We were to leave the hotel at 4 AM, which meant for me getting up at 3:30. I had had a coffee the night before which interfered a bit with my sleep, and the bar downstairs from us was particularly noisy last night, at least until about 1. So I have no idea how much sleep I actually got, but it wasn't enough. And the night was hot, so I had decided to get a shower in the morning. I had already discovered that the hot water was really hot (about 50 degrees), and that there was not a lot of cold water pressure. What I found this morning was that the cold water was really hot water in disguise, at least today. There was no way I was showering in water that hot, so I didn't, and my poor seatmates were going to be in trouble.
But the walk to the hotel and then to the buses was magical: there was a nearly-full moon over the old Fort, and the streets were quiet and romantic. We walked from the Ambos Mundos through the Plaza de Armas, and then to the buses. And the buses got us all through the nearly-deserted streets to the airport in good time. Hurry up and wait, again. The flight was to leave at 7:20 and we were there by 5. Got our tickets, waited, went through security, waited, and then got onto a crowded bus which took us out to the plane: a Soviet-made plane—a "Yak"— run by Cubana Air.
After finding our sets, we began to notice the "foibles" of the plane. The guy sitting across the aisle from me couldn't keep his seat upright. The storage areas atop the plane were made of cheap tin metal. The lights were not in the right places for the seats. Etc.
But the real treat was when the plane began its engines. This was when the air conditioning came on, and we noticed what looked a lot like smoke coming up from the floor, including from between my legs. We checked with the steward, and she just smiled, shrugged her shoulders, and said it was okay. We realized that this was likely because the cold air was making the humidity in the air of the cabin condense into a fog. However, after a while, a siren came on which again, sounded a lot like a fire alarm. By now the steward was seated in her own chair at the back of the cabin; we looked at her, and she again smiled and shrugged, as if to say "this is an old aircraft, and these things happen, it's okay". We had to trust them, and in the end it was fine. But it was scary for a bit there. And ninety minutes later, we crossed the Sierra Maestres and the sky cleared as we entered into Oriente Province and Santiago.
The next part went pretty well. We were met by Jose and Danny, our tour guides, as well as the two bus drivers we would have. They packed us all into the two buses and we got to the Hotel Versalles without difficulty. They then spent the next hour or so getting the bikes assigned, fitted out, tires pumped, water bottles filled, and so on. We were able to get into our rooms (although it was only about 10), so we could change into our bike clothes. And we then did a bit of a bike ride (about 12 km) out to the fort at the entrance to the Sanitago harbour. Terrain was up and down, and roads were okay, if a bit rough at places. We passed a military base for special forces, many farms and dwellings. And then got to El Morro, the fort. We had plans to be fed at the restaurant there, and they fed us (too)well. Because we still had to pedal back to the hotel.
Then time for me to have a snooze and a real shower, before they took us on a tour of the City of Sanitago (population about 1.5 million). This town is know as being one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas. Also the spot where the Spanish-Cuban-American War was settled, with the (acknowledged) help of the Americans. We saw the monuments, which are very sympathetic to the US role in this part of their shared history. We then went to the Moncado Barracks, where the Revolution began in 1953, with a botched attack.
Most of the Barracks is now a school, but some has been maintained as a museum. I had seen it twenty years ago, and went through the museum then. They have fixed it up since then. Then to Plaza de la Revolucion, a huge gathering place with an enormous statue of one of the heroes from the Spanish-Cuban-American war, and the representation of 23 machetes (chosen because those were the only things which the farmers could use against the Spanish.
Then down to the Central square (Parque Céspedes), with its old-fashioned church, the City Hall from whose balcony Fidel announced the success of the Revolution,
and the Hotel Casa Grande which featured in Graham Greene's novel "Our Man in Havana". They had a rooftop bar, so of course we went up there, just prior to getting back on the bus for the ride back here to the Hotel for supper and an early bedtime. Tomorrow we ride again.
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Location:Santiago do Cuba
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