This story starts like most stories in Cuba: we asked a super-friendly local (the owner of our favorite breakfast restaurant in Viñales) if he knew of anyone who could show us around some tobacco farms. He made a few calls, and about an hour later we met up with Edrey.
Rompiendo Rutina (Breaking Routine) was ironically our go-to for breakfast nearly every morning. They had excellent cheese, ham, and sausage pressed sandwiches and fresh juices for around 25 cents USD. We would order an extra sandwich or two to go and stuff it in our packs for a picnic lunch later in the day. The owner even wrapped it in cellophane with a napkin for us and went out of his way to connect us with other local businesses. That’s quality service!
Edrey was a fascinating guy. He explained to us the system of casa ownership fees, (owners pay a fixed amount per month), the difficulty of obtaining a Cuban passport (it’s nearly impossible and he has tried twice and been denied), and that most people are very over-educated for their current roles, (the tobacco farmer we were about to meet used to be a university professor). He also has a girlfriend in Long Beach, about 20 minutes from our place, which was a pretty funny coincidence! When asked what his favorite food is, he said chicken. Any particular type of chicken? “No. Just chicken.” He had friends in all of the locations we visited, so he mostly walked us to the sites, made his introductions, and then let us explore.
First, we visited a tobacco drying house.
The owner of this house was an English professor in a past life who quit his job to be a farmer. He makes far more money selling tobacco to tourists than he ever did teaching. He’s concerned about the future of education in Cuba because many people like him are abandoning their posts.
Consider that he sells hand-rolled cigars for $40 for a pack of 10. He may make $120 in a single afternoon, while a university professor salary would be closer to $40/month!
The farmer gave us a demonstration of how cigars are rolled. I had a minor mind blow when I realized that cigars are not just wrapped in brown paper, but an actual tobacco leaf. (Yes. I really did think that.)
The farms in Viñales Valley supposedly produce some of the best cigars in the world. We’re not really cigar smokers, so the experience was probably wasted on us. But when in Cuba… We even dipped the end in honey in the style of Che
These are “puros”: are unregulated, unlabeled, traditional-style cigars. They are home-cured with a family recipe including honey and other secret ingredients the farmer couldn’t tell us. The farmer wraps them in banana leaves for storage.
Farmers are only allowed to keep, sell, and profit from 10% of their tobacco crop. The other 90% is tithed to the Cuban Government, to be processed in factories, labeled, and sold in government-owned shops.
This is what a fancy schmancy cigar shop looks like in the Artesan district, near old Havana.
These Montecristos likely originated in Viñales Valley and are made from tobacco that was tithed to the government by a local farmer, like the one we met.
After a successful, educational day in the Valley, it was time to mosey on home.
Traveling to and Staying in Viñales
This may give you some sense of what it’s like to travel in Cuba, without the internet, a telephone, or reliable public transportation.
The view from the front porch of our first casa, (Kenia’s), in Viñales.
In order to get to this place, we have to back up about 3 days to when we asked our casa owner in Havana, Ana, if she knew anyone in Viñales, and how we could get there. She laid out the transit situation to us. (I’m paraphrasing here) “There’s a local bus that sometimes shows up on a corner in the north of the city. It’s unreliable and uncomfortable and I don’t recommend you take it. Then, there’s an expensive tourist bus that is reliable, and has air conditioning, but it’s slow. You can take that if you want. But I recommend that you get a collectivo (shared taxi). I know a guy who may be going that way, if you want a ride. But it may take me a day or two to arrange it. I also have a friend that way and can make sure they have a place for you in their casa.”
Two days later, we heard Ana’s friend’s car beeping from the street below and hustled to get downstairs. We rode with two French tourists along the highway, headed west.
Propaganda billboards along the highway made for some fun road-side entertainment. This one says “The word teaches, the example guides”. Signed by Che.
