Sunday, 30 October 2022: Arrival in Historic Trinidad

Up early this morning to get packed for my short trip from Sancti Spíritus to Trinidad.  The power stays on until 7:30.  My breakfast consists of leftover cold pizza and some rolls with jam that I’d saved.  Not great but I get sick of the standard Cuban breakfast every day and long for some cereal or pancakes/waffles.  I bid my “adios” to Héctor and his mamá who have taken good care of me during my stay at Hostal Paraiso.  During the three days I’ve been here, they’ve had no other guests.  Kinda sad – how are they supposed to have a decent income from their B&B? 

I head two blocks to the pedestrian mall to sit in a bench and read about Trinidad restaurants in my Lonely Planet Guide.  Several older guys sitting on a park bench near me are having a heated argument.  I can’t make out what they are saying but their passion and animation are fun to watch.  Bells have been ringing on and off all morning to get the commie citizenry out of bed and into the pews for Sunday mass.  I wonder how many Cubans still go to church. 

A few minutes before 10:00, I walk a block to the Parque Sánchez in the hope that my driver will arrive.  Great – he shows up a few minutes early and we’re off.  When I told Héctor I would be paying 3000 pesos ($20) for the 45 mile trip, he thought it was too much.  But look, I’m the only passenger, it’s a nice car (late model Peugeot), there is a seat belt, and he’ll take me right to the door of my next accommodation.  The driver tells me to let him know if I want to stop anywhere for pictures.  I don’t ask for any stops as I enjoy the challenge or trying to get decent photos through the windshield of a moving vehicle.  When we’re almost in Trinidad, he makes a short detour up to a high viewpoint so I can see and photograph the Valle de los Ingenios, a scenic rural landscape of historic sugar plantations.

Once we’re in Trinidad, my driver has to ask directions several times but once I find us on the city map, I guide him to 432 Calle José Martí.  As I’m taking out my bags from the back seat, I hand the driver 3000 pesos (in Cuba you don’t tip drivers after you have agreed on a price and they don’t expect it).  “Gracias, señor,” I say.  “Me llamo Will.”  Now I get a real shocker.  He introduces himself as Doctor Fando and adds that he is a surgeon.  I’m blown away.  So, here’s a fucking M.D. who gives up his Sunday morning to make the equivalent of 20 bucks because, presumably, he doesn’t earn enough at the hospital to provide a good life for his family.  Welcome to the economic realities of communist Cuba, readers.

I walk up several steps to the door of the hostal and am welcomed by a friendly cleaning woman.  She has me sit in a comfortable chair and goes to get the manager.  She also brings me a wet rag to sooth my face and a glass of cold guava juice.  The manager, Josbaldo, comes out to greet me.  He’s about 50, medium height, thin, and olive complected.  I remind him that I’ll only be staying one night as I’ll be leaving for the Topes de Collantes in the morning.  I add that it’s too bad he is booked up later next week because I’ll be back for Trinidad for four nights.  He tells me he has a cancellation but, unfortunately, I’ve already paid for another room a couple blocks away. 

The Topes de Collantes are mountains in a national park north of Trinidad where I found a very appealing rural accommodation called Rancho Bee Hole on the Airbnb website when I first started planning my trip.  There were three consecutive nights, tomorrow through Wednesday, when they had a vacancy and I snapped them up before making any of my other reservations.  Then I planned the rest of the trip around that reservation.  So I’m staying in Trinidad tonight in the hope of getting to the Rancho Bee Hole early tomorrow.   It’s only 13 miles from here on a winding road and I don’t know what the transportation situation will be but assume I can find a way up there.   

Josbaldo shows me my room on the second floor.  It’s large with modern furnishings and three beds.  There is auxiliary power for the fan and bedside light so I won’t have to rely on a flashlight when the power goes out (it’s out now until about 2:00 PM).  He directs me to Restaurante San José, a couple blocks away, for lunch.  Along the way, I start soaking up the ambiance of Trinidad’s colonial architecture with its colorful contiguous row houses and cobblestone streets.  It’s no wonder that this small city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The restaurant host at the San José guides me into a way over air conditioned upscale dining room which feels like an outdoor picnic spot in Antarctica.  When I shiver and tell him this dining room is “demasiado frio”, he leads me upstairs to an interior balcony on the second floor with no aircon, only fans.  It’s fine for me (I try to avoid air conditioning unless I’m roasting) and the ambiance is hip.  Having had little for breakfast, I scarf down a large serving of pesto pasta and, of course, an icy limonada.  The waiter offers me dessert which I reluctantly decline: “¡No hay espacio en mi estomago!”  (There is no space in my stomach!)

When I get back to the hostal, the power and wifi are back on so I attack my overloaded email inbox.  At 6:00, I try to find a café recommended by Lonely Planet for vegetarian fast food but, like too many other restaurants I’ve tried to find over the past 9 days, it’s out of business.  My 2021 edition of Lonely Planet’s Cuba says they verified that the places listed are still open in light of covid.  But it’s probably been more than a year since they did the updates and it’s obviously been a tough year for Cuban businesses.  So, I go back to the San José for a bruschetta appetizer and this time I save space for the chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream.  Ugh – too much dessert – it bothers my sleep. 

It’s dark as I make my way back to the hostal.  Suddenly, when I get to Calle José Martí, all the lights go out – oh boy, it’s blackout time again.  Damn, what’s the address of my hostal?  I remember that it has no sign in front.  The doors and contiguous buildings all look about the same to a first time visitor, especially in the dark.  Oh yeah, 432 – whew!  A few doors have numbers and eventually I find it.  I stand in front of the door frantically searching for my keys.  I find them but then realize the outer door is open anyway.  The night clerk and his girlfriend have been watching my panicked key search and we all have a good laugh at my expense. 

I’m able to read for a while with the lamp in my room that uses the auxiliary power source.  I had thought that maybe the power situation in Trinidad would be better than in Sancti Spíritus.  Since Trinidad is a popular tourist destination, I figured it would be more like Havana where I experienced no blackouts during the three days I was there.  If the word is getting out internationally about the blackouts, it’s got to be having a negative impact on tourism – as if the tourist-dependent Cuban economy wasn’t already for shit.              

 

© Will Mahoney 2022

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