A town of approximately 9,000 people, it is an agricultural area, where crops of fruit, vegetables, coffee and especially tobacco are grown by traditional methods.
We set off from Havana about 9am and took a leisurely bus trip, arriving in Viñales just after lunch.
My casa was a beautiful home stay run by a lady named Tita and her family. The room was nicely furnished, had air conditioning and an ensuite bathroom (as did all the casa's I stayed in). I shared a room with one of my tour companions, we all did at some stage of the trip.
We explored Viñales by foot - it isn't that big! The tobacco fields were amazing. Everything they do is by hand. On average, one person rolls 5 cigars a day. There is so much love and commitment put into one cigar it is amazing!
By night we were salsa dancing in a club or enjoying a mojito at a local bar. I cannot tell you how cheap things are in Cuba. A mojito is 3 CUC, which is approximately $3AUD (CAD is on par with AUD). Entry to the salsa dancing club was 1 CUC. Needless to say I spent very little during my time in Cuba - maybe 400 AUD. And I lived very well!
As a point of interest; Viñales Valley has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I bought a wifi card while here. I will take the opportunity to tell you about how this works.. Internet is not connected to homes in Cuba (well, legally, although I believe some homes have it). The government controls where you can assess wifi and the internet. You purchase a one hour wifi card from, well I guess it is like a post office. You can line up for hours and hours in the blistering heat to buy them. I am not sure what goes on inside to make it so slow, but there is nothing you can do - it's Cuba!
Once you have your card you go to the area the government has designated at the wifi zone. You can tell this in every town you go to without being told. There are 100's if not 1000's of people in one area. It could be a street, a park, a square.. Anywhere. Of course the issues with 100's of people being in one spot trying to get onto social media means it is VERY slow. FB does not load well nor does Instagram. I used my card to email my dad and tell him I was alive and some friends to let them know the same thing.
This will change, like most things in Cuba, over the next few years. With the embargo coming to an end and more tourists (read; Americans) visiting the country, it will change. But I kind of liked being "off the grid' for most of my time there.
Part 4 will be Trinidad. Stay tuned.
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