- Dec 17, 2008
- 893
- 0
- 16
Alrighty,
I'm back from Cuba and am filled with rancid rancor against imperialist oppression... Either that, or I just got my tan on. In my best attempt at an unbiased critique, Cuba was special. Schizo-special. On the one hand, the beaches, the restaurants I went to, the resorts strip in Varadero and Old Havana were all nothing short of pulchritudinous, especially all the old Spanish colonial architecture and culture. Even though I went on the rainy season, I got lucky last week and it was pure shining boiling uv rays every day, all day long. On the other hand, if you take a ride through any part in between the resorts and the big city within Matanzas, as well as modern Havana, it's all very run-down and full of hitchhikers (some of which are cute, I'm not gonna lie) and beggars who will follow you for literally hours unless you very loudly shout at them to fuck off kindly. Cubans are nice, but quite a lot like to scam tourists through little business ventures they propose (ie. be your driver for a day, pretend to be drunk and hug you whilst pickpocketing you at te same time), and they do it with a smile on their face. Oh, and if you go to the local bars and clubs and you don't know how to dance, you can pretty much forget about chasing tail the entire night. Oh, and for those that haven't been, Cuba has this second strand of currency just for tourists called Convertible Pesos, which is worth more than Canadian or US Dollars, and is a currency that has no international credit and is therefore absolutely worthless outside of the country. If you buy convertibles with american dollars, they charge an extra 20% fee. The woman didn't tell me why, she just said "America, no good." followed promptly by a thumb down to emphasize her argument.
Without further ado, I don't like to take many pictures because I'm lazy, but the few interesting ones are below along with a bit of commentary for one and all to enjoy:
Can't start a travel photo show without a scenery shot from the hotel room balcony -
This was just an awesome painting I had to take a picture of that was in my hotel lobby -
Now for those unaware, Cuba is one of the few countries left where you can smoke virtually anywhere and everywhere and I was having a fucking party and a half smoking nearly a pack a day without even feeling it. Packs of hollywood were 1.20 each (convertible pesos - about $2 CDN give or take), I bought a carton of lucky strikes for 30 convertibles at my resort but got fucked over because the duty free had them for 20. Anyways, this is something fucking historic because I've never seen them in my life and probably will never see one again, and I'm sure anywhere else its just as rare, but here it is...
A functional cigarette vending machine! -
Here's the first picture from Havana, just a straight-forward business shot of me and the spanish fortress at the port behind me -
This is Erny and I at the hotel in Havana where he stayed from '28 til I forgot when and wrote for whom the bell tolls there. I was fucking tired and it was 36 celsius that day, and I was just waiting for my Mojito to arrive from the bar. Don't mind the distressed Philippino couple... -
This is me really drunk during the day really enjoying myself in the warm and colorful waters of the atlantic, giving you the thumbs up. White sand there too all over. Great breach. -
Last but not least, this shot is dedicated to a few of you guys here. I feel behind in my belly shots due to Cara and others, and I now see your bellies and raise you two hairy Israeli legs. Last side note, Bucanero is fucking great cuban beer. It's strong stuff at 5.4%, but it beats the shit out of Molson Export. And of course, Will, after drinking that awesome cerveza, I felt the urge to pay my tribute to the legacy of Bozarth. This million dollar face down there is just for you, buddy. -
Perhaps more will come if I get them from the Canadians that drank with me at night at the bar if they contact me at some point, but this was the gist of it, more or less.
I'm back from Cuba and am filled with rancid rancor against imperialist oppression... Either that, or I just got my tan on. In my best attempt at an unbiased critique, Cuba was special. Schizo-special. On the one hand, the beaches, the restaurants I went to, the resorts strip in Varadero and Old Havana were all nothing short of pulchritudinous, especially all the old Spanish colonial architecture and culture. Even though I went on the rainy season, I got lucky last week and it was pure shining boiling uv rays every day, all day long. On the other hand, if you take a ride through any part in between the resorts and the big city within Matanzas, as well as modern Havana, it's all very run-down and full of hitchhikers (some of which are cute, I'm not gonna lie) and beggars who will follow you for literally hours unless you very loudly shout at them to fuck off kindly. Cubans are nice, but quite a lot like to scam tourists through little business ventures they propose (ie. be your driver for a day, pretend to be drunk and hug you whilst pickpocketing you at te same time), and they do it with a smile on their face. Oh, and if you go to the local bars and clubs and you don't know how to dance, you can pretty much forget about chasing tail the entire night. Oh, and for those that haven't been, Cuba has this second strand of currency just for tourists called Convertible Pesos, which is worth more than Canadian or US Dollars, and is a currency that has no international credit and is therefore absolutely worthless outside of the country. If you buy convertibles with american dollars, they charge an extra 20% fee. The woman didn't tell me why, she just said "America, no good." followed promptly by a thumb down to emphasize her argument.
Without further ado, I don't like to take many pictures because I'm lazy, but the few interesting ones are below along with a bit of commentary for one and all to enjoy:
Can't start a travel photo show without a scenery shot from the hotel room balcony -
This was just an awesome painting I had to take a picture of that was in my hotel lobby -
Now for those unaware, Cuba is one of the few countries left where you can smoke virtually anywhere and everywhere and I was having a fucking party and a half smoking nearly a pack a day without even feeling it. Packs of hollywood were 1.20 each (convertible pesos - about $2 CDN give or take), I bought a carton of lucky strikes for 30 convertibles at my resort but got fucked over because the duty free had them for 20. Anyways, this is something fucking historic because I've never seen them in my life and probably will never see one again, and I'm sure anywhere else its just as rare, but here it is...
A functional cigarette vending machine! -
Here's the first picture from Havana, just a straight-forward business shot of me and the spanish fortress at the port behind me -
This is Erny and I at the hotel in Havana where he stayed from '28 til I forgot when and wrote for whom the bell tolls there. I was fucking tired and it was 36 celsius that day, and I was just waiting for my Mojito to arrive from the bar. Don't mind the distressed Philippino couple... -
This is me really drunk during the day really enjoying myself in the warm and colorful waters of the atlantic, giving you the thumbs up. White sand there too all over. Great breach. -
Last but not least, this shot is dedicated to a few of you guys here. I feel behind in my belly shots due to Cara and others, and I now see your bellies and raise you two hairy Israeli legs. Last side note, Bucanero is fucking great cuban beer. It's strong stuff at 5.4%, but it beats the shit out of Molson Export. And of course, Will, after drinking that awesome cerveza, I felt the urge to pay my tribute to the legacy of Bozarth. This million dollar face down there is just for you, buddy. -
Perhaps more will come if I get them from the Canadians that drank with me at night at the bar if they contact me at some point, but this was the gist of it, more or less.
