Where was the ubiquitous photo of the "Che" mural? Viva Che!, Viva Fidel! Viva Raul! Viva Cuba!
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Beautiful article and photos.
I've been to Cuba numerous times, and always want to go back as soon as I get back here.
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I visited nearly 20 years ago. A great country, safe and welcoming. People live simple lives - materially they have to - but there’s a great deal of fulfilment, more I’d suggest than in the US. A world class education and health system contribute to that. And for the record it bears no relation to Venezuela.
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I’m an American student living in Cuba. Visitors must step outside the tourist filled plazas of Havana Vieja and Calle 23 to realize their expectations are shroud in poorly formed stereotypes that serve to diminish Cuba’s brilliance.
Within Cuba exists one of today’s most complicated societies. Larsen purports to have in-depth conclusions about a place where he spent only a brief getaway. Cuba is already in motion, not stuck in a parallel universe in which everything stays the same. Larsen elevates the dangerous narrative formulated by American travel writers, which romanticize the capitalist remains on the island, condemns the socialist ones, and ignores the ways in which the US blockade has forced Cuba into a role that submits her to the will of Western tourists.
Cuba is brilliant and beautiful in a multitude of ways. Cubans recognize its faults and celebrate its wonders. However, in order to destruct these American fables, Cubans must be empowered to tell their own stories, and journalists must seek conclusions that are not overflowing with their own prejudices.
3
Flew from Montreal to Havana in 2009. Greatest adventure of my life.
Please read Conner Gorry's blog "Here Is Havana." Conner is an American married to a Cuban and she's lived in Havana for over ten years. She writes about her observations of daily life in the city. She runs a store, Cuba Libro, which has English language books available and she proudly proclaims it is a reggaeton-free zone! Conner was recently featured in Humans of New York as she was back in NYC recently, her hometown.
https://hereishavana.com/
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I noted that while Mr. Larsen states that he went to Cuba under the "Journalistic Activity" official reason, he doesn't mention what reason covered his wife's visit. I'm a photojournalist and would like to have my wife accompany me on a trip to Cuba, and so wonder how Mr. Larsen and his wife handled the situation.
Excellent and engaging article, by the way.
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"Support for the Cuban People" is the category you can travel under.
3
This is beautiful writing. Thank you Mr. Larsen.
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Let's do a brief look back; pre Castro and post Castro. Cuba was at the peak of its prosperity in 1958 despite the shady bosses who ran the Casinos.
The Battista administration encouraged foreign investment; hotels, restaurants; construction; and all things tourist attractive. This bourgeoning tourist industry provided an an abundance of good paying jobs for Cuban citizens who were protected by Cuban labor laws and strong unions. Gambling, prostitution, gaudy entertainment (not crime) was the main attraction for tourists to come and spend money. (Las Vegas? Atlantic City?)
Castro pulled off a con job on his people who have been suffering ever since.
The current con job is by the travel industry that is convincing tourists to come to Cuba and gawk at the impoverished people, decaying everything, old cars, lack of jobs,
long food lines and all things Communist. Sounds like "the emperor isn't wearing any clothes". I forgot that everyone can read and write, except that they have no internet to read or write with. Too bad for Cuba that Battista was so corrupt, or was he, by typical Latin American standards with the USA not far behind. Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
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I have be to Cuba with my 16 year old grandson twice. He loves Cuba as much as I do. Great experience, great food and people! Never seen anyone in Cuba with a frown on there face; it is a happy country. As I have always heard, the people of Cuba is a country of fixers. They can fix old cars, they will happily get you a ride from one town to the next or whatever. Just a great happy country that you will fell safe in. We travel in one of the 12 categories of helping the Cuban people. Just don’t stay at any big government hotels and you will be legal. We booked everything through Airbnb before we left home and everything worked perfect.
When we got back to USA, customs asked if we bought any cigars or rum and I said “ a box of cigar and a couple bottles of rum” and the officer said to “ go on”
Everyone seems driven to exploit Cuba, from the corrupt Bautista culture of pre-revolution Cuba when prostitution, gambling, and general excess of partying rich foreigners made the populace wretched, to the NYT travel writers of today. Quick-- rush in there to enjoy the "real" Cuba before it is ruined by your tourism.
America's "the world is a menu and a playground" attitude is sickening.
4
And your critique of the US is precisely why you must go to Cuba. There you will find millions of people who understand this, and live with it daily.
Great description of Cuba thank you! I also had the privilege to travel there a few weeks ago with a small group tour (only 6 of us) led by our knowledgeable and charming Intrepid travel guide Willmar; we were able to go beyond Havana out to Viñales, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, each with their own sound tracks. Specially loved the clopping horse carts in Cienfuegos and the rooftop musicians in Trinidad serenading us at dinner.....
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@Melissa Brokalakis could you possibly share how to get in touch with your guide Willmar please? i would so appreciate it. I'm on celeste lee at mindspring dot com.
thank you.
I just spent 10 days in Cuba with a group of journalism students from New Jersey. It is as you describe, but my students all agree we discovered more than Reif Larson. We experienced everything from the formality of the Cuba Nacional Ballet to the Afro-Cuban rumba at a late-night club you won't find in any map to a Buena Vista social club -like dinner club watching Cuban performers from the 40s and 50s mesmerize the crowd. We also found some great eating spots -- so next, he may want to join us.
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i'm a documentary photographer who's visited cuba multiple times, most recently this month. it's a visual feast. a few recent images are here: https://scottmarcbecker.com/cuba/
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My wife and I and our college-age son and daughter spent nine days in Havana and Trinidad in late December. We also stayed in the Vedado neighborhood, listened to jazz at La Zorra y El Cuervo (Ruy Lopez Nussa with his band), and from the description, were probably at Fabrica del Arte Cubana the same evening as the author, December 30th. We were fortunate that my son is fluent in Spanish (don't expect much interaction with Cubans if you're not), and also fortunate to have arranged some of our trip through a Cuba travel specialist in Brooklyn. One such arrangement was a dinner at the home of a Cuban family, an enriching and enlightening evening with wide-ranging conversations (more English spoken than on the street) on the state of Cuban and American politics and culture. Our host brought out a box of cigars after dinner.
Our Airbnb in Vedado was a beautifully restored mansion with a loving staff. After breakfast we would all sit on the porch with coffee, talk (my son translating), and watch Havana street life. Same in the evening with rum.
I can't wait to go back. There's something about Cuba that stays with you, gets under your skin. Go now.
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This really is a letter to Mr. Larsen's editor. I was moved to come online after serendipitously discovering this beautiful, poetic, evocative piece. Please send Mr. Larsen to more destinations where he can convey the beauty of a destination, especially one whose authentic durability may be in question.
