After picking up the bicycle on Thursday, I finally took my first ride on Friday afternoon through the beautiful residential area of Vedado. We had had a tropical downpour in the early afternoon, so the streets were a bit wet and it was about 4 pm or so by the time I got out. Of course, by that time, rush hour traffic had already started and there were thousands of people in the street, waiting for buses. The bicycle was a pretty new mountain bike, but it seems that all the gears and derailleurs were totally screwed up and I constantly had problems with the chain. 2 of the 3 chainrings in the front didn”t work at all and I had a pretty hard time getting along with the bike.

But even more so than the technical difficulties, the stares I got from all the locals were a really unnerving experience, especially since there were so many people in the street. You don’t see too many modern bicycles on the street, and even fewer are ridden by women. Of course the guys whistle at you at every turn, which, as I am told, is totally part of the culture and not a threatening gesture. Nevertheless, I did feel rather unnverved with this experience.

Bicycles in general are basic means of transportation here, not recreational vehicles. And considering that even a very basic new bike at maybe $100 or so is worth 5, 6 or even 10 months of state salary, it’s not surprising that they tell you never to let the bicycle out of your sight. And riding through the streets I almost felt as if I was surrounded by a group of lions that were ready to pounce to capture their prey.

So as a result I decided, I’d rather not attract that much attention to myself and I decided to hand the bike back to the owner. The last thing I wanted is for the bicycle to get stolen, so I decided I’ll wing it with regular transportation options and do more walking, getting some exercise at the same time.

In the evening my friend Pedro and I decided to catch the “GuaGua” again and we took a “Camello” (a very large bus with 2 humps, pulled by a truck engine) from around the Capitolio to the other side of Havana Bay to the old fortress of “El Morro” which was built in th 16th century. The Camello was so full that one of my feet couldn’t touch the ground and the hydraulic doors coulnd’t close because people were hanging out the door. Certainly an experience…..

Every day at 9 pm they have a ceremony at the fortress where they have a few men dressed up in old (colonial?) uniforms and they shoot off 2 cannon balls across the bay to commemorate La Habana’s military past. El Morro and Las Cabanas is an interesting area with a museum and numerous stores selling tourist merchandise. After the ceremony we caught another, much less overstuffed, GuaGua back to the western side of La Habana and we had another very affordable dinner in the Barrio Chino.

This time my intestinal system was okay and I caught a good night’s sleep to rest up for the weekend.

About The Author Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the t-ransitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys. Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River. “Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”. The travel story with photos is published at Travel and Transitions – Travel Stories (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/hello_cuba_8.htm).

I am sitting here at one of the most famous hotels in all of Havana, after I just withdrew Can$250 (200 CUC, Pesos Convertibles) from my Mastercard. No big deal, you say….. Until you realize that the average Cuban makes between US8 and US30, not an hour, not a day, but for a whole month!

My professor for instance told me that she makes about US$18 or so a month, so the amount I withdrew is more than a year´s salary for a university professor…. I am feeling really weird about this and I also want to get most of the cash into a safe as soon as possible. I am simply unable to walk around with a year´s salary in my pocket…They talk about the “inverted pyramid” here, where a waiter in a hotel makes much more (due to tips from tourists) than a brain surgeon in a hospital…

The economic situation here definitely is the dominating topic. Just standing in line a young black man started to speak to me and told me that he has a degree in physical education, teaches martial arts at the national level and inevitably the conversation came back to the dire economic situation: the local refrain is “Hay que luchar”, – daily life indeed is a struggle around here.

There is no toilet paper around here, so having read about the shortages I brought my own little Kleenex travel packs from Canada. At the University and in the whole country there is tremendous shortage of writing paper. Basic things simply dont exist, or if they do, they cost a lot of money for locals on the black market.

As a result, a tourist is always pretty much a target. There are “jineteros” who try to lure you to a restaurant or bed and breakfast (in return for a commission from the owner), therer are “jineteras”, local young and good-looking Cuban women that seek contact with tourists, some of them straight prostitutes, others just looking for the occasional financial favour and entertainment opportunity.

Many local tourist employees try to take advantage of their contacts with tourists and there are definite rip-offs. 2 days ago I went to a state-owned restaurant at the far corner of the famous Coppelia Park. The food and service were horrible. I chose Arroz Congri ($3), a salad ($3), and a mango juice ($1), totalling $7. When the bill came I saw a total of $9.85 ($4 each for the salad and the rice and $1.85 for the juice). I made the waitress aware of the situation and she acted as if it had been an error and did correct the bill after all. But a less alert tourist would have paid 40% more than what was stated on the menu.

