Today we finished what we started by getting an unofficial 1950s Ford (with a guy who looked like Vin Diesel as the driver) to the travel agency where we finalised our booking for the campismo in Jibacoa for 80 CUC over 5 nights so that’s about €13 per night (two people) for a cabin with aircon, kitchen/living room, bathroom, bedroom with double, small covered terrace and breakfast included.
We then went directly to the iPhone repair shop where we got a quote for 20 CUC (€16) to swap out the module for the WiFi and speaker. The parts required were not in the store so they had to get it delivered. We decided to leave it for now but perhaps fix it when we come back to Havana. If its just a dodgy connection with the module, I might just try and fix it myself while im here.
Following that we took a taxi to the main train station in central Havana where we took some pictures and then headed towards the port where we found a market selling various goods and with access to the internet for 6 CUC (€5) / Hour! Pretty steep if you ask me. We carried on along the port until we got to the local ferry service that provides access to Casablanca and Havana Nueva. We took a ferry for 0.10 CUC (€0,08) over the harbour to Casablanca. We wanted to find out about departure times of the Hershey train which is the only electrified railway in Cuba. This would eventually take us to Jibacoa station where we will spend 5 nights from Monday in a campismo.
After finding out the information, we took a look around Casablanca and while doing so we asked a guy if there was anywhere to eat around here. He immediately said yes and grabbed his car to take us to a restaurant where he claimed he works at, which unfortunately happened to be right in the middle of a tourist spot very close to the fortifications on the east side of the harbor The restaurant was nice but very expensive… well for us anyway. We decided to stay as I really needed to eat before I collapsed. We settled for a couple of starters as they were the cheapest items on the menu. Mushroom soup and a prawn cocktail with a bit of bread. Quality was ok, but not worth the price. All in all with drinks it set us back about 17 CUC (€14). On our way out we saw a local bar take away which would have been perfect for us for a fraction of the price we paid. Ahh well, you live and you learn.
We did a small tour around the outside of the fortifications and found a display of weapons supplied by the USSR in the good old days. Planes, rockets, AA Guns and many other items were on display. We got dismissed from taking closeups as we should have had a ticket to the fort which we didn’t have, so we quickly left and headed towards the casa de Che where he lived for a while. Opposite was also a huge monument called Cristo de La Havana. It was currently being renovated but the view from there over Havana was great.
In the evening we went back to the wonderful Castropol where we shared a glorious pizza and crab salad together. A perfect finish to a fulfilling day.