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I went to Havana last year. Being a bread historian, I spent a lot of time visiting bakeries - a wonderful way to get to know the working people there. The music, so embedded in American jazz, is ubiquitous and wonderful. But above all go there for the people. Before it again becomes an American playground.
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“Decades-long playground argument between our two counties.”
Way to trivialize a conflict with a brutal totalitarian regime, a puppet state of an even more brutal totalitarian regime. A silly playground spat, nothing more.
Your chirpy account reminds me of a quote by George Bernard Shaw after visiting Ukraine in the midst of Stalinist famine: “Famine? What famine? I have never eaten so well in my entire life.”
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"Way to trivialize a conflict with a brutal totalitarian regime, a puppet state of an even more brutal totalitarian regime. A silly playground spat, nothing more."
Are you talking about trump's USA and putin?
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I spent 6 weeks in Cuba on two visits in 1998. It was a very poor place, materially. I fell in love with it, with aspects of it most North Americans could not possibly fathom and which would be invisible to them. I did not live in a tourist hotel. But I did not delude myself that the men who came on to me thought I was a goddess. They wanted out.
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We had the pleasure of going to Cuba in fall of 2016.
Thank you for the wonderful article about traveling in that country. You did a wonderful job of telling about the environment, the people and the joy of the country.
Thanks!
A small point. You don't enter the jazz club through a British phone booth. It's the Tardis! Don't let the red paint fool you; it is much bigger on the inside.
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As a 77 year old who had the good luck to travel to Cuba last year I can attest to the absolute accuracy and portrayal of Cuba—-forget any previous assumptions about the place and before it changes go now and savor what Cuba is all about—-I can’t wait to go back and spread my wings to other parts of the island but for succinctly and correctly describing Havana you can’t get any better than this Sunday’s NYT article by Mr Larsen for tempting you to jump on an airplane...Now...Bravo!!!
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We’ve been to Cuba twice in the last year - with our kids. It’s an education - take them with you! Cuba is very child-friendly. Having our kids opened us to conversations and experiences we wouldn’t have had without them.
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It felt as I visited Havana reading your article. Applause!
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For an overview of Cuban history, I recommend Cuba Libre, an unbiased eight episode historical documentary on Netflix. It was produced in Europe, which gives a different portrayal than one that might have come out of the US or Cuba. https://www.netflix.com/title/80109535 "This documentary series recounts the tumultuous history of Cuba, a nation of foreign conquest, freedom fighters and Cold War political machinations."
This context really helped us understand more about Cuba before our first trip there (we've since returned again!).
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Here we go, another tired “love poem” to Cuba, filled with familiar tropes and blindspots:
1. “It’s so easy to go to Cuba” ... indeed, if you weren’t born in Cuba. People born on the island, even those with American citizenship and passports, must travel to Cuba under the expensive and risky auspices of a Cuban passport, though they may have renounced their Cuban citizenship.
2. “Quick, go before it changes” ... before people’s homes are not decrepit, before they can rely on safer, more efficient cars, or a reliable food supply that is more than “universally forgettable.” Decay, I guess, is just more Instagram-able.
3. “The Cuban people are so cheerful!” ... that is, of course, if you ignore the consequences Cubans face for dissent or, more damningly, the 2+ million Cubans that left an island of just 11 million because, presumably, they were not so cheerful.
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I absolutely hate these articles I see on the internet that tell you the places you MUST visit. the food you MUST eat, the way you MUST scramble eggs, the cars you MUST drive, etc. etc. and all RIGHT NOW! How about never instead? Never sounds good to me! How about all you?
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You sound very “happy”. Have you considered therapy?
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No mention of electrical outages or other poor infrastructure.
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I lived in Old San Juan, PR for several years in the late 60s and early 70s. I miss it so much. More sounds of an old Spanish Caribbean city: roosters crowing at dawn, the cries of the broom seller with his cart, click of dominoes during workers' lunch hour (or three), groups of singers in costumes at holidays, palm leaves rattling in the breeze, birds. I must go back.
Go to Cuba and stay with the locals, not at a resort. Explore the country, not just Havana, get to know the people, the food, their spirit, the atmosphere. If you're at all culturally aware and are adventurous, you won't be disappointed. I've been and I'd go back tonight. Larsen's article is spot on.
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Yes! And travel everywhere - that is, around the country - in private taxis, some lovely, all old. And chat with the drivers as you do. That’s where you get help figuring out how things work. Best family vacation ever!
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This article was a perfect description of the Cuba that we were visiting last week.
I would add a few things. We did go to the Museum of the Revolution and to the Bay of Pigs Museum. The history was fascinating and told very much from the Cubans' point of view. It was interesting to go home and read more from our country's point of view and perhaps have a more rounded picture of the, at times fraught history, between our two countries. Whatever the politics, the people were warm, welcoming and happy to have American tourists.
Every evening at 9 pm in Havana, they have the firing of the cannons ceremony at the fort surrounding the city. That is not to be missed with its cacophony of sound, light, and marching soldiers in costumes from the past.
I hope Cuba remains open to all of us in the United States. It is a gem. My greatest hope is that the borders open both ways and that ordinary Cubans can come and visit us someday. I sent our guide a picture of the snow that greeted us when we returned home and she emailed us back and said that she hopes someday that she will be able to feel and experience the snow in person. I hope so too.
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We just returned from a marvelous information-packed cultural exchange visit. Tourism will be the driving force for bringing Cubans into the 21st century. Whether that's a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I hope crumbling colonial buildings are restored, that housing is improved and efforts in entrepreneurship take hold. Cuba is a beautiful place, but it can't blossom fully if it keeps running in neutral. See Cuba now!
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greetings fromm Cuba! A study abroad trip that was enlightening + inspiring.
We had very open talks with young Cuban artists, entrepreneurs. They are masters in improvisation with a 'can-do' attitude. They are very educated + know well that the government and the people are not the same .... we share that with their government.
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I just returned from Cuba. It is a mysterious city of contradictions, the currency leans on the CUC, the Cuban peso which in turn leans on the American tourist dollar, their value is the same. The embargo must stop. There is joy in Cuba, and yet Cuba’s pain is starkly visible in the face of it’s people.
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The reason I haven't gone to Cuba is because of another New York Times article titled Cuba’s Surge in Tourism Keeps Food Off Residents’ Plates.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/world/americas/cuba-fidel-castro-food...
I'd like to know that that situation has changed before I would go to Cuba. There is no reference to the food shortages problem in Reif Larson's article. Was he just unaware or have things changed?
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Joan, there has been a food shortage in Cuba for 50 years. Tourism has barely put a dent in this. The money you spend with locals there will far outweigh any negative impact of you traveling there. Eat at paladores, not state owned restaurants.