About 10 minutes into the ride, it became apparent that the A/C wasn’t working. The driver parked under an overpass, popped open the dash, and jiggled some stuff around until it came on.
Then, maybe a half hour later, we needed gas. We pulled over at someone’s home that functioned as a gas station and auto-repair shop. The first thing I noticed was tiny chirps coming from nearby cages. Noticing my interest, the abuelo of the casa kindly showed me how he feeds his baby birds mashed corn meal.
Josh’s attention was captured by a man putting a tire on a rim using a pipe that’s been hammered into shape and attached to a post for leverage. He tells me this is slightly different from the states.
Eventually, we were dropped at Ana’s friends house. It turned out she didn’t actually have any room for us but she was still an excellent host, offering us strong coffee and a wealth of information on the region. She made some calls and found us a spot at her sister’s house, and another car to take us there.
Mayrita made us coffee in her kitchen and chatted with us about the fruits that are available on the island. Apparently, apples don’t grow here and are a coveted, exotic treat. Once a year, around Christmas, families who can afford it will order a box of imported red apples for their children. I wanted to tell her that dark red apples tend to be the least flavorful and that there are a dozen variety of apples readily-available in the states that I liked more, but that seemed unkind, knowing that she would likely never get to try any of them. So I held my tongue, sipped my coffee, and waited for the car to arrive.
Our wait was over! And our taxi was awesome. (It didn’t have seat belts, but at least we looked cool.)
Finally, we were dropped at Kenia’s house and stayed there for two uncomfortable nights, mostly due to the chickens that roosted directly behind our heads as we slept and had faulty internal clocks, crowing at 2 am, 2:10am, 2:20am… you get the picture.
The best thing about Kenia’s house was her front porch and the sitting area on her roof, which gave a view of the mountains in the distance.
The worst thing about Kenia’s house was the darn chickens.
Finally spurred into action after two terrible days of sleep, we decided to go door to door to search for a more suitable habitation and fortunately landed at Casa Las Españolas. It was in the heart of town, had a fantastic shower, and live entertainment right from the porch.
It may be a grainy photo, but you can still see Nicole’s relief at being in a comfortable new casa and listening to live music from her rocking chair.
We were much happier here and would recommend it to anyone who is travelling to Viñales.
Graffiti in Havana
A person could spend an entire vacation exploring graffiti in Havana.
Can anyone tell me what’s going on in this paper street art? This is just off the Prado in Havana.
(Photo) Havana Forgotten
How (Not) To Buy Things In Cuba
Buying goods in Cuba can be tough, especially if you get outside of the tourist areas. We spent the entire week looking in stores for a knife, for example, to cut our fruit. We never found one. We had to go to 3 different stores with the help of a local to find a packet of coffee. One store had 6 tubes of toothpaste, rice, beans, flour, and 2 bricks of marmalade, in the entire store. Most stores have used items and some are tucked away in people’s homes, so you have to ask around. And packaged goods, when stocked, can be very expensive, ($8-10 USD for a small bottle of shampoo). Dinner can also be difficult to come by outside of tourist areas because locals don’t eat out much, and stores are frequently under stocked or downright barren. Our advice would be to plan ahead, eat when you can, and buy crackers or some portable food to have on you to tide you over. Also, look for cheap and delicious produce sold on the side of the road.
This was a pretty well-stocked store, hidden away in someone’s home.
The pharmacy had a few bottles of each medicine and many homeopathic remedies. That quantity may be perfectly appropriate for the small town population. We didn’t see any evidence that there was a scarcity of medical treatment in the country. By all accounts, healthcare is actually quite good!
In the best stocked store we saw, were these tiny cans of peas. many shops weren’t so lucky to have canned goods.
A young Cuban man waits by the side of the highway, hoping to make a sale. A braid of 12 heads of garlic is sold for 4 pesos (~20 cents USD).
(Photo) Out and About in Cuba
Trans culture was surprisingly visible out and about in Cuba! Especially in Central Park.
