Trinidad

Trinidad... did I say city? Trinidad is more of a small village, but it has an incredible charm. Imagine taking the best parts of Havana and distilling them into a quaint town—that’s Trinidad.

We arrived here, leaving behind the pollution, crowds, and less-than-pleasant vibes of Havana, and found ourselves in a place where every random snapshot looks like it belongs in a frame on your wall. The people here, though still as impoverished as elsewhere in Cuba, seem to take pride in keeping their town clean and cared for.

We only stayed for a day, but if we had known better, we would have spent one day in Havana and three in Trinidad. This village embodied the Caribbean relaxation I had been hoping for. The architecture is simple and colourful, as if children had painted the streets and houses with a box of crayons (and maybe they did). The locals still overcharge for food and drinks, but by now, we’ve come to expect that. The highlight was a local drink called "canchanchara" in a bar—rum, honey, and herbs. I could easily spend months here, happily getting drunk on that stuff.

After our brief but delightful stay, we took a bus back to Havana, then a taxi to the airport. As we now consider ourselves “locals”, we paid just £8 for the ride and had a good laugh at the stupid tourists still getting ripped off by expensive private taxis.

It’s Saturday night, and we’re at Havana airport, waiting through a 6-hour delay for our next flight to Chile. The airport feels like a throwback to Athens' airport 20 years ago. I’m writing this while waiting, but you’ll probably get this tomorrow since the internet kiosk has run out of internet...

If I had to sum up Cuba, I’d say it’s a relatively expensive place that aggressively capitalizes on its heritage, history, and icons. This is somewhat expected in a poor country, but I also expected it to be friendlier to independent travellers who aren’t looking for an all-inclusive resort experience.

Cuba seems like a country struggling to preserve its assets amid a desperate need for survival. Even with my positive and optimistic hat on, the best I can say is, "It must have been a great place 20 years ago."

Before we came, many people told us we had to experience Cuba before it’s too late. Honestly, I think it might already be too late.