Cuba trip

28th Feb –Just a brief summary

Before I start rambling about my first day of travel let me just briefly mention what had happened in the past 2 weeks. I was in Ipswich as usual and did myself proud by dragging the project towards the finishing line – all by myself with minimal help.

Anyway, holiday had to start and I returned the project to it rightful owner – Sifu. It was nice not needing to check work e-mails, answer any questions, and attend these crazy 5 o’clock conference calls organised by people who works at home.

Love life? I really don’t know. I sent Miss E a text saying how cruel she is to travel back home on the 14th and not even give me a chance to send her some flowers. Her reply was very ‘Come and get me’. Did she mean it? Have to wait and see.

Car-wise? The R is just great. Perfect to drive but harsh on bumpy roads. What do you expect? It is a performance car and so it should be.

Back to reality – Cuba

I left home at 6:45 and drive through wind and rain to arrive promptly at Gatwick at 8:45. Just a little under 4 hours before the departure time. I was overwhelmed with excitements and didn’t really care about the time I have to stand inside the terminal.

The flight was alright, I hate small planes though. They are uncomfortable and too shaky, something that unsettles me quite a bit. Finally arrived at Holguin airport after 10+ hours and I began to run out of petrol. The custom was surprisingly tight because what could I possibly bring to Cuba that could harm this country? How many years have you lived in UK? What do you do? What are you good at? (I think she meant job) I was tempted to joke and reply SEX, but I guess it was not wise to make such a comment. In fact, it had been such a long time that I felt my manhood will soon become an optional extra like what’s on a car’s option list. I am not too bothered about it. I guess waking up with someone I love is a billion times better than waking up with someone who needs to associate my face with a number.

Guardalavaca is the first stop. Brises hotel is the place to stay. I saw absolutely nothing on the way as it was pitch black. However, the air and everything else reminds me of Malaysia, where Miss E came from. Is it a sign? I guess I secretly fancy her a lot more than I am willing to admit to myself, I am an idiot…

Someone must have attached a fake star to the ranking as this is no way this hotel worth 4 stars. Things are old, smells old which sums up perfectly by a discoloured toilet seat. The food was strangely neither here of there. Chicken dishes taste like Chinese but not proper Chinese. Veggie soup tastes like Veggie soup with a strong hint of meat, etc. I could go on for days. The fact is that this is Cuba, so that’s how it should be, we are taking our daily luxury too much for granted.

Very tired now, let me go to sleep and dream about Miss E, Night…
Thursday – 1st March

March arrived rather quickly, I have to admit. I was expecting by this time of the year I would have done either one of these things – Got rejected by someone or moved home. Neither has yet to happen but I know one thing for sure. I am moving ASAP as Burghfield is one of the worst places to live. Poor infrastructure. Middle of nowhere, a bit like where I am now.

What have I done today? Let’s start from the beginning. I woke up at 5:30 Cuba time. Then unleashed my camera equipments and head to the beach. Despite it being very tropical looking I struggled to find much that will capture my imagination. Anyone can shoot palm trees and sand so there is no need for me to shoot those. What I shot today were photos of crabs + a very beautiful girl. With a 70-200 L IS at my disposal there was no need for me to get close and asked for permission. I just went paparazzi mode. If there is another chance, I would like to ask her to pose for me as the 3 I took weren’t under perfect setup.

I then stopped all photography activities and went for a swim. However, it wasn’t that enjoyable as the depth was shallow and inconsistent. I was 100m offshore and could still stand up comfortably at certain areas. I decided to do a bit of sun bathing and re-think my strategy. The next time I returned to the sea was in a canoe with Sancho. We did pretty well out there and spent about 45 mins paddling around to locate some areas of interests. I then snorkelled for about 2 hours in total in the afternoon checking out sea life, swam with fish and saw a variety of sea urchin (ouch) and underwater life. Then some more canoeing before calling it a day.

Absolutely shattered in the evening. Sun burnt kicked in and the pretty poor Italian meal wasn’t good enough to keep me awake either.

Overall the second day was a blast. It is so nice to be away from the UK, away from all the troubles at work and people and just enjoy the sun, sea, sand and peace.