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I just returned from Cuba. People have food rations, but many are starting or owning small businesses and have the money to buy food. Having said that, we went on a tour and our tour guide ordered an abundance of food for us. We asked that she order less, for just the reason you are saying. But we learned that the food that was left over (served family style), fed the restaurant staff, was used to feed the dogs that were outdoors, and there were times that our driver and guide took leftovers home to their families. So, nothing goes to waste in Cuba. And perhaps so much was ordered so other people could eat. I would not let that stop you. Tourism is feeding the country and is helping the people survive better. Go, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
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There are not as many consumer choices in Cuba (unless you have the money, then you shop in the dollar stores and private markets), but no one is starving, unlike many tourist destination countries which have better PR. If I boycotted countries based on politics that make life difficult for its citizens, I wouldn't go anywhere and would have to move from the US to a Scandinavian country, which I can't afford.
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Loved Cuba just a few weeks ago. Loved the article. They are wonderful people, fabulous art and music—- and hurting under the current embargo....
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Wish someone would explain how an average person could fit into one of the 12 categories permitted to travel in Cuba. I would like to travel as an individual to Havana, but am not a professional journalist or performer, nor do I seem to fit the other categories. Suggestions, anyone?
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Fly there out of Canada, Mexico, or Costa Rica.
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We were in Havana last month and met multiple U.S. citizens who said their category was “support for Cuban People.” This means staying at casa particulars (sp?), eating in private restaurants, etc.
I fear Cuba and its people will fall victim to rapacious capitalism after the old guard in control has passed away. For all that, I don't think Cubans will permit the reestablishment of American neocolonial rule. Nascent Cuban capitalists will profit from the end of the present sociopolitical/economic order. There is one other point I wish to make. Has it come to this that Cuban music is now being called salsa, that commercialized version of true Cuban music? Puhleeze!
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Havana is unique in the world, infinitely enchanting, infinitely sad. Its architecture has been spared the ravages of modernization and urban renewal, but left to the forces of entropy. The people, frustrated in their urge to grow commercially, seem to have channeled their irrepressible spirit into art and music. If you go, and you should, please know that material goods are in very short supply and are very, very appreciated as gifts. (An elderly woman next door to our air b&b asked us as we were leaving if we had an extra pair of socks we could leave her because her apartment had no heat.) We resolved to bring an extra bag of useful gifts on our next visit.
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"..spared the ravages of modernization"? Sadly, it was not spared the ravages of Castro's savage, centralized police state. Don't be fooled into the old refrain that the US Embargo is to blame for that collapse. The blame falls squarely on the Castro brother's regime - a cruel, repressive, and totalitarian, communist dictatorship. Period. I have visited the island extensively on over five occasions and will never go back to witness my fellow people subsisting like cockroaches, blocked from opening or securing entrepreneurial advancement according to individual skills and talents. The people are, at best, slaves of the state. Not free to travel. Not free to buy or sell property. Not free to open a business. Not free.
It is, at best, a floating island prison. Yes, a very beautiful prison, with beautiful prisoners singing beautiful songs for the kind, curious, amazed tourists visiting the human zoo, moved to kindness just like yourselves to see what you might bring those "infinitely sad" water-caged animals known as human beings.
"The people, frustrated in their urge to grow commercially, seem to have channeled their irrepressible spirit into art and music" No, no, no, well-intentioned, kind, Joan, the people ALWAYS had an irrepressible spirit, musical genius was always there. The distinct Afro-Cuban rhythms are directly linked to evolution of Rock n' Roll, It wasn't born from the fetid loins of despots.
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Rene,
You are out of date. People can buy and sell property now. Those who have relatives in USA ( especially Miama Cuban-Americans) are able to buy for $20,000-40,000 old mansions, the. Begin process of fixing up. The extra $100-300 per month " remittance" from US relatives allows them to buy over time for 10-20 years.
Another two tier society has emerged because of those with American relatives, and those few in population who have the permits to travel abroad 40 or so times a year. They return to Cuba loaded with goods, keep some, and sell other items at many fold markup on price. The gray economy that is a big part of life there.
I feel you, Rene. But I'm glad to tell you that your ideas about what is possible in Cuba are somewhat out of date: Cubans are now free to travel - they don't need a visa to leave the island any more. But of course, they still have to find the money for a plane fare, which is not so easy! Cubans are now allowed to buy and sell property in certain circumstances. I do not know the laws about this, so I can't be more specific. And finally, Cubans are now free to open a business, and many many of them are doing so. Small restaurants, rooms for rent and many other small business opportunities are now thriving. Poor? Yes! But the situation has improved so much since the times you write about that you would not recognize the place today.
Of sound and colour!
Been there. Marvelous! Forget the insulated 'resorts'. Roam the city, its historical sites, its museums,its architecture, its restaurants and bars. Talk to the locals. Hope to return next year!
BTW, there are beaches in Havana too.
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I love this story! I just came back from Cuba a week ago and I am still entranced by the music and the overall magic of the country. You really captured Havana, but mostly you captured the spirit of the people and the place. I wish more Americans could travel there, and that they could see the benefits from tourism.
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have been to Cuba, my husband's birthplace three times, the last time in May and June 2017.We stayed with family for parts of our time, 3rd floor walk up, no air, no working toilet,no working shower, boil all water before drinking, 95 degrees, walking all over town for a couple bags of yogurt, and whatever else was available. I feel the pain, but I would go back tomorrow. I also know I do have a choice to rent a cheap, air conditioned apt. with good service. I love it there,but I know I can leave.
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Rausch’s photos are superb.
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Spent a week in July there last year as one of the last, supposedly, Americans who go just by saying you want to (People-to-People). I kept a journal, nobody read it on the way home. All they cared was that I had less than $800 of cigars and returns customs was instant. Just pick ANYTHING else to go. It is not a vacation, it is true travel. I booked an overnight trip using the Cuban Travel Network from USA (paid via Netherlands for Creditcards) and it worked perfectly. We used AirBNB and had an apt for $50/night. Even more fascinating was staying in a home in the crumbling buildings below the Malecon, which is weird since OUR room had A/C and new private bath and fridge full of bottled water for $35/night. You gotta see what zero investment can do to a country. But the people are friendly and it is safe and purchasing cigars from the people is their part of the new 10% for the people bit. Similar to Chinatown handbags, but these are not knockoff cigars, they are the real thing. Loved it. However, it is not for everyone. You must be an adventurous type.
