Our last day in Trinidad was an early start as we only had an hour spare to have a last quick tour of Trinidad in the morning light. We then had to shoot back to the casa as the taxi would be arriving to pick us up. We managed to arrange a taxi yesterday that was shared with other tourists heading back to Havana. We agreed on the same price as the combined bus journey from Trinidad to Viñales over Havana. The taxi was not direct as promised, however there was another taxi waiting for us in Havana to take us to Viñales which was convenient.
The drive to Havana took about three hours and the journey to Viñales about two and a half hours. A bit longer than usual as it started raining heavily just as we were arriving in Havana. We had to change taxis in the pouring rain, which was fun. The as soon as we got on the motorway to Pinar Del Rio we encountered huge rivers of water crossing the motorway. I thought that we might not make it at some point as the Peugeot 106 we were in sounded like it was on its last legs. Then again, most cars in Cuba are that way. We made it through the rain and entered a spell of splendid weather.
We got to Viñales and went straight to the casa particular which was recommended in many guides. It was a really nice place with a pool, american pool table, bar and restaurant We inquired and they could only accommodate us for one night, however they did recommend us to another casa she knew well around the corner and said that we could use their facilities too! We took the offer.
After finding a cheap peso pizza stand and munching while walking around, we bumped into a tourist we saw earlier on the street next to the Viñales stadium taking pictures with his huge sniper rifle camera of the sunset and kids playing on the grounds. I said “nice sunset, right?”. He replied and it turned out he was a British guy from Cambridge! We took a few pictures, said goodbye to the Brit and then headed back to casa nenita where the restaurant and pool was for an overdue beer.
When we got there we spoke to a guy who was working there called Joel. He was a really friendly guy who we spoke to about our travels in Cuba. We later started conversation with a really nice french couple who also arrived today. Their names were Corelin and Gregor. Together we had great conversation and a good drinking session with Joel nodding off on the table now and again.
