Traveling to Cuba: What's Good?
Young_Phonics
8,039 Posts
I'm sayin' though. I need a real vacation and not one where I have to do sound checks and decipher a new langauge.Has anyone here been? How would an American go about doing so? I have some homegirls that have gone and loved it.Thanks in advance for any information.
Comments
b/w
PM me for my advice
Expect a Homeland Security file opened on you.
PS I don't care how good your Salvadorean spanish is, you will do plenty of deciphering in Cuba (and I don't mean the lyrical cipher kind).
for real those folls are often nearly unintelligible to the non-Cuban.
You will not understand them at all, P. Seriously.
And I don't know that you'd really enjoy a vacation to Cuba all that much, especially considering how little you enjoyed El Salv. Just sayin'. Hit up Honduras! I'll put you up on the island I went to a few years back.
You know, I would have to say that if you really want a "VACATION" vacation I don't know if Cuba would be where you would want to go. If you wanted like an "ADVENTURE" vacation, yeah, but I don't know about a full fledged kick back vacation.
IMO.
DUDE..
I LOVED EL SALVADOR. I think you meant my first time in Japan. Which, i'm going back to in december and will definetly have a better experience this time around.
So Cuba isn't too kick back? Well the reasons why I want to go and experience Cuba because El Salvador was great and not touristy at all. Felt good going back to my roots w/o a Senior Frog bar nearby feel me?
Barcelona
^^^ YOUNG MOIST DREAM GIG ^^^
Cuba, as you will no doubt realize once you get there, is bound for big changes in the coming years/decades. No country can remain like that forever, particualrly given geo-political realities today.
Seriously go to Cuba before it's too late.
For real. When it changes it's going to change quick and drastically.
It's true - sounds like it's even changed a lot in the few years since I've been there. I was there in maybe 2001, and since then I hear the gov't has cracked down on a lot of the staying in people's houses (which I recommend, since you get to see a lot more) and private restaurants and such.
The downsides are a lot of hassle as you walk around, and the fact that the food is terrible. It's weird since it's obviously a very fertile place, but in Cuba using garlic is considerd getting a bit wild. After an endless succession of ham and cheese sandwiches (with a pickle hidden inside), my GF and I had to resort to Cuban fast food: El Rapido. Still, was a very interesting place, and I'm glad I went. Funny place though, since there's no advertising - no signs, it's really hard to figure out where people buy things, and then you look in a doorway and see a woman with a pile of tomatoes. The ever present watching makes it a very safe place (walked all over Havana at all times with no problems other than hassling). If you're a man alone expect a lot of solicitation from enterprising women.
I understand most Americans get there by going to Cancun and flying from there. I'm sure there are flights from Mexico City, too.
My best suggestion is to get out of Havana. There is so much to see in the rest of the country. I flew into Santiago and out of Havana. I went with the permission of the US government. My Dad and I told them we were making a documentary and got permission to go. When you go with permission, you are allowed to bring back goods which can be sold to pay for a portion of your trip, like cigars and first edition literature. I wish I could have brought back some of the antiques I came across. I highly recommend going just for a new perspective on life and society.
This is all just my opinion.
BBC Cuban Weather Link
I don't know about where you are but it's been a wet smouldering jungle in Chicagoland.
I could use another vacation to Iceland right about now.
i went about 5 years ago and broke my trip into two different parts...
a relaxed vacation vacation at a "resort" hotel by the beach.
the hotel was a pay per day type of deal where you pay once and everything, food drink etc, is free after that. which in my mind is probably similar to how cuba runs the country politically. the problem was the food was nasty. drinks were watered down. amenities sucked. it rained the whole time. still had a great time but mostly because we were able to laugh at the situation and we knew we'd be headed to havannah in a few days...
havannah was incredible. real vibrant city that is one of a kind. friendly (albeit paranoid) folks.
word of caution though - i remember going to a club one of the nights i was there and getting approached by a nice looking lady. long, hilariously goofy story short... she ended up being a prostitute along with every.other.girl. in the establishment. undercover prostitutes are everywhere in that city, or at least they were a few years back. so watch out for that and enjoy the life, colors, food, music, and people of cuba...
yeah this blew my mind. and they aren't on some "ooooh, rich Americans, let's pretend to be nice to them." I mean I am talking about people who know they are not going to get a dime out of you and yet are still genuinely, enthusiastically excited to meet/talk to Americans.
Given the amount of propaganda (state-run press, restricted internet, etc.), I was pleasantly surprised at the average Cuban's ability to see through the bullshit. They really take you as a person and not as some representative of the US gov't.
I feel like in this day and age such a reception is rare (which I totally understand in lots of parts of the world; not saying suspicion of Americans is totally unjustified; I'm just saying).
Even in relatively "pro-American" countries (UK, Canada), revealing yourself to be American will usually engender indifference or often a snicker.
Cuba is really one of the only places I've been to (outside of Israel) where I would say Americans are generally "liked."
I definitely agree. Although I did see some of the "Oooh, tourist with loot" attitude in Havana. Especially from the young ladies. I would go out shooting photos in the mornings, and people would invite me into their houses and make breakfast for me. I knew they didn't have much, but they were so ready to share.
Havana is definitely a place to see, I don't mean to be down on it. I just recommend also getting outside of there if you can.
I also highly recommend staying with a family down there if possible. I know it's getting cracked down on, but it's such an enriching experience.
As it's been said here before, the language is a killer. I speak pretty good Spanish, and I had the hardest time understanding them. They drop a lot of their consonants.
Fly from Canada. When you enter Cuba, they shouldn't stamp your passport. If they do, it could give you problems when entering back into the US. But they didn't stamp mine... They stamp ur $30 entry visa instead.
/END>