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The big difference I noted between Cuba and the United States when I visited the former for two weeks on my private boat is that in Cuba, everything that is not specifically permitted is prohibited, while in the States, pretty much everything is permitted unless expressly prohibited. Big difference. The biggest laugh I got was when a patrician Italian woman in a bikini with a transparent wrap, high heels, and a huge hairdo, berated a diminutive Cuban naval official for about 15 minutes for not letting us tie up at a dock at an Italian-owned version of a Club Med. "They are Americans," she informed him in no uncertain terms, "you are just a Cuban. Don't you ever disrespect them!" We'd previously had a run in with this 'Commander No', who pulled up to our anchored boat about 20 miles before, and insisted that we leave. When we agreed, he insisted that we couldn't leave. There was no pleasing him. I found Cuba to be a complete mess, with 12-year-old boys swimming out to our departing boat at night begging to be taken away from Cuba. Of course, this was 20 years ago. I hope things have changed, but I doubt it.
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By the time people say "it's about to be too late" it already is. I made a decision to go there 11 years ago to see it because Fidel was still in charge, the wave of crony capitalism was awaiting his death, and a moment in time never to be repeated was at hand. Thinking you can go now to see Fidel's handiwork is like going to Russia to see what the USSR was like under Stalin: those times are gone.
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Nice pictures! But not the real Cuban reality! As a Cuban-American there is nothing more that I hate when foreigners say "go to Cuba before it changes"! To see the "Socialist/Communist Zoo"?? LE ZUMBA EL MANGO! -- VIMEO VIDEO DOCUMENTARY: Habana - Arte Nuevo de Hacer Ruinas, Parte - HAVANA: The New Art of Making Ruins In recent years, Havana has become famous all over the world for the morbid charm of its flaking façades – a curious blend of magic and decay – and romanticized in countless Hollywood films and documentaries, most notably perhaps in Buena Vista Social Club. Its beauty resides in the poetry of its ruins. But these ruins are far less poetic for the people who inhabit them. Houses frequently collapse causing fatalities. The decay of this city and its living quarters is a continual source of both danger and shame for its inhabitants. This unique documentary tells the stories of the people who reside in these modern ruins, from a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater (in which Caruso once sang for Cuba’s high society), to an expropriated landowner who struggles against the decay of his parental home, to a writer who conceives a philosophy of the ruins to explain and bear the gradual collapse of the city and its political system. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl1b13_habana-arte-nuevo-de-hacer-ruina...
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Yet another article in which the author proclaims the splendors of poverty and stagnancy. Why this casual fascination with Cuba?! Why doesn't anyone hurry to visit North Korea or Iran "before it changes"?
I think we know the answer: neither is not quite as glamorous for the colonizer/traveler as the tropical island with the ruins of Spanish and Yankee investments, and Cuba's just so *conveniently* located.
By all means, get in those visits to Communist Disneyland while you still can-- its residents might just get freedom and liveable wages soon!
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If Iran or North Korea made it easy for Americans to visit. Americans would visit!!! Cuba doesn’t make it difficult for Americans to visit. America makes it difficult to visit Cuba. Lastly where is the outrage at Russia and china. There is no free speech or human rights in either of these countries. They are also not democratic. Yet we manufacture and trade heavily with china. You can’t even access Facebook in china. or use Whatsap. But there is wealth that masks the lack of rights. And we are perfectly happy with this. Americans visit the big cities in china often and heavily invest in china china is just as totalitarian as Cuba only with broader capitalist influences.
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You are absolutely correct. Our government has been a sham with this embargo — the politics, human atrocities, and lack of freedom in China is crazy but we trade with them. And a special Thank You! Walmart for killing more American town for cheap disposable goods.
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How then do you explain that Cuba has one of highest literacy rates in the world, far surpassing that of the United States?
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I visited Cuba about ten years ago and I thought it was horrible. Terrible poverty and physical degradation of cities and towns. People coming up to you and begging you to help them leave the country. Children hawking the services of prostitutes in Havana. I'm astounded that so many Americans think that it's such a nice place. They should open their eyes. It is not even remotely a lovely place. It is a cruel military dictatorship.
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I spent 4 days in central Havana at the same time and saw zero of what you describe. I bothered to learn Spanish before I left.
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@ John Waleska Ga
I was in Havana last year for the second time. Ditto. Going back this winter. Love it, love the people.
Asher, go now via 'U.S. Commonwealth', Puerto Rico and dare to compare.
• It is not even remotely a lovely place.
“Humans see what they want to see.” ~ RICK RIORDAN
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A lot has changed in the ten years since you visited.
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“Is there a festival everyday?” Every day is two words.
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Also, of course Havana is picturesque when you stay in Vedado, Havana Vieja, o Playa. Thing is, you know so little that you can't even know you don't know. And go on making generalizations about a tremendously reduced experience. As an exercise in learning: try staying somewhere else, say, San Miguel del Padrón, o la Lisa, o Boyeros, and go out and see what you wished to see, no car, no colonial buildings. Want a challenge? Go beyond Havana and stay in a regular town (no Viñales or Varadero, or a head city). Before then, any generalization should be prefaced by an acknowledgement of you being a mere tourist.
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This makes no sense. If a tourist comes to America and visits San Francisco, or nyc. Would you tell them to visit Ithaca NY to see the real America to see how Americans live ? Because San Fran and nyc are not representative of the “real” America. Similarly if someone visits nyc for vacation do you tell them to go into the poorest parts of the city or parts lacking services to see the real nyc ? Do you send them to east New York city or Brownsville Brooklyn ? I mean come on people. When Americans visit Rome or Paris do they go into the poor areas of those cities. Are they visiting the ethnic neighborhoods in Paris? The answer is NO. Not unless they have a reason to. So when an Americans speaks of a trip to Paris is it invalid Becuase they didn’t visit the poorer ethnic suburbs of paris ? Or of London ?!? The truth is Havana is a city. City life will always be different from non City life. And within cities the experience is different based on neighborhoods. Can one not talk about cuba Becuase they only visited Havana ? No one is disagreeing that life in Cuba is not challenging, but one can visit a challenging place and still find beauty!!!
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That's why true "people to people" visits to Cuba are so important. Look for small, custom tours that allow you to explore your interests and go beyond the normal, and have the flexibility to really get to know Cuba and Cubans.
The dichotomy makes your head spin. Why are they so happy?
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The journalists experiences seem the opposite of what I’ve heard from tourists who have been there in recent years. That the Cuban people have zero interest even pretending to be happy. Government owned restaurants are absolutely terrible. Incredibly rude servers. Terrible food. I don’t blame them. They would rather have tourists their own homes for food and lodging.
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Not at all what we experienced last week. We went outside of Havana to some small towns. People had their own small businesses which were giving them the extra money they needed. People seemed "happy" or to be living ordinary lives. We went to the square in Cienfuegos where we got to watch a children's ballet class perform. That children were ecstatic and the parents were proud beaming parents, just like I've seen in the states. They have much to be unhappy about, but I saw a different kind of happiness there. The joy of being with family and friends. And people were actually interacting with each other instead of staring at a smart phone all day.
