Cuban Blog Day #18 Explore First and Check Out Che's Eyes

I had planned to take the same taxi driver on to Playa Girón. When a taxi showed up, I was disappointed, yet not surprised, to find a different driver and two passengers already in the car.  I asked if it would be cheaper and explained the deal I had made with the driver the day before, but he didn’t go down in price. That made it easy to tell him to take a hike and wait around to take the bus with the Germans.  I was actually happy to be on a comfortable, nearly empty bus where I could easily nap my hangover away.  It was, as always, good to be moving again.  I had recently realized just how soon my trip would be over, and it was a relief to be getting closer and closer to Havana as I made my way up.

Playa Girón is a two hour bus ride from Trinidad.  It is a tiny beach town on the east bank of the Bay of Pigs and is famous for diving. When we arrived, the Germans had a car waiting to take them to their casa. They dropped me at another around the corner from where the Germans would be staying.  I negotiated my casa with Demitri, the owner of Hostal Moya.  I secured the room for $20 CUC with breakfast, again much to the Germans’ chagrin as they were paying $10 CUC more. They made me promise to teach them how to bargain the rest of the trip.

I met up with the Germans, and we walked around the ghost town that is Playa Girón.  Several abandoned buildings and no people in sight made us wonder why the guide book had even mentioned Playa Girón.  We found the one ‘resort’ hotel and secured our dive trip for the next day.  We ate lunch at one of only two restaurants in town when we were told the hotel restaurant was for guests only.  We paid in peso national which made the total bill for all of us about $6 US. Then we bought a bottle of rum and Tucola. Again, I paid in peso national. This time, I was asked if I wanted any of the Che coins. I traded and got four more coins, grateful for the offer.  They would make great gifts upon returning.  As the man was handing the coins to me, he held up one coin and told me that it was dated 1990 and it was a hard one to find because in it, Che’s eyes are closed.  No one was able to tell me what the significance of this is, nor could a google search, but it is true. The coins before 1990 all have Che’s eyes closed, while those after 1990 depict him with open eyes. If anyone knows anything about this please leave me a message. I’m quite curious.

Not knowing what else to do in this little deserted town, we made our way back to the ‘beach.’ It was quite ugly with a giant concrete wave breaking wall so big that you could not see beyond it.  We sat under a thatched umbrella and made cocktails.  A couple strolled by and joined us for a bit. They told us there was another, nicer beach a ways up. I felt like a rookie. Why hadn’t we explored a bit more before settling down on a subpar beach?

We headed back to my casa where we had an excellent dinner of swordfish and lively conversation with Dimitri about all his travels in the navy. I was grateful to be able to understand everything and wondered how different this trip would be if I didn’t speak Spanish. I went to bed early in anticipation for the dives the next day.

 

Traveling tip #20

Always, always explore before you settle down into a place. Of course this is often easier said than done, especially when you’re hung over and tired and just want a place to sit around. 

Traveling tip #21

When in Cuba, collect both the Che peso coins as well as the bill.