gyllintoursDo not fold the ticket! Don’t absolutely fold the ticket! Don’t forget that you can’t fold the ticket! The queue was full of tourists that moved slowly forward. Buying tickets for the tourist train that went out to the sugar plantation seemed to be a lengthy process. When everyone finally got their tickets, we went out into the gazing sun and waited for the train. We sat in old wooden wagons whithout windows. A diesel locomotive pulled the train. It was a very pleasant journey through the beautiful valley. It was not until the way home that we understood why we did not get to fold the tickets. They would be reused for the next train journey.
The turist train to the sugar plantation
The wind was blowing comfortably when it slowly pushed forward. If you were thirsty, you went to the bar and ordered something to drink. The train made two stops on the road. The first stop was in a village. In the village one of the large sugar barons had lived. He had built a tall tower that you had the opportunity to visit. When the train stopped we were surrounded by beggars and vendors. I didn’t see anything like this in other places in Cuba. The entire street from the sugar baron’s house to the tower was lined with vendors. We just bought a bunch of bananas.
The longest stop was at a disused sugar factory. They squeezed cane juice outside a bar. You could buy the juice and mix it with rum if you wanted. You could unfortunately not buy any food. Some tourists were eating a lunch bag while waiting for the train to return. There was not much to look at in the sugar factory because the film show and the laboratory were closed. The best of the day was the lovely train journey.
Playa Ancon
A few kilometers from Trinidad there is a fantastic beach. It was very quiet and plenty of space under the parasols. There was a small bar where you could buy drinks and simple dishes. It was all we needed and we had a fantastic relaxing day in the sun.
Casa de la musica
In the evenings, people gathered around Casa de la Musica. You could sit on the stairs or at the restaurants around the stage. They played music and some couple danced salsa in front of the stage. It was a good atmosphere.
Summery
We went with Finnair from Copenhagen to Havana. We stayed 3 nights in Havana (Havana 1,Havana 2) 2 nights in Vinales (Vinales 1, Vinales 2), 1 night in Cienfuegos, 3 nights in Trinidad, 3 nights at Cayo Santa Maria and 2 nights in Varadero. When we were going from one accommodation to another we went by taxi colectivo. We booked the cars through our accommodations the day before we were going. If we were going on the trip today we would have stayed more nights in Vinales and skipped to go to Varadero.