3
I visited in 2016. They have free health care,free education, and women are not afraid to walk at night in the streets of Havana for fear of attacks. there are no guns available , so people are safer. There are other freedoms they do not have, such as speaking out against their government, the ability to use their education. we met a lawyer who was working in a hotel because she can make more money than using her profession. Our group stayed in a town where each couple was housed with a family. They were good hosts with what they had. They saw hope in Obama and were very worried about Trump becoming President. he wants to build a hotel there but he cannot own the land. It belongs to the government... maybe in 4 years, we will see a better relationship with them.
1
I took advantage of the loosened travel restrictions to Cuba, and spend a week wandering around Havana with an old fashioned roll film camera. You can see the results at:
"See See Havana",
www.efn.org/~hkrieger/cuba.htm
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I somehow cannot believe that the NYT would have encouraged its readers to visit Pinochet's Chile or Suharto's Indonesia or Burma under the rule of the generals and enjoy those country's before they were changed by democracy and freedom. But Cuba is a Communist dictatorship so that's ok then.
That old-world of Havana is in fact the grotesque indictment of the dreadful mismanagement of Cuba, it is a vivid example of the grinding poverty and soul-destroying hopelessness of life under a Communist dictatorship. No one can be bothered to maintain anything, no one wants to invest in anything new, no one can be bothered painting their property or fixing pot holes in their street because there is no point.
I can't imagine why anyone would want to visit a city to gawp at and admire the depressing poverty of the people there, exhausted and downtrodden under their dictatorial rule and forced to parade their shabbiness as they dance for a pittance from hypocritical US tourists who are free to return to their economically advanced, liberal democracy safe in the knowledge they do not have to live in such grim conditions.
13
Lolol everything you just wrote happens in America too my friend. Are we free of poverty ? Are we free of crime ? Were people not being limited in their ability to exercise their rights here in America ?!! And still are ? People dance for a pittance here as well. People wait tables for a pittance in America as well. People work at wall mart and retail jobs here for a pittance as well. No one can make a standard living being paid the fenders minimum wage. Yet this is what the government tells employers is acceptable as pay. People can’t afford an education to Better their lives here. There is no job security and health care is costly. So the sentiments you just expressed about cuba are exactly how many Americans feel about America. So why talk about oppressive life elsewhere when it’s also right here. And yet tourist still flock to America right. How many tourist that visit America see the decay of Detroit or the rust belt or towns like Erie ?!?! I bet you the mood in those dying American towns are far worst than the mood in “oppresive” cuba
14
I don't think NYT is encouraging anyone to visit Cuba or any other country. It merely printed one person's experience as a tourist visiting a country that is trying to come out of its past. If you do not agree with the author's viewpoint, you may disregard it as you wish.
3
My Latin American travels have taken me to the DR, Honduras (2X), Nicaragua and Cuba. Without a doubt, Living standards and general happiness of the populace were highest in Cuba and Nicaragua. Corruption and crime in Honduras grind down progress so that roads, education and health services are poor and in the case of infrastructure for health care and education, often heavily subsidized by outside missionary groups. Guns everywhere too. DR, couldn't see much first-hand as we were advised not to venture outside the walls of our resort. Nicaragua, neighbor of Honduras seemed a bit further along and definitely safer at the street level, with only one side-arm observed on a policeman during our week there. Don't recall seeing many cops or soldiers in Cuba, know that monthly ration cards are an unfortunate fact of life due to scarcity of most of the basics, a situation that could be mostly resolved if the US would end the Embargo. A shameful, antiquated policy that hurts all citizens.
1
Thank you, this is how I remember our earlier visits and how I hope we still find it when we return, hopefully, later this year.
There are two Cubas. This guy hired a guide and saw the one for the tourists. The food is exquisite if you seek out the real Cuban variety. They even have two types of pesos. One for the tourists and one for the natives. I've seen both Cubas and they are vastly different.
4
Aren’t there also two Florida’s ? Southern Florida and northern Florida. Is the pan handle as glamorous as Miami ? Are the trailer park homes as glamorous as south beach ? Within america there is the “how avg person lives” and how high income lives. My question is why single out cuba when this happens everywhere. I’m pretty sure if you visit Miami your tour guide wouldn’t take you into the less glamorous parts of the city.
4
Seems like Cuba would be an interesting place to visit and it is so close, but it's such a shame that politics requires ordinary Americans to lie (about "not" going strictly for tourism), jump through hoops and/or join an expensive tour group just to get a visa.
1
There are lots of forums on TripAdvisor answering questions about the categories of travel (we went under Support for the Cuba People last month). You can fly there on JetBlue, Southwest, United, American. Sadly, I don’t think Virgin/Alaska Air is still flying there as they were last year.
Our photography club group from Marin County, CA entered Cuba at 1:30 AM on the 16th of January, 2015, the first Americans to enter after President Obama changed the rules so as to make it easier to visit. In Havana, we had local photographers take us to various locations, allowing us to visit places that might not be on the normal tour. We always found the Cubans friendly and once they found out we were Americans, many said "Viva Obama". We watched Andrea Mitchell report from the Malacon one evening. Visiting Vinales and Trinidad, we also found the Cuban people there open and friendly. We could see the start of a new relationship between the Cubans and Americans and their respective governments.
Unfortunately, we now have an ignorant, arrogant president who wants to undo all of this, as he wants to undo everything that Mr. Obama did. I hope this passes, and more Americans have the opportunity to visit this country and help bring tourist dollars which will improve a lot of lives there.
6
Steve,
Hmmm, don't think your's was the first group. I traveled to Havana with the Art Institute of Chicago for a week long tour in May 2012. AIC also led a tour in Dec 2011.
2
Hmmm, don't think that you read his post very carefully. Your trip was well before Obama changed the rules in December of 2014. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/17/stateme...
Sorry, no American cars with "original" engines running on Cuban streets....all 4 cylinder Soviet engines and standard transmissions....can't even get a replacement tail light or door handle....I was there a couple of years ago on a Kiwanis tour and can vouch for this. I can also vouch for the rest of this story's accuracy.
2
Actually many of the engines are Hyundai now, according to the car drivers I met. And I photographed a man cobbling American parts onto his old car. Friends who travel to Canada or USA bring him parts.
