Day 2-3 Viñales - Cuba

After leaving the hotel in Habana, we headed off to a little village called Viñales, it had a population of 27,000 and it consisted of mainly 1-3 story buildings, but mainly bungalows. We where staying in a Casa, which is a rented room from someones family. The owners of the Casa prepared food etc for us, which was then sold to us for an outrageously high price. The first night we went to some caves and got to see the local landscape, Also got confronted by a very cute Cuban girl, who was wondering what we where doing, but we where in a hurry, so we couldent chat, cause we where going to the next place; A hotel up in the hills overlooking the mountains, on the way there the bus driver pulled over and let an old black man with a guitar and a straw hat onboard, he started playing loads of cuban songs, and once he arrived at the hotel we had a little chat with him, and gave him some pesos, he offered us some rum from a little dirty bottle, we kindly refused and then we left for another hotel, where we spent the evening watching the sunset over the mogotes. In the evening we went to a bar that played live salsa, and we got introduced to an awsome cuban guy, who was a farily well known boxer, but im not sure what his name was. Sat there for some hours, and then went back to the casa.

On the second day in Viñales, things got abit crazy; Peder had to go off early to get his Visa sorted out, so i went on a walk with the rest of the group, and i got to know the people in the group better. On the walk we dropped by a tobacoo plantation, and got to see how cigars where made, then we walked through the countryside and saw how cuban farmers live. Once i got backe i walked around town looking for a place to eat lunch, ended up in a place where some of the other travellers where, i got a half cooked stale chicken with rice and beans and blue potatos and 6 dozen flies. Dident eat much of it and went home, Then i bumped inn to Peder, who it turned out had gone to a police station, got told to go somewhere else and returned to viñales, to then be sendt out on a 6 hour hike up in the mountains without sunscreen. He did the hike on his own, with a crazy cuban tourguide, who only drank rum the whole way. Then it was off to the same Salsa place we where the night before, for some salsa lessons. I decided that salsa was much like judo and that id rather sit around and eat icecream. So i ended up talking to the boxer, its amazing how much one can comunicate without language! After the salsa lessons, it was off to the local basketball pith where Peder was gonna play basket with some locals, The sun was fierce, and peder could after a while not drink enough water to compensate and had to sit out a bit. Once the basket was done we headed back home and got some food at the Casa, and then went back to the Salsa Bar. This is when the night of crazines really began. Roger (our tourguide) suggested we should get a bottle of rum, because it worked out cheaper, im not much of a rum drinker so i stuck to beer. Peder however did not, and as the night went on the alcohol levels in the bloodstream got higher. Then i met what must have been my long distant brother, because i have never met a guy who looked so much like me, and people in the Salsa bar was telling me about it all night, pointing at me and laughing, while mumbeling my seperated at birth brothers name, then i finaly got to meet him and i bought him a beer, but after many drinks the bar was closing. We where petrified. Would this be the end our 3rd night!? Fortunatley, there was a 24 hour petrol station, so we convinced Sangeet and Jo that we would look after them and that they should come with us. So then it was off to the petrol station where i bought the cubans with us a 1l bottle of rum ($3), and Peder bought 2. We where hanging out at the petrol station for a while and some guy comes up to me and sais, "nice jacket, how much do you want for it?" The jacket was far from nice, awfull infact so i told him he could take it for free, he refused and i told him he could have it for 2$, he got all his friends and they chipped inn 2$ and bought the jacket off me, it humors me to think that some cuban guy, is running around with a jacket he thinks is really cool, that i never liked and was glad to get rid off. The only problem was the word spread quick, a westerner was selling used clothing for cheap prices! So another guy comes up to me and hastels me saying he wants my shoes, and that he wanted to trade his size 42 shoes for my size 46 shoes, i told him i wasent intrested and that i needed my shoes to walk around in the city. At this stage Peder was getting really rather pissed, he tried to take a swig from a bottle of rum, and spat it all out over some Australian tourists, it was time to head home. Once we got back home Peder collapsed on the floor, but he finaly got to his own bed. Then, in the middle of the night i wake up, "Is someone holding around me!?" I turned the light on to find fully dressed, under my blankets spooning me! I tell him what are you doing in my bed!? he replies its his bed, a quick nudge and poke and he realised that he was infact wrong and crawls back to his own bed. The following morning Peder was still abit drunk and we arrived 15 min late for the bus, but we made it. It was goodbye to Viñales and my newly found brother and of to Maria La Gorda.
J