Guys - here's my report that I am going to post on clubhombre.com about a recent trip to Havana. Enjoy...
OK - fellow mongers this is my first report of many to come in my lifetime (I hope) so bare with me and enjoy... here's my short story on a week vacation in Havana, Cuba which I will preface by saying we're not in kansas anymore! oh and all prices are in CUC unless stated.
getting there
Being canadian eh means I can go about cuban travel without having GW questioning my every move (note I haven't travelled to the US for work since - we'll see if they revoke that visa). Air Canada, our wonderful national airline and a member of the Star Alliance (for those frequent flier freaks) offers direct service to Havana three times a week which I believe they're bumping up to daily from 2006. Also it's dirt cheap to fly down with AC - I paid $500 Cdn total for my return flight out of TO... that was a websaver special as the current price is about $800 Cdn but then aircanadavacations.com has for about the same price a return flight and 3 nights hotel. Other people have mentioned flights through Cancun and the Bahamas but I prefer the larger jets unless I'm flying them myself (there ain't no FAA in Cuba).
getting around
taxi's are abundant and that's all I used... there are two types - official and guys just trying to make a buck. Negotiate with both and if necessary just make the driver put on the meter in the official taxis. Walking around is a good way to meet people if you're downtown Havana or as others have done - hire a driver for a day (say $20) and have them drive you around while you drool at the slim, tanned women walking around half-naked. OH and don't be shy - they aren't...
$ matters
For a week total which had me 4 chica's (2 puta's and 2 g/f's), 1 week hotel, flight, food, taxi, a little sightseeing and alot of drinking cost just shy of $1500 Cdn. I changed the CDN at the airport as aparently that's the best/easiest place to do so. I believe rates are set throughout so didn't really look around. I took CDN as aparently there's a tax on USD but I think there's a tax on ALL foreign exchange. The exchange rates are false as they don't reflect the true current market. You get a few points extra on changing CDN vs. USD (~3-5%) but for the yanks they prob. lose that anyway changing to CDN so is it worth it? You can also charge your CC for CUC's put there's a fairly hefty % added onto that trasaction as well so it's not really worth it. In pure financial terms - Cuba's foriegn exchange is a joke as their $ is useless... I guess
they're taking a page out of the Chinese Gov't and their valuation of the Yuan. Note I did try to use my Cdn. bank card to take $ out of the ATM but it was rejected. Not sure why... also cdn's call your CC company before hand and let them know you are going to cuba so they allow the trasactions originating from there. It cost me $60 to make a friggin collect call to mastercard to get my CC authorized. That's 2 girls, taxi, and dinner with a bottle of rum - FACK!
As for price of goods... well boys this ain't like any other 3rd world country where you're expected to negotiate for things... when someone tells you a price if you want it you pay that price - haggling isn't part of their society. The only things that are negotiable are taxi's (the private ones and the one's who's meter's are broken) and women. Taxi's from Miramar (which is where I suggest to stay in Havana) to downtown are about $5-8 CUC one way and don't pay any more than 30 for a puta... If you find a g/f then just make sure you keep track of your dollar's spent to SOG's ratio. remeber if
they're not calling you tacano with that funny sign of hitting their elbow with their hand then you're spending too much on them.
taxi from airport to miramar - $20 taxi back to airport from miramar $11 - go figure...
meals - from $1-$15 - doesn't mean the food is any better - you're paying for the atmosphere
rum - $4-6 for a bottle
mojito's - $2 drink
3 mangoes - $1 and they're sweeter than a 18yr. old with a thick bush
food/drink
should have been #1 topic as it was my biggest concern coming down here cause I'm a skinny guy and if I miss a meal I might dissapear but no worries in the general tourist areas. Food can range from $1 CUC to $15 CUC but we're not talking ruth chris hear... basic but nutricious meals - grilled chicken, fish, or lobster, rice and peas with some salad - make you strong like bull! No wonder there's no fat cubans... oh btw if you're feeding them make sure you keep them away from the candies and sweets - they love that shit for some reason but we don't want to amercanize them!