This is a good piece— it captures the spirit of the Cuban people, who are nothing short of heroic. I have spent a few months on the island, sometimes outside Havana. Recently I have been reluctant to go back, because I am depressed by the rigidity of the regime and its death grip on power. A note on the author’s light hearted comment on incarceration rates. In real terms, the US is number one — the nominal leader, the Seychelles, is an outlier - and Cuba is very high with 510 per 100 K in prison vs 666 in the US. You can get arrested for all kinds of things. I saw a house wife in tears in the back of a patrol car because she had bought more than she should have. I don’t know if it’s changed but you could be charged for serving beef, a state monopoly, In a private restaurant. The sad part is how inflexible the regime is, although it has for more than five decades been given a huge assist by the inflexibility of the US. People always Cubans what is going to happen, and they rarely get an answer. My own sense is without a real civil society, you are going to end with gangster capitalism, which the army, which already controls much of the economy, will simply steal, Russian-style. The people deserve better.
3
It was one year ago this week that my family and I took my mother-in-law back to her birth country of Cuba which was her first trip back in 55 years. So many conflicting emotions about what Fidel did to destroy her family by taking their land and everything they owned. A very complicated history indeed. We found the Cuban people to be warm, welcoming, savvy, resourceful and resigned to their global isolation. They are creating music, art, dance and thriving small businesses amidst a crumbling infrastructure. Havana has so much to offer but there are other cities like Trinidad and Viñales that provide a completely different travel experience. The article brought back wonderful and vivid memories of our trip. (JFK to Havana! Imagine that!) I would disagree with the author on one point. The food was wonderful. A little research can help you find restaurants where the meals(and the atmosphere!) are quite memorable. I strongly agree with the author on his overall message. Go, now!
5
My family and I spent a week in Cuba three weeks ago and this is the most accurate reporting I have read about travel to Cuba. We spent a few days in Havana, travelled by bus to Trinidad through agricultural lands, forests and the Cuban countryside, walked the quaint streets of Trinidad, then drove up to Caibarien and went to the beach in Cayo Santa Maria and finally travelled back to Havana via Santa Clara and spent two days in Varadero. We stayed in inezpensive Airbnbs and ate at resonably priced local restaurants (yes the food is forgetable).It was all as the writer says. The people we spoke to don't seem enamored of communism but they are proud of the revolution and their heros and realize that our system is nothing to emulate. They just want some more freedom and fairness. They love the old American cars and they love Americans. They are warm hearted and friendly and we have a few things to learn from them. Spending a week with our teenage kids with no cell coverage and limited Wifi was a real blessing for all of us. As my 14 year old daughter pointed out there is travel and there is vacation, this trip is travel (just for the record she prefers vacation). So don't confuse this with a trip to Cancun. Go before it is too late, experience the magic and spend some dollars in support of the Cuban people.
8
There are more rose-colored glasses from where yours came. I, too, know Cuba and Cubans. They drive old American cars because newer ones are not available. Their revolution and their heroes have resulted in their squalid lives today and the intelligentsia know that. Wanting to capture their squalor "before it is too late" is a sickening common commentary.
2
I guess I don't have the same nostalgia for the past as the author - bad internet, bad food, mediocre hotel rooms, sorry, not for me, even though everything he says about the people rings true, but guess what I like my creature comforts when on holiday. Been to Cuba many times, not interested in going again.
3
Went there ages ago, November 1980...stayed at the Sevilla (which was terrible) then at the Deauville (which was excellent). Did the usual things - Bodeguita del medio, Tropicana... but happened upon the 7th International Cuban Ballet Festival and saw the Bolshoi and the Cuban Ballet for just a few pesos. I remember the park in the middle of town that just sold ice cream - is it still there? It was the Cubans' biggest treat, costing almost nothing. But getting to Havana was not easy, via Jamaica on a rather frightening Aeroflot plane that had no seat belts... but Cuba was and is very special... Yes, see it now or soon... it is bound to change.
1
I spent a few days in Havana last year. EVERYONE is musical. And the Fábrica de Arte Cubano is incredible.
2
I had the good fortune of traveling to Cuba several times in the 1950's, before Castro. I hope Cuba doesn't change too much.
1
Excellent observations, suggestions and writing plus gorgeous photos -- really captures the feel of La Habana!
My first trip to Cuba was taking my then-Marxist-enamoured teen daughter in 2004. It was not an easy trip, food was more difficult to find, Cuba was still recovering from its dire straights Periodo Especial after the fall of the USSR (the populaton as a whole lost 1/3 of its body weight!). Many gorgeous historical buildings were really in a state of total decay. After that visit, my daughter never argued in favor of Marxism again.
I've been back 3 times in the last 2 yrs and it certainly has changed for the better! It is an intoxicating, seductive 'one-big-photo-op' country, Cubans are open, lively and friendly. I say I don't need to go back . . . but I probably will, it does get under your skin! PS: People didn't beg for money, but often for bar soap, toothpaste or razors -- take lots with you to give out when asked, you'll make some Cubans very happy.
4
Over the last seven years, Havana has improbably become my second city. I've been there nine times, for a total of over two months, although I do spend about nine hours of most days there earning my keep in a workshop for Horns to Havana. If it helps, not all the food is forgettable--there's a reason all the international superstars end up at La Guarida, for one--but I can't agree more with the author's points: it is safer than almost anywhere, and it's beautiful, and you should go, now.
2
I loved my visit to Cuba: the people, the sights, and the sounds. Food not great but that's not why I went. The people are so warm and welcoming. I am on the minus side of five feet and I was hesitating going down a steep curb and, without a word, a young woman grabbed my arm and helped me down. She never said a word and sailed on by. That's the Cuba I know. Just smile and say a few words in Spanish and you will be rewarded many times over.
2
Gorgeous photos! Can Americans still travel there?
1
Absolutely! But there are "conditions" you must meet.
1
Just returned from a magical Cuban trip. Your article is spot on!
Go for the people and the music, not the food.
Don’t let this administration intimidate you. Departed and arrived from JFK without a blink from anyone.
2
It is a tourist delight for the well healed Americano visitors and is still a wretched socialist wasteland for the fearful peasants. The average Cuban still eats mostly beans, corn and rice. Not the delicacies served at the Hotel Nacional.
People lament it will change. I don't think anyone stuck there for their life is going to lament modernity. Would you trade your life here for life there? No way.
2
because SOUND is their greatest procession: Music
1
Get there before it changes. Just won't be the same once Starbucks arrives.
My sense is that the Cuban government is not interested in ruining the ambiance of Havana, or any of their other cities, and run the risk of reducing tourism, which is hugely important to their economy. I have less fear that it will be ruined when it opens up to the US.
1
For real, you think you had more robust medical insurance in Cuba? Did you see those hospitals? No thank you. It is debatable that any of the Cuban healthcare data is even accurate. Did you see local people in lines for powdered milk? Why would you trust a government run healthcare system?
Beautiful country, yes. And also sad.
3
Do you really want to support this regime? You don't even talk about that aspect of promoting tourism to Cuba.
There are some regimes that are so noxious that I will not visit until their governments change. I may miss some good sights, but I will die with a clear conscience.