Sometimes it feels like you are a “walking wallet” and I have developed a certain suspicion as to to the sincerity of some of the approaches by the locals. On the other hand, I realize, that with the $10 or $20 people that people make here a month, they are unable to live for more than a couple of days, so their economic reality forces them to try to make money any which way they can.

Services for tourists and even locals barely exist. I have been trying to rent a bicycle for the last 4 days. There were 2 contact phone numbers for bicycle rental places in my Lonely Planet Travel Guide. I have been trying to call both numbers numerous times – no answer. A co-student of mine has been trying to link me up with the owner of his bed and breakfast who has a new mountain bike. For 4 days I have been trying to reach this individual until I finally connected with him yesterday and I rented the bike for $3 a day.

But of course, you absolutely cannot leave the bicycle alone anywhere because it will be stolen and resold in a second. As a matter of fact, I “tipped” my hotel security guards a few dollars to look after my rented mountain bike particularly well, because anything of value “disappears”.

Yesterday, my friend Pedro and I went to eat in a Paladar (a privately owned restaurant). As a gesture of appreciation for his time and his insights I had given him a red baseball cap with “Toronto” written on it. He forgot it at the restaurant, but within a minute and a half we became aware of it and returned to the restaurant. The baseball cap was already gone, which made him very sad. He told me that it would be resold today for $8 (almost a monthly government salary).

For the most part, people here are unable to travel, even locally. Due to the “periodo especial” since the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the associated financial support for Cuba) gasoline is expensive and scarce, and there is not even enough for the local Havana transit system. So if you want to take the “GuaGua” you sometimes have to wait for 2 or 3 hours since there are so many people lining up for the local bus and there are not enough buses available.

Having a private car or access to the Internet is a luxury that only extremely few people have access to and I have heard different stories on the street that a regular Cuban person actually is not allowed to have access to Internet. As a foreigner, it´s very difficult for me to gauge which of these stories are true, whether it is truly prohibited or simply extremely difficult to get. Either way, I have noticed that people are still very careful about what they say around here.

On the other hand, despite all these hardships and limitations on personal freedom, I have noticed a really amazing friendliness and a great sense of humour in the people. People approach me, ask me questions, without the immediate possibility of selling me something or expecting money from me. There seems to be a natural curiosity about foreigners around here, maybe because the possibilities of travel don´t exist. The professors at the University have been great and truly seem to enjoy the interaction with all the international students. When you get to meet people one-on-one (not in a government-owned restaurant), it is indeed a fabulous experience.

Last night my friend and I took an extended walk in a park after sunset, talking, discussing, comparing notes about our respective cultures. And it was completely safe, something that you wouldn´t dare to try in a park in Toronto. Even downtown, you see young, very attractive women, dressed up in really sexy clothing, walking around by themselves at 11, 12 at night. Immersing myself in this ultra-unique contradictory culture has been such a precious, unique and paradigm-shattering experience, and even though I have only been here for a week now, I feel like I have absorbed and learned so much….

It is so different from regular life in Canada that it feels like everyday I am entering into a foreign universe, a completely different world, but I have to say, I have never felt so alive……

About The Author Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the t-ransitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys. Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River. “Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”. The travel story with photos is published at Travel and Transitions – Travel Stories (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/hello_cuba_5.htm).

According to NewOpenWorld, the organiser of the new world natural wonder selection, Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Fansipan Mountain were rejected from the selection list because of lack of official support committees.

In an email answering Tien Phong Newspaper’s question about why it removed the two above sites from the nomination list, NewOpenWorld said all nominees become official nominees when they have official support committees, otherwise they will be removed.

According to NewOpenWorld, each nominated site must be registered, using NewOpenWorld’s form, and faxed to +49-89-818196033. The registration form includes the name of the site and information about the support committee.

The committee must be assigned by the government or have a legal presence or responsibility to the registered site.

Nguyen Van Tinh, Head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Physical Training’s International Cooperation Agency, said that Phong Nha-Ke Bang and Fansipan were nominated by local administrations and the media. Only Ha Long Bay was registered and supported by the government and state agencies. Ha Long’s support committee is temporarily the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province.

To maintain the top position of Ha Long Bay in this selection, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is printing posters to deliver to passengers on Vietnam Airlines flights, organising Vietnamese cultural weeks abroad, which include events to advertise Ha Long Bay.

Quang Ninh province, the site of Ha Long Bay, is awaiting the government’s approval to launch a nationwide campaign calling for votes for Ha Long Bay.

Pham Sanh Chau, Chief of the External Cultural and UNESCO Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said NewOpenWorld will choose only one wonder in each country. Is it reasonable that three scenic spots of Vietnam be represented in the selection? Should Vietnam focus on only one nominee?

(Source: TP)