OK - fellow mongers this is my first report of many to come in my lifetime (I hope) so bare with me and enjoy... here's my short story on a week vacation in Havana, Cuba which I will preface by saying we're not in kansas anymore! oh and all prices are in CUC unless stated.
getting there
Being canadian eh means I can go about cuban travel without having GW questioning my every move (note I haven't travelled to the US for work since - we'll see if they revoke that visa). Air Canada, our wonderful national airline and a member of the Star Alliance (for those frequent flier freaks) offers direct service to Havana three times a week which I believe they're bumping up to daily from 2006. Also it's dirt cheap to fly down with AC - I paid $500 Cdn total for my return flight out of TO... that was a websaver special as the current price is about $800 Cdn but then aircanadavacations.com has for about the same price a return flight and 3 nights hotel. Other people have mentioned flights through Cancun and the Bahamas but I prefer the larger jets unless I'm flying them myself (there ain't no FAA in Cuba).
getting around
taxi's are abundant and that's all I used... there are two types - official and guys just trying to make a buck. Negotiate with both and if necessary just make the driver put on the meter in the official taxis. Walking around is a good way to meet people if you're downtown Havana or as others have done - hire a driver for a day (say $20) and have them drive you around while you drool at the slim, tanned women walking around half-naked. OH and don't be shy - they aren't...
$ matters
For a week total which had me 4 chica's (2 puta's and 2 g/f's), 1 week hotel, flight, food, taxi, a little sightseeing and alot of drinking cost just shy of $1500 Cdn. I changed the CDN at the airport as aparently that's the best/easiest place to do so. I believe rates are set throughout so didn't really look around. I took CDN as aparently there's a tax on USD but I think there's a tax on ALL foreign exchange. The exchange rates are false as they don't reflect the true current market. You get a few points extra on changing CDN vs. USD (~3-5%) but for the yanks they prob. lose that anyway changing to CDN so is it worth it? You can also charge your CC for CUC's put there's a fairly hefty % added onto that trasaction as well so it's not really worth it. In pure financial terms - Cuba's foriegn exchange is a joke as their $ is useless... I guess
they're taking a page out of the Chinese Gov't and their valuation of the Yuan. Note I did try to use my Cdn. bank card to take $ out of the ATM but it was rejected. Not sure why... also cdn's call your CC company before hand and let them know you are going to cuba so they allow the trasactions originating from there. It cost me $60 to make a friggin collect call to mastercard to get my CC authorized. That's 2 girls, taxi, and dinner with a bottle of rum - FACK!
As for price of goods... well boys this ain't like any other 3rd world country where you're expected to negotiate for things... when someone tells you a price if you want it you pay that price - haggling isn't part of their society. The only things that are negotiable are taxi's (the private ones and the one's who's meter's are broken) and women. Taxi's from Miramar (which is where I suggest to stay in Havana) to downtown are about $5-8 CUC one way and don't pay any more than 30 for a puta... If you find a g/f then just make sure you keep track of your dollar's spent to SOG's ratio. remeber if
they're not calling you tacano with that funny sign of hitting their elbow with their hand then you're spending too much on them.
taxi from airport to miramar - $20 taxi back to airport from miramar $11 - go figure...
meals - from $1-$15 - doesn't mean the food is any better - you're paying for the atmosphere
rum - $4-6 for a bottle
mojito's - $2 drink
3 mangoes - $1 and they're sweeter than a 18yr. old with a thick bush
food/drink
should have been #1 topic as it was my biggest concern coming down here cause I'm a skinny guy and if I miss a meal I might dissapear but no worries in the general tourist areas. Food can range from $1 CUC to $15 CUC but we're not talking ruth chris hear... basic but nutricious meals - grilled chicken, fish, or lobster, rice and peas with some salad - make you strong like bull! No wonder there's no fat cubans... oh btw if you're feeding them make sure you keep them away from the candies and sweets - they love that shit for some reason but we don't want to amercanize them!
. Finally I wouldn't trust the structural integrity of the older buildings in Havana. Now if you do find a package deal with hotel included take that and just pay the $10 for a casa on the side. Now I did stay in a hotel which was arranged through the boyz at CubaXL. I'll talk more about those guys later on but the hotel was basic but had a few nice ammeneties - salt water pool which was cleaned nightly, on the ocean (no beach though - havana doesn't have a beach), 24 hr. restaurant, AC, and the ability to bring a chica back home with ya... oh and the locals come there to use the pool so you can see many a sweet thing around and can take them upstairs for a round or two... perfect!
