Trinidad and Trains Revisited

So when last we were in Trinidad, I mentioned a train trip through the Valle de los Ingenios to a town called Manaca Iznaga, famous for its tower. Given that (5 years after the event) I still hadn't finished scanning my slides, the photos were a little limited. Finally that can be rectified. Without (too many) further stories, here are some more snaps from the train trip.

Firstly, the train itself:

On the move:


Not the one we were afraid we might have to take:

The first stop was a Hacienda called Casa Guachinango, just after a railway bridge:


It doubled as a sort of bar, and I guess the intention was that we stayed there and lined the pockets of whoever was working there. I took the opportunity to check out the surrounding countryside:

... and luckily, as I explained in the previous Trinidad post, I managed to jump back on the train as it departed, unannounced, for what was to be the final destination, Manaca Iznaga, famous for its tower:

from which there was a pretty view, including of the local hamlet itself:

... in which not much happened, although they were pretty casual about a steam train crossing,


a tractor seemed to be more interesting to the locals.

Next, I revisit Camaguey , from where my first impressions of Trinidad were written, so long ago !

Trinidad and Trains

As I mentioned in my last post, Trinidad is a spectacularly pretty colonial town. While there are run-down parts, in general the historic centre is beautifully kept and worth a few hours stroll. The most common accommodation option for budget travellers are rooms in beautiful old houses built around interior courtyards, in a style similar to that seen in Andalucia in Spain. Ceilings are high, and the rooms are gloriously cool, even in the heat of ... early spring !





One of the unexpected highlights of the afternoon occurred at an impromptu rum bar on a footpath in a rundown part of town. The bar consisted of a folding card table, some rickety chairs; bottles of rum and much used glasses; filled (2-3 shots worth) for 1 or 2 cents. Staff, owners and clients were all men in their 60s or older. We pulled up a perch; and once we'd adjusted our ears to their unusual Spanish accents (and they'd done likewise to ours) we had a great afternoon chewing the fat and enjoying conversation with locals, motivated purely by mutual curiosity.

Apart from visiting the beach, and strolling the town; the main tourist attraction here is a steam train that runs through the sugar cane fields of the Valley de los Ingenios. The train trip itself was an authentic Cuban experience. Depending on who you asked, it was leaving at 2:00, 2:30 or 3:00 pm. At 1pm the ticket office closed as there was uncertainty as to whether the train was going at all.

Trinidad Ticket Office

And we were afraid that the train would be substituted for some more humble transport:

However we were saved by the toot; a puff of black smoke and a roar as the train finally pulled in (at 3:30).


The chaos was by no means over, however. There were no official communications during the trip; and although the various staff were happy to answer some questions, the answers were random, frequently contradictory and often wrong ! Thus, at the apparent last stop; the train lurched off up the valley. Those left behind had to wait 3 hours (in a one horse shit-hole) - luckily i jumped on as it was pulling out, mostly out of curiosity !


The scenery and experience was well worth it; however (as is often the case with tourist steam trains) the return trip couldn't go fast enough, especially after the sun set and we were travelling in pure darkness.

First Impressions from Trinidad

Trinidad in Cuba that is ... I haven't jumped across the Caribbean. Trinidad is an extremely picturesque colonial town near the south (Caribbean) coast of Cuba, a couple of hundred km from Havana. I'm spending some Saturday morning time in the super slow USD6/hour internet cafe, prior to taking a steam train through the sugar cane fields that are in a valley (Valle de los Ingenios) to the north of here.

Cuba has of course been an experience ... not extraordinarily different to what i expected. In some cases it has been easier ... the soviet style visa controls at the airport have been relaxed; and getting into town was a cinch, especially after befriending the two other solo travellers on the flight. There is however the impression common to travelling in other poor countries in that you the tourist are seen by many as a walking ATM; and sometimes it's a challenge to stop that from colouring every encounter that you have with the locals.

The Internet has spread in Cuba since my guide book was written, but still only one or two outlets per town and beyond the reach dollar-wise of any Cuban not in the dollar economy. The government are still pretty paranoid about the power of the web: that big central computer in Havana must be getting tired monitoring all the tourist emails it has to read ! Power comes and goes so a rigorous saving technique is called for.

I'm now in a town called Camaguey for 24 hours, on my way to Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second and supposedly most scenic town. Camaguey is quieter and not very touristed, which is great, much less hustling on the streets and more of a chance to see real life here.

Camaguey Cinema

The shops are nearly evenly split between dollar shops versus peso shops, and the peso shops are quite similar to what i saw in Russia 10 odd years ago. I've only managed to buy snacks and rum (which was rough as guts) for pesos so far; all 'meals' accommodation, and travel must be paid for in dollars. Even the local donkey taxi wanted dollars to take me into the city ! Instead, I came into town in a 74 year old ford (possibly and L-class), powered by a 10 year old Lada engine which was quite a cack ! The driver was a real character and popped into the first destination (it was a shared taxi) for a coffee while I waited outside in the car.



I also went to the beach yesterday for my first dip in the Caribbean, in a place called Playa Ancon. Not quite yet the April Sun in Cuba (originally written March 30), but getting close. The beach itself was pretty but nothing too spectacular; it was also pretty distasteful watching the fat rich Italian and German men cavorting with teenage girls - apparently the northern (Atlantic) beaches are a lot worse for that, but it was bad enough. The immense 50 year old Russian lady with her lithe African 20 year old was not much more pleasant either, but unfortunately this is a reality of Cuban tourism (not the independent kind !) at the moment.

Playa Ancon

We took a 'cocotaxi' to the beach - this basically being a motorbike powering a yellow plastic cocunut shell shaped two seat contraption. They're very inventive with the transport here and i've experienced most of them - including the 1950s chevvy that is emblemic of Cuba. I'll save the pictures of that for the Havana post.