Friday 22nd March

We have surely used up our sun exposure quota yesterday. The skin on my body (especially my legs) is so tight that I felt like I was a medium guy wearing a small size skin. I found it difficult to even walk. So, today’s plan needs to be altered. Instead of swimming and other water activities I am at the time writing, sitting on a deck chair, under a tree with an open view of the very clear water and just relax. Sleep when I want to and enjoying some clean air which doesn’t exist in the UK.

Very typical of a guy thing – any nice girls? There are quite a few. The American girl yesterday was very nice. I actually waited for her to come to the beach for her seashells but this morning still didn’t turn up. So, anyway, I am here to relax, would be nice to meet someone but not essential. Almost lunch time, need to get some food.

Let’s be very cynical after a hotdog. I am seeing a lot of whoppers lying flat on the chair waiting to be roasted. There is a handful of the female laid here that warrant the expression of ‘Oh my dear God, she is gorgeous’. However, even when I run into one, what I would do is just like every man out there. Which is aim, lock, turn my head and fell down / hit a post. At no time did I feel like ‘Let’s go to her and ask her name. I haven’t got the ‘urge’ factor to do such thing and I guess most importantly I have, or should I say, my heart has already made a choice. I am not certain what choice it is now but I will know very very soon.

Having spent most of the day sitting in shade to nurse my injuries, the second day was kinda wasted. However, Sancho and I did have a game of giant chess at the villa. The titanic battle lasted 2 hours and ended in a draw. Although technically I won because I have an extra bishop over his pawn. Anyway, I am just glad that my method won. I admit I am a very crap player, but it is not easy to beat me. I don’t follow the traditional playing method. To put it in a sinister way, my strategy is best described as the Al Qaeda method.

One final evening meal here was spent at their seafood restaurant. It was ok, much better than the night before.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Saturday 3rd March

It is time to say goodbye to Guardalavaca and hello to Havana – The capital city of Cuba. Before we go though, we need to find out when our coach is leaving. At no point did we received any info about the transfer and I have to call the rep to find out. Luckily, I did because my guesstimate of 2pm was slightly out by the factor of 1 hour.

After more travel excursions I was looking forward to staying at a nicer hotel based on the assumption that it is Havana and not in the middle of nowhere. However, all me hopes was dashed the moment the room (Bungalow) door opened. Mosquitoes, accompanied this weird ‘dead water’ smell in the room. On top of that the fridge was broken and the shower was beyond repair it was tough to even wash the millipede down the drain. Water leak from upstairs, etc.. endless. Anyway, this is Cuba and the 4 stars ranking here means it is a 4 starts in Cuba and nowhere else. Just like the fact that they have pesos and convertible pesos. So my recommendation for any stingy people from the developed country is that you always do a minus 1.5 stars to any ranking you see here. why 0.5 star? Because you need to expect some age to the hotel.

It is a shame that we didn’t visit Varadero because I heard it is the best resort in Cuba.

I am not so much whining here but stating what I see. It is an experience and a good one because we take everything for granted. Like me, I don’t earn grad banker money but I have the luxury of 2 cars (now 1, see later blog) for work and fun. I go to nice places to eat and I have a comfy bed to sleep at night. These are not items that are readily available here/ Life is about experiences and this is a good one at this stage when my ego is getting excessively large.

Dinner? Some sort of Cuban cuisine according to the rep. It was ok, quite good actually but let down but the poor service.

Sunday – 4th March

The sun burnt is getting a bit better partly because I have been shading myself and I took some anti-inflammatory. My legs are swollen still and I am not very mobile at the moment. Fingers crossed they will be alright by Tuesday night as I have to fly back and drive afterwards.

I am looking forward to go back home. It is relaxing here and the purpose of a holiday is to relax. But being a workaholic I would like to go to bed and know that I have achieve something. Especially when I have paid the money. Coming over here is not cheap and apart from day 1, I don’t think I have done much.

Tomorrow I am going to this tour which hopefully will allow me to shoot good photos and make my money worth. The dilemma I have right now is whether I should take the 70-200 L IS because the build quality of the Tamron 28-75 is not quite there and I have a fragment inside the lens which will be tough for me to clean. I don’t want to ruin my 1 and only chance to shoot. Even more painful is that I will have to replace it, which is not cheap.

Summary

There is more to the trip, but I am not going to type them up because I am very tired – mentally and emotionally with the incidences since I returned to the UK. I might leave soon, I said this plenty of time before but somehow I can’t find a reason to stay no more.