2
Why is traveling to Cuba supporting 'this regime'? Travel broadens one's understanding and perspective. My takeaway from my recent visit is that the US policy is wrong-headed and antiquated, based on a cold war fear that is no longer relevant. We should be working WITH the Cubans to modernize and improve, regardless of 'regimes' (which BTW is much different than in the early 60's), or the Chinese will do it right under our noses.
6
Good Cuban people suffer further if there is no tourism making them double victims of the regime they have little control over.
5
I agree wholeheartedly which is why I have visited Cuba five times, and will never go to the United States. By the way, we have an excellent public health system here in Canada. You should try it!
3
My boyfriend and I are going to Havana, Cuba for the first time in June. So excited that we get to go at the time of transition.
Take baseballs, bandages and shoes and give to a grade school or one of the many community centers. Also, plan to leave most of your clothing.
2
The last time I was in Cuba I brought a friend of mine five pairs of wiper blades from NAPA for his car. I had to give up one pair at customs (expected) to an officer I had encountered at Jose Marti on a prior trip. That time he hit me up for an extra Toblerone bar I picked up in Cancun for that exact purpose. So I give my buddy the wiper blades (keeps two pair trades the other two for gas). He could not have been more happy. Next time I visit I get in his car at the airport and notice the blades are gone. I ask him "What happened to the wipers?" He responded, "It's not raining they're in the trunk. I put them on when it rains. If I didn't someone might steal them." Life is still tough for the average Cuban.
11
Jay, I remember back in 1980, after having a quite good lunch at the Deauville Hotel, on the Malecon, the waiter served me a tiny cup of coffee and brought a very elaborate sugar bowl and tongs, and served me the sugar, with a great flourish. I remarked on this "old fashioned service" to a Cuban I met the next night at the ballet and she said, no, that is so you won't steal the sugar if it is left on the table...
2
Less than a month away from the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King and a few months from Bobby Kennedy's assassination, memories of Cuba are flooding back as I type this. Cuba?! Long, long, incredibly interesting story. Don't have space for it all. In July 1968 I found myself looking out across Havana from my hotel room. October 8, the same year, spent 8 hours talking with Comandante Castro (Fidel) at a beach-front home in Cojimar. Me, a little Young Democrat, Mass-going Georgia gal, talking with him and his right-hand-man about everything under the Sun. Cuba's revolution was only 10 years old. From these photos, nothing has changed in Havana in all this time. Go out into the other cities and ask the Cubans how their lives have changed. Thousands of homes, schools, businesses, farms, hospitals that did not exist when I was there are today flourishing communities. I left a large piece of my heart and soul when I left Cuba in 1969. I wish everyone had experienced what I did. Things would be different now.
1
I’ve had the good fortune to visit Cuba three times (1979, 2001 and 2017). While the author captures much of what makes Cuba a delightful place to visit, the lightness of his account shows he visited a fantasy version of the island. I use to tell friends they should visit before it changes but then started to think what change might mean for many Cubans who now spend an inordinate amount of time trying to survive. I’ve met highly educated professionals who rarely eat fish though they live on an island surrounded by rich sea life. I’ve talked with cab drivers who chase all over town looking for basic staples for their families. I’ve seen the cynicism (albeit a tropical version) about the false hopes of the Revolución. If you visit Cuba, and I hope you will very soon, you owe it to the Cubans to educate yourself about the realities of the place and not simply indulge in its many delights.
6
I was informed by a guide in Cuba that the reason there is not much fresh fish available is that the water immediately surrounding the island is not that rich in fish. They have to travel East toward the Atlantic to find adequate quantities of fish, where they can't compete with giant fishing ships from the US and Europe.
3
Was lucky enough to go with a college alumni group in February of 2015. It is one of the the best places ever for photography and the people are special. I only disagree about the food. Every restaurant we went to was at least very good and many were exceptional including the breakfast at our Havana hotel. I have friends who are serious photographers who have been three times. And one feel s perfectly safe anywhere.
1
Just beware of their high-frequency sonic guns. But, their music is fabulous.
I ate lobster almost every day I was there for almost two weeks. I don't understand the "mediocre" food comments. The black market is alive and well, my friends!
3
I spent a week in Cuba and loved it. Wonderful people. Raul's opening of the country to private enterprise in the tourism industry has unleashed a nearly unbelievable entrepreneurial spirit. The old cars have been turned into unforgettable taxi rides. Guides are relatively inexpensive (in US dollar terms) and highly capable. In tourism areas in the rural areas, property owners are earning high incomes from renting their homes as VRBO-type apartments and cooking meals. The opening of tourism to entrepreneurial activity is having one huge negative consequence - intellectuals, engineers, doctors, etc. are abandoning their skilled professions for entrepreneurial opportunities that allow them to dramatically increase their incomes. Imaging that!
5
Had the pleasure of spending a week on Cuba in June 2017. I found the people warm and vibrant, and the surroundings the same. Colors, music, natural beauty, even the crumbling buildings had a life to them. Loved the trip.
I visited Havana in December & stayed in a Casa Particulaire (private home) for about a week. It was my first trip to Cuba. The large crowds of U.S. citizens visiting the Island under President Obama are gone, there were virtually no Americans to be seen during my brief stay and Cubans often confused me for being a Canadian. The author of this article is right, Cuba is only a 3 hour plane flight away from metro New York, but you are traveling to a completely different world. The architecture, and the music is intoxicating, and the people I met were very warm, gracious and curious about how the American people really felt about Donald Trump. Cuba has its share of major problems, but I fell in love with this beautiful island and it’s culture, and I can’t wait to return.
13
I was in Cuba last October with my national clinical laboratory group. We toured physician offices, clinics, and hospitals as well as spoke to various laboratory and healthcare officials. I also have a special connection to Cuba because my husband travels there often with college students and we have hosted several Cubans in Bloomington, IN. This article expresses much of my own impressions of Havana.
One thing that is interesting in almost every article or story I read about Cuba it is said, "go there while you can", or "go there before it is ruined"... that is true, however, what strikes me is that us entitled Americans think of it as a place for us to escape from our cell phones and constant barrage of social media and electronics. The people of Cuba (that I know) want to progress into the 21st century and be able to connect to the world as we do. They are bright, highly intelligent, creative and resourceful people. They deserve to have the resources and connections we have in the US. It is ridiculous, in my opinion, that the US continues to refuse to share our resources and for us, in turn, to be able to learn from the people there. I agree that it would be a shame for Cuba to end up a country of excess driven by money, but I do not see that happening there. I hope and wish for them the best as they move forward.
7
It happened in the 1950's, why would "progress" have any different result now?
