Today is all about Che

Last day of the tour: no riding; we drive to Trinidad via Santa Clara which was the scene of a pivotal moment in Cuban history when a rebel force led by Che Guevera captured Santa Clara launching him into prominence as a symbol of rebellion in popular culture.

Castro met Che Guevara in Mexico where he was putting together a rebel group to invade Cuba. Che was born to a middle-class family in Argentina, studied medicine and in 1948 travelled with a friend through South America on a motor bike: the story has been told in the film The Motorcycle Diaries. He was caught in Bolivia in October 1967 and shot and so his reputation as a revolutionary icon took off. His remains were brought to Santa Clara in 1987 and there is a mausoleum here.

Big day today. First, we took the bus after breakfast where the coffee was good; I walked to the reservoir wall after brekky and was picked up there. Saw the couple from Canada we had met last night in the bar who are taking a month to cycle around Cuba.

It is a one-hour drive to Santa Clara. We went into the Che Guevara mausoleum and the attached museo of his personal artefacts and some great black and white photos of him at various stages of his life. There was also a big banner with a picture of Chavez, President of Venezuela, in the Revolutionary Square: "Our best friend"!!! (Nuestro mejor amigo).

Then there is a 3-hour transfer to Havana. Alex made us Cuban Libres on the bus whilst giving us a talk about music and Cuban cocktails.

In Havana we toured around for about an hour in the bus looking at various sights. It's not nearly as interesting as walking but it was so darned hot by now (mid-afternoon) that one wouldn't have enjoyed walking anyway.

At the hotel by 4:00 p.m. but our rooms were not quite ready; still, we didn't have to wait too long.

Walked to a nearby supermarket which wasn't bad by Cuban standards but there was little choice and lots of shelves were empty. The only fruit were bags of apples. I was tempted to take photos but didn't; later, talking to Siggy from Iceland, he had but was "caught" and had to delete the photos!!!

We had a drink at one of the stalls outside after trying to buy an icecream at an icecream shop only to be told they didn't have any. Very Cuban. It is often the case that what may be advertises as being on sale or on the menu is not available. So this was indeed an icecream shop without icecream.

Had a swim at the hotel then the group was picked up in convertibles (Buicks, etc) for a drive to and through the city by night and dropped off at the Buena Vista Social Club for a meal and a show. All good fun (touristy!!) and picked up by Antonio the bus driver afterwards - in bed at midnight.

Said our goodbyes to everyone tonight as the tour now ends apart from a city walking tour in the morning which we will miss as we are taking a bus to Viñales.

The photo is (left to right): Alex our tour guide, Antonio the bus driver and Alberto the mechanic.