Martin um die Welt

Dienstag, 29. April 2014

8) Mantanzas, Soroa and Pinar del Rio

The next morning (29.04.) we drove from Varadero to Mantanzas - the capital of the district. There are not many tourists in the city and we quickly drawed the attention from those few people to us who are eager to get some money from tourists. Other than that, the people in Mantanzas were very friendly and we saw a lot of real Cuban life. Snacks and bread were super cheap here and almost everywhere people only wanted the "moneda national" instead of the tourist "CUC". Still, the houses were largely worn down giving this city a ruin like atmosphere... especially at the river bank. We visited a large mosaic picture of Che Guevara before we continued from Mantanzas all along the highway past Havanna to Soroa. On the way we picked up a hitchhiking engineer... but only because the highway police asked us to. Ofcourse he quickly wanted to sale us accomodation... but other than that he was very friendly :) In Soroa we parked our car at Hotel Villa Soroa. We walked past the Orchid garden and were eager to climb some hill... but this way turned out to be a dead end. So we drove down to the waterfall entrance. There we visited the waterfall first which was nice but not impressive. Then we climbed the hill which offered amazing views over the country :D
As it was late afternoon we continued on our way... the plan was to go to Playa Maria la Gorda... but we already expected not to make it this far that day... so we stopped in Pinar del Rio. This is the worst town when it comes to touts we have seen in all Cuba. Every young guy tried to tell some lies that we couldn't go this street or that the next crossing was closed due to a festival or repairs or whatever and that they would offer to guide us the way. Near the bus station it was almost scary when people shouted and approached our car... we closed windows, locked the door and slowly continued. Finally we stayed at the casa particulares "Casa Colonial" where we could also park our car in their courtyard. At the casa we met two german guys from Hamburg. Everyone - even the house owners - wanted to bring us to some restaurant to receive commission... that was really annoying. After some dinner at the main street we met the Germans again and enjoyed some Mojitos together. The bar was then closed by soldiers and we were asked to stay by the owners. As it felt rather uncomfortable we left shortly after and went for sleep.

old fire department in Mantanzas

Soroa's waterfall

The way up hill... sometimes quite some stairs were missing^^

great view from up hill...

... looking over the region

interesting caterpillars near the top

7) Varadero

At the evening (25.04.) we arrived in Varadero and pushed by the setting sun we chose a Casa Particulares with friendly owner (Calle 47). We took a walk along the beach during sunset before we enjoyed dinner and some Mojitos around Calle 60, which becomes very lively during the evening. The next day we enjoyed beach to the fullest again^^ The beach from Calle 50 down to 10 is gently filled with locals and you don't see the tourist filled beaches that Varadero is infamous for (starting Calle 60 up). We were very positively surprised. The beach was amazing with the water and sand almost as good as on Cayo Coco. The beach also has sufficient palm trees for natural shade available unlike the beaches at Cayo Santa Maria. However, Varadero beach is best for sunsets. When looking towards the sea the sun rises from the right, passes behind you where the palm trees provide shade from the strong midday sun and finally the sun sets at your left and gets lost in the sea. Considering this and the small but close Varadero town, it is one of the most convenient beaches I've seen. That's why we decided to stay a little longer^^ At this Saturday evening we went for Calle 60 again and then wanted to check Discoteca Havanna Club. But before entering we changed our minds... there were not many people entering and the cover fee was rather expensive. So we decided to have some more Mojitos instead :) The next day (27.04.) we visited Playa Coral southwest of Varadero as it is renowned for good snorkeling. There is no beach at this "playa" but you can enter the sea via a small bridge and ladder. The snorkeling was not spectacular but a nice difference to our usual beach days^^ Some small fish and tiny corals could be seen. Afterwards we checked out from our Casa Particulares and were shocked to find out that we were bitten and hunter by bed bugs there in the morning. We changed to Hotel Pullman where we had reserved the day before. It is a simple but clean hotel with a nice location. After cleaning our clothes from the bedbugs we continued to enjoy Varadero's awesome beach :) At the evening we were looking for some better restaurant but somehow didn't find the place. Some Canadians adviced us a "great and cheap" restaurant, which turned out to be way overpriced. But nearby we found an ok price and very delicious place (Avenida 2, Calle 59). Afterwards we enjoyed some drinks and live music at The Beatles bar. The last day we explored the northeast of Varadero - the hotel zone. Our search for internet access was unsuccsesful in all Varadero, even in the hotel zone. The beach here was great too, but it was rather boring compared to the beach downtown. This time we found a great place for dinner: Dante. Italian food is delicious in Cuba as their own food is very boring... however, Dante's place was the best food we had during this holiday, although the portions were rather small. Lasagne! :)