Being a Canadian now, I've taken students to Cuba four times in the past decade. It is an amazing place filled with the nicest people on Earth. Their culture is unique ....one that developed without the intrusion from above. Everywhere we go, we dance. And dance. And dance! A friend once told me: Imagine if we could do an exchange with Cuban students. We go there and they show us their unique music, their cultural pride, their love of life. They come here and we show them....our stuff.
If you go, leave your 'stuff' (cellphone, laptop, headphones etc) at home. Go and enjoy being there.
5
Twice I've had week-long trips to Cuba. I cannot recommend a visit to the country highly enough. The people are warm and friendly, the culture rich. The people have great pride in themselves and their history and feel a lot freer than do people here in the U.S. My wife and I are anxious now to bring our children there for a visit, but my government makes that difficult.
1
WE were there two years ago, revisiting a place we hadn't seen in nearly 40 years.
Little had changed.
We travelled from Havana to Santiago through what must surely be frustrating for the people-- horse drawn carts, rubble in the streets, a lack of almost all essential services and shortages of everything else. The island is not cut off from the world. Cubans know what the rest of the world is doing. They understand that cars continued to be manufactured after 1959.
Castro deprived the island of its future--or at least postponed it for the length of his despotic reign.
The Cuban people are awakening to a changed world. But do not bet against them. They are educated, industrious and their homeland is beautiful--but timeworn.
I hope that Cuba does not become just another Caribbean Island waiting for the next tourist ship. There is too much there to be proud of: Real music, food and culture to be shared with the rest of the world on equal terms.
7
Go to Cuba as soon as possible and engage with the people! You will be glad you did.
Our family spent 10 days in Cuba over the New Year. We stayed in airbnb apartments, some with the owners and some without, and had a fabulous time. We loved the Cuban people, especially. Many Cubans speak excellent English; three of our family of five speak some Spanish, so we had a very easy time communicating.
The history of Cuba is fascinating. Read up before you go. Be sure to visit the museums and historical sites.
1
Seeing as very little has changed in Cuba over the past fifty years, I would wager that not much will happen in the next ten. So take your time.
I've only visited once, for an extended weekend accompanying a Cuban botanist who's writing a book on the country's palms. The rural areas where they were growing seemed almost abandoned by the government. Roads were rotted and of course people walked or used horse carts. Palm leaves were in demand as roof thatch. But cities like Sancti Spiritus and Cienfuegos were showing plenty of life. And the island is alernately beautiful and oddly barren--there are significant areas of serpentine rock, which tends to be poisonous to most plants.
It looks as though simple excursions of that sort, using a taxi and staying in casas particulares (private homes) are still allowed, albeit you'd better maintain meticulous records.
I've traveled a lot in the past two years. Cuba was by far the most impressive experience. Nature, in part, culture, and simply walking around Sancti Spiritus in the early morning, admiring vintage buildings and realizing that Cortez had recruited men and horses from there.
6
We went to Cuba last April with a birdwatching group (through Victor Emmanuel and BirdNote). There were 14 of us and 3 guides including one provided by the government (who turned out to be a wonderful dancer). A quite amazing place, we visited also elsewhere on the island and found the same good welcome, fine rum, and passable, although sometimes quite amazing, food. And also much music, although what we heard was not not world renowned.
We were surprised by the number and uses of horses, and even saw an oxcart, with the driver giving instructions to his beasts by name. And we had word-class guides, who enabled us to see every endemic bird species except one that has not been seen in years.
I agree--go now while you can, however you can. The current political situation does not bode well for future visits by Americans.
18
Visited Cuba several years ago and enjoyed this country immensely. The people were warm and welcoming and liked Americans. They were proud of the wares they made and sold and they were curious about Americans. I will go back to Cuba on a cruise for my second visit.
11
Cuba is truly a unique and magical place in spite of all its (and our) complicated issues which can be and probably will be debated forever. My advice is to go as soon as you have the opportunity, lose yourself and enjoy every minute. You will not regret it!
38
Before you go, suggest you read "The History of Havana" a very readable people's history by Dick Cluster and Rafael Hernandez. You'll appreciate it all the more, including the story of the original "The Onion" a satirical publication by sex workers about the hypocrites they served; and the story behind the statue of "El Caballero de Paris" which stands in front of the convent of San Francisco de Asis
A lovely article and reflection on a delightful people and culture. I'm just back from my 2nd Cuba trip, this time staying an unplanned 9 days in Havana. A friend and I split our lodging choices between Old Havana, Central Havana, and Vedado, a great way to experience this city's variety. A couple of recommendations for travelers: don't worry about those visas too much - we paid $50 through SW airlines; and get out on the streets. It helps to have a bit of Spanish - my friend did, but I'm limited to getting to the toilet and friendly gestures, and that works, too. Have fun!
15
Just returned from Cuba for a long weekend. We stayed in the same neighborhood and had a very similar experience. I tried to describe what we saw, heard and felt. Your article is spot on!! If someone asks me about my trip, I will tell them to read your article.
Well done!!
31
I went last spring when People to People visa was still available. Did you go using that visa as well? You know if its still available?
Arturito,
There are still some People to People programs. Through alumni associations, Natl Geographic, Road Scholars, etc
Beautifully written! Our first Cuba visit was just before Obama came (and don't forget the Rolling Stones free concert a few weeks later), and the excitement was restrained but palpable. Cuba is like no other place, and really could change radically at any moment. So I agree with the early point of the article: Go. Now.
22
Cuba is truly a gem, unique and a very special experience. I was there for 2 weeks in December 2011 and attended the Havana International Jazz Festival. Roberto Fonseca played the festival & I also had the pleasure of hearing him at a late night Jazz Club. Since then I've heard him at the Monterey Jazz Festival & a small club in Santa Cruz.
8
Thank you for the most accurate and evocative short piece on Havana that I have read. We went with a group of photographers in 2012 (it seems like eons ago), and found the same upbeat, friendly people, vibrant street life, and yes, mediocre food. We also found Hamel's Alley (Callejon de Hamel) and a courtyard rhumba festival where our group of a dozen or so of us Americans joined a couple of hundred Cubanos, and felt perfectly safe walking through Habana Viejo before dawn to photograph the sunrise. You nailed it!
16
Just back from Cuba last week. A 'cultural exchange' via an 11 day cruise around the island. Yes, Cuba is all the writer says, and more. Including a 500+ year post-Columbian history that the US sometimes plays a starring role in. But always friendly, enthusiastic people to meet, listen to and learn from and trade with. NOW is the time to visit Cuba, and time to lift the embargo as the Chinese are eagerly filling the voids that we could so easily and ably serve.
31
You didn't mention the fact that China has a SIGINT facility in Bejucal, Cuba that was built in the late 1990s. The Chinese company Huawei has investment agreements with Cuba, and the US tech giant Google signed an investment agreement with Havana.
2