3rd day's ride: off to Trinidad

Mosquito net worked; fought my way into the bathroom where the mozzies were trapped and escaped again quickly: no morning shower as no water.

Breakfast again in the lovely outdoor cabana by the edge of the sea with the waves crashing against the rocks below. Still dark at 7:00 a.m. but the light came in gradually lighting up the white caps so they glistened.

Breakfast looked like a re-run of last night's dinner even including the desserts but minus the icecream! Cook did a good job with the omelettes and was pleasant if busy.

Had a very pleasant ride to Trinidad today. Only 30 kms. Sometimes a headwind but just a moderate one. Wore sun hat under helmet and also sunglasses all which made a difference. So did the scenery which followed the coast and there were lovely little bays and beaches. Lots of crabs on the road, more dead than alive; some were beetling along trying to get from one side to the other and it took some strategic riding at times to avoid crunching them under the tyres.

On the approach into Trinidad we rode through intense smoke where a burn-off was taking place alongside the verge. In fact these are quite common throughout the agricultural areas of the Cuban countryside - I'm not sure why they continue to practise this form of land use.

At one point while we waited for the group to come together, I asked Alex if he raced - which he does. He raced with a Canadian group at one point and even though he had a crappier bike, they didn't beat him. They asked him which of their bikes he thought was the best and they gave it to him!

He told me that the men's team in Cuba was not that good but that the women were, with some of the top women riders in the world being Cuban. He said the girls trained in Switzerland - at the cost of the Government! Actually, I'm a little surprised by this as I haven't seen much evidence of gender equality here.

[Postscript: I looked up Google and Lisandra Guerra is very good and has had a long, successful career on the track with 3 World Championships and 6 World Cups.]

We were off the road much earlier today - by midday - after a long climb then a descent into town. 

Trinidad rose to prominence during the sugar boom and the wealth generated by the industry remains visible in the town's once grand mansions, colourful public buildings, wrought iron grill-work and cobble-stoned streets. It is steeped in religion, including Santeria, which is one of the Afro-Cuban religions (related to voodoo) that is practised in Cuba. We see evidence of this at a templo we pass; in some restaurants we see biblical paintings reflecting the Catholicism that also exists.

We had lunch in a restaurant near the main square (plaza mayor) which was followed by a walking tour of the city now 500 years old and well preserved. Trinidad was colonised by wealthy Spanish sugar barons in the early days. In fact we visited the Romantic Museum, which depicts the lifestyle and architectural design of Trinidad’s colonial past and was once the house of a wealthy landowner. We are told the Spanish landowners wiped out the locals (or they committed suicide) and imported Africans to work the plantations. So Trinidad was the face of slavery in Cuba.

The attractive young woman who took us around the museum had to have her Spanish spiel translated by Alex who did a good job and his sly winks at her expense had us smiling.

Afterwards we went back to "check in" to the casa particulare allocated to us. This is basically a family-run B&B. Some are quite amazing. You enter off the street via a nondescript door beyond which is an expected haven: a lovely courtyard and garden, maybe a bar, elegant rooms. And they are usually named after the owners, in our case Pompi y Gladis. Ours is in a casa across the road from a much larger and more luxurious one which will be used as the base for the group for the next 2 days and we will have dinner in their lovely garden later today but for now the group is despatched around the neighbourhood to various other casas - ours is not as charming as the main house across the road but it has a good shower and air-conditioner.

The casa owners do well because they have access to the CUCs they get from renting their homes to tourists. This makes for interesting reading:

http://fordhampoliticalreview.org/economic-liberalization-in-cuba/

We sorted our gear and wandered off again through the town to the market where we bought some embroidered linen for which the city's women are famous - they have a long tradition as seamstresses and can be seen sitting in the front window of their homes or the doorways of shops hand-sewing soft cotton fabrics stitch by stitch. We bought a couple of cute dresses for Sophie.

We retraced the path we had taken earlier during our lunchtime walking tour and found La Canchanchara, an old house dating back to the 18th century, where we tried the unique Trinidad rum (aguidente), honey and sugar cane juice cocktail served in small pottery mugs. It was very strong. To kill the taste, I also had a Cubinata.

We found another bar with 3 terrific-looking road bikes parked outside - probaby worth $15,000 or more the lot - and inside, smoking (!) and drinking were 3 guys from Canada in full lycra who come to Cuba 3 times a year to cycle. Why? They love it because the attitude of the motorists towards cyclists is good, and they like the Cubans who they find helpful (if they pay them a little money). Ryan from Melbourne and in our tour group wandered up to join us so the 3 of us had a good chat with the Canadians - and admired their bikes!

After dinner in the courtyard garden of the main casa across the road from ours, we walked back through town to enjoy traditional Cuban music at the Casa de la Trova. There was a great deal of energetic dancing and the guy on the keyboard was super!

Total ride: 30 kms