Remedios

And so on to our final destination on the tour - Remedios.  Described in the brochure as having a beautiful square surrounded by colonial mansions, it is in fact a bit of a building site and apart from the church and our hotel there are only a couple of bars.  Also being a Sunday it's pretty dead.

Our hotel is newly opened and nicely decorated although still waiting for luxuries like a lift and, in our room certainly, a toilet seat, but the most outstanding feature is its flies - they are everywhere, all over the food at breakfast yuk!

I think VJV have made a mistake bringing us here for 2 nights as there is nothing to see or do.  This morning we went on a steam train ride to a sugar factory museum which took a couple of hours.

But then there was nothing, no pool at the hotel and only the local bars.  Having had a very poor meal in the hotel last night, none of us were keen to repeat the experience and this is where Alex really came up trumps.

Via Alberto, we think, Alex heard about a farm which offered lunches to tourists.  He somehow persuaded them to provide us with an evening meal.  So we all headed off on the coach and after a lovely walk all across their land, we sat in the backyard and had a fantastic al fresco meal following by a little dancing.  Just perfect for our last night together on tour.

And so tomorrow we head for Varadero which is a 12km strip of hotels.  Can't say I'm looking forward to it as I'd much rather be in "real" Cuba but it's part of the package.  Already I'm planning our return visit so see the other half of the island.  I love this place and its people.

A final thankyou to "My Alex" and Alberto as without them this tour wouldn't have been half as much fun.

Sancti Spiritus and Santa Clara

From Trinidad we drove to Sancti Spiritus for a tour of the city including a local food market.

Then on to Santa Clara to see Che Guevara's mausoleum and the replica Armoured Train (Che and his gang derailed a train full of Batista soldiers).  Che was Argentinian by birth but very much involved with the 1959 Cuban Revolution.  He joined Castro's post revolution government but after a couple of years went off to join insurgents fighting in the Congo before moving to Bolivia where he was killed by the CIA.  The exhibition of his life at the mausoleum had some outstanding photographs and I found it really fascinating just how aware he was of the camera at all times (even whilst seemingly in the middle of a battle field).  Another very charismatic man, much revered by Cubans to this day.

Trinidad

Armed with 5 day's supply of antibiotics, Michael's cousin duly drove us to Trinidad and after checking into the fabulous Grand Trinidad Hotel, I had a good sleep and woke about 3pm feeling OK but very weak.  Trinidad is one of the places I've been most looking forward to visiting, so we decided to venture out on our own and try and see as much as possible.

It is a beautiful town, with cobbled streets, painted buildings and lovely people.  We only managed about 1 1/2 hours before fatigue took over and we headed back.  We briefly stopped off to watch Alex teaching some of the group to dance before a bit of dinner (dry bread for me) and an early night.

The next morning we woke quite early and decided to try and see a bit more of the town before breakfast as we were leaving straight after.  I'm so glad we did, its just so lovely

Cienfuegos - Where It All Began to Unravel

We've left Havana now for the last time (shame) and have headed south east to the town of Cienfuegos which is on the coast.  A very nice, old Spanish colonial town, which after the disrepair of old Havana, seems very well cared for.

After a short walk around town, we visited the Tomas Terry theatre and then took some pictures from a roof top bar.

We then headed to the prestigious Yacht Club for lunch overlooking the marina.

After my first choice for lunch (tuna) wasn't available, I settled for a Prawn baguette, which despite my initial reservations was absolutely delicious.

After lunch we boarded a tour boat for a trip around the bay.  There wasn't very much to look at apart from the odd jelly fish or two.

Once the "cruise" ended I felt the need to pay a quick visit to the loo and from there on things went badly downhill.   Eventually we decided to let the coach continue its journey to Trinidad with the intention of following on by taxi as soon as I felt able to. I'm not going to go into detail but 3 hours later and I'm in an ambulance on my way to hospital.

At this point I must mention Michael who Alex had called to help Ian source a taxi.  Michael came with us to hospital, helped Ian with translations and was just fantastic. 

Out of my huge respect for the people who work in this hospital I don't wish to run it down in anyway but suffice it to say that the conditions in the A&E Dept were "grim".  I was quickly assessed in A&E and put on the first of various drips, whilst Ian was whisked off to a much better part of the hospital and fed/watered by the chef.

After about 4 hours Ian was allowed back to A&E and although the various tests, including cholera, had come back negative my blood pressure was still too low and I wasn't allowed to leave.  So Ian managed to get me transferred to a private room and whilst it was not remotely like we would expect in the UK, in comparison to A&E it was a palace.  Barbara the night nurse didn't speak any English and my brain had ceased to function quite a while ago but we managed somehow to communicate.  Ian was allowed to stay in a small bed beside me and somehow we got through the night.  The following morning my temperature was still too high so I couldn't leave, but Nurse Barbara offered me a shower before explaining that actually there wasn't any hot water!!  Bless her though, she managed to produce a small bucket of hot water and a towel about 12" square and luckily that bought my temperature down enough for me to be discharged.  The 5 mins quoted for preparing the bill turned into 1 1/2 hours as Barbara wrote everything in draft, then neat, then read it over with a colleague then passed it onto accounts who re-wrote everything.  Then when it came to pay someone talking on the phone had to be cut off so that the Credit Card could be put through.

Cuba is world renowned for its leading research into cures for cancer and aids amongst others and despite its relatively poor economic state it still manages to offer ophthalmic services to countries worse off than itself.  Whilst I wish I hadn't had to experience Cuban healthcare first hand, I am so grateful for the care I was given despite the most difficult conditions in which they have to work.