top before descending to find the bust of Hemingway – there are a LOT of Hemingway memorials here in Cuba! While there we met some Americans who had literally chartered a plane for the day so they could fly from Florida to Havana – oh boy! I guess now they can say they visited Cuba, but I don’t know, its not our cup of tea!
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We eventually made our way over to the main drag in Cojimar and were expecting to find many Casas to choose from but could find nothing at all! Yikes! By this time it was after noon and we were just not feeling it in Cojimar so decided to push on to Havana and find a casa for the night (not thinking that this was Saturday and possibly kind of busy there – duh!). We wound around behind the fort guarding the harbour only to discover that today there was a big (like gigantic) fair going on on the grounds of the two forts!!!! Oh my, the humanity!!!!!
We obviously could not ride through this, so got off to walk down and then up before finally stopping at the giant statue of Jesus which overlooks the harbour. This is a bit of an oddity here in Communist Cuba, but then, hey, why not!
We turned down the hill and coasted back to the ferry we had taken on our way out to Varadero what seems like weeks ago now. On the ferry it was very crowded this time and we were stuck in the middle of the boat while waiting for more people to board for the short trip over. We waited for far longer than the actual ride on the stiflingly hot boat, dripping sweat and just hoping that we would get moving soon so that we might at least enjoy a bit of breeze through the open door. Finally we were moving and did indeed get a bit of relief from some moving air. The short trip over, we disembarked and stopped just outside the entrance to decide on our next move. It was at this point that we were approached by a guy who saw our Canadian flags. He asked where we were from and since most folks aren’t familiar with the west coast at all, Jim answered Vancouver. “Oh” he said, “I’m from Nanaimo”. What???? When we told him that we, too were from Nanaimo we all started laughing. What are the chances we would meet someone from our actual home town here in the harbour of Havana??? We chatted with Gordon for a bit, then with a group from Germany who wanted to talk bike touring before finally setting out to find a place for tonight.
We had eaten some nuts and drank a couple of juice boxes along the way but were really beginning to tire out. We stopped by a hotel just to see what the prices are in this area and laughed at the price - $350??? For one night????? Are you kidding me???? Obviously we are not that kind of tourist, so we started knocking on casa doors. This is when the timing of our decision hit us – it was a Saturday and a busy one at that here in Old Havana. We were turned down several times so we decided to check the area where our last casa was. Here we had better luck as a young man led us to a sweet little place. Jim was concerned that I wouldn’t want to stay here as we would basically be sharing the 2 bedroom apartment of the older woman who lived there but by this time I was beyond caring and just wanted a place to sleep. At $25, it was a steal, even with the $5 we paid the young man who helped us – and he did very much earn it by carrying one of the bikes and some of the bags up the stairs, so we were more than happy with the arrangement.
Our casa host turned out to be a lovely lady whose grand daughter is going to school in Miami. She was giving up her own bedroom for us and we were so thankful! We showered and headed out to find some actual food and then do a bit of wandering. We were looking for a good wifi spot as tomorrow is my daughter, Annie’s birthday and I wanted to FaceTime with her. We enjoyed a nice dinner but had no luck in the wifi department. However, when we got back and I explained my dilemma, our host told us of a hotel where she chats with her grand daughter – perfect! So, that decided, we both showered, played a bit of cards and flopped into bed at a very very early 9:30. Luckily, as this casa is on a busy street, there is a noisy air conditioner that pretty much blocks out all sounds. We are both looking forward to sleeping in an enjoying our last few days here in Havana!
Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 1,688 km (1,048 miles)
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