Castillo de Jagua adventure

Today was an adventure. We had wanted to go to the Castillo, and the book had said there was a regular ferry from the centre of town to the Castillo, which operated four times a day "when there is fuel". We ere told there would be one at 1 PM today, and that fit us well.

So the morning was spent going to the bank to get more money, going to the internet place ("no tickets" seems to be the common phrase today; only Castro knows why), fighting off the people asking for money. We did find a place for a t-shirt for each of us.

And we returned to the house, before going back down to the dock area for the 1:00 ferry. We got there about 12:15, and they had just opened the gate to let people in. The boat, which was the size and shape of a covered fishing boat and designed to fit perhaps one hundred people, already had over 150 on board. And they kept on coming, so that by the time we left, there must have been over two hundred! Not a life jacket or lifeboat to be seen, much less paddles or other safety equipment. And where we were, at the back of the boat, there was not a complete side rail either. Someone had two hens they were taking over. Someone else had brought a cartoned washing machine. Another had plants to sell or plant. At least, with that many people, you could not fall down.

Everyone was congenial, and conversations began among many of them. A young woman next to me (age, about 35) spoke to a seventeen-year-old boy with bleached and spiky hair next to her, and borrowed a well-used small-format comic book. I looked over her shoulder as she was reading. It was a pornographic romance story, in comic book form. She finished that one and asked for, and read, another before we got to the stop. I thought, that's something you won't see in Canada.

The trip across was interrupted by a stop about thirty feet out from the dock. The engine turned off, there was apparently some trouble. We began to think about swimming for it, but everyone took it in stride, so we just waited, and eventually the boat started again. Took a couple of scheduled stops on the way, then arrived at the destination.

The castillo itself is from the mid-eighteenth century, and is under restoration (what isn't in Cuba?),

but the part they have completed is quite nice, and gives a wonderful view of the bay. One of the things one can do if one wishes is to pull up the drawbridge. I was able to do this; it was quite heavy.

We met a couple from Quebec City at the Castillo. Nice to speak French and not feel like an idiot as I do in Spanish. And a threesome of young women from Montana, who had gotten here via Winnipeg to avoid their government's embargo. The Quebec folks told us there was a three o'clock ferry back to the city, and we got on it. (I told them I had seen a taxi by the Hotel this morning with a Quebec flag outside its window.) Much less crowded, and a better feel to it.

On the way back, the boat was not nearly as crowded. One guy polishing his bicycle the whole way across, while his girlfriend watched patiently and sometimes held his hand. And, for emphasis, we saw a small group of dolphins off the starboard side of the boat. The trip back was less interesting, but that was not a bad thing.

We had to celebrate with a Bucanero (a local, quite good, beer) and some ice cream at the Hotel La Union, then home. Past a line-up at the government rations store.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Cienfuegos