Куба на один раз Cuba for one

I want to share my impressions about the rest in Cuba. Check-in October 31 for 14 days, of which 2 days in Havana and 12 days in Varadero. 4* hotels, single rooms, all inclusive. We were there with three friends. We flew from Moscow to Havana without a transfer for 13 hours, back - 12 hours, apparently, the wind was blowing in the right direction, that is, fair. The plane is a Boeing 767, the airline is Aeroflot. On board, Aeroflot forbade drinking alcoholic beverages other than those offered by them themselves. But everyone who wanted to drink quietly. We emptied a plastic bottle of Nesti tea, poured cognac from Duty Free into it and openly drank “tea”, eating it with chocolate. For the road a couple of bottles mastered. When we flew back, we didn’t drink anymore, we just didn’t want anything after free alcohol at the hotel.

In Havana, we were placed at the Plaza Hotel. The place is good, because everything interesting was located very close: the embankment, the Capitol, the souvenir market, restaurants, etc.

We got to Cuba not quite at the right time, there was a typhoon from Mexico. The sightseeing tour of Havana was crumpled because of the rain, but the next day we went around the entire same route in half a day on foot, because all their attractions were located around our hotel.

The PLAZA hotel is an old building, of the “Stalinist” type, high ceilings, instead of a bathtub there is a standing shower lined with tiles, the washbasin is also 20-30 years old, window air conditioners that stick out of the window. But that's okay, you can live. Is there a safe in the room. The sockets are flat, so you need to take an adapter with you. But in the bathroom, under a shelf with a mirror, I found one socket with round holes for electric shavers, and there I charged my phone. By the way, the switch in the hallway in the room was electric. Looks like humidity.
At the hotel reception you can change the currency: 1 euro - 1.28 pesos, 1 dollar - 0.8 pesos. It was also possible to change at the bank, it was not far, but there the rate seems to be the same.
You can withdraw money from the card only at the bank, but a certain percentage is taken there, about 11%, the guide did not recommend withdrawing cash from the card, he said that it is better to only pay with a card if they take it. We had VISA-Elektron and Maestro cards. The guide said that banks accept them. But in hotels, terminals for settlements do not accept them, they answer that there is no connection with the bank. But simple VISA seems to pass.
There are non-convertible and convertible pesos in the country. Non-convertible pesos - only for internal settlements with the population and the purchase of goods by cards, they are not valued. Convertible - this is for us. Convertible pesos are abbreviated as CUC (i. e. cook). That is, the price of 1 cookie (CUC) is approximately 29-30 rubles. Moreover, it’s better to take with you not US dollars, but euros, because, having calculated the exchange rate, it turns out that the same amount of our rubles, converting them into cookies through euros, will be 10% more than if they were transferred through dollars.

Cubans don't like the US, although tips are accepted in both currencies. All shops, hotels, restaurants are state-owned. Private only street open markets.

Near the hotel on the square there is a cafe, you can not go far to eat. Lunch with rum or beer costs approximately 25 CUC. In this cafe we ​ ​ met with a local pretzel, his name is Rafael, he speaks a little Russian. We treated him to beer, he immediately ordered cigarettes at our expense. Around the corner is the Nautilus bar.

In Havana, in the evening, I recommend going to a disco at the Havana Libro Hotel (Free Havana) on the 2nd floor. Entrance costs 5 CUC. There's good dancing there, local bands sometimes play live, Eddy K was with us, admission on such days costs 10 CUC. In the same hotel there is also some kind of disco on the 25th floor, but we didn’t get there anymore, we left Havana. You can drink and dance.
You can get to this hotel by taxi, it costs 5 CUC in any direction within the center.
On the second day, walking around Havana, we decided to go eat somewhere. We saw a Chinese restaurant, just stopped in front of it, a waiter in a red Chinese-style shirt immediately came out and offered to come in for lunch in Russian. His name was also Rafael, apparently, the Cubans have a favorite name. He studied in Russia in Leningrad for some kind of geologist, and in 1993 he dumped from Russia. The restaurant has amazingly large portions, it is better to take one serving for two, ask for a common separate plate, and put it on your own if necessary. We probably didn’t master even half of what we ordered, although we drank 2 bottles of 0.75 rum for four with this Rafael. In general, rum, lobsters, Peking duck shrimp, meat with mushrooms, Chinese soup and rice, pork and other food cost us 83 CUC.

In Havana, a man sits in the square and draws pictures for sale. It is immediately visible. He speaks Russian, studied and worked in Russia.
He says that his wife earns 27 pesos a month. He, drawing, has much more. He loves and asks to speak to him in Russian.


We went to the street market to look for souvenirs. We walk between the rows, everyone beckons in Spanish or English. And then we hear, they say to us: “Cigars“ Koiba ”, fucking cigars! ”, the local salesman learned one word.
The city of Varadero is the tourist center of Cuba. Located on the peninsula, and occupies almost the entire peninsula. Hotels are located along the northern coast of the peninsula from the Atlantic Ocean, there are few hotels on the southern coast of the peninsula in Cardenas Bay. Almost all hotels have their own beaches. The beaches are not fenced, you can walk along the entire coast to the city beach, and then go out into the city. From the beaches, hotels are guarded by staff. According to tourists, the best beaches are near hotels from Cuatro Palmas and International to Sol Sirenas-Coral.
Through this door, everything is perfectly audible. Poor neighbors!

The hotel has a Russian TV channel, NTV America. The room has a safe. The minibar was filled once free of charge for the entire period: a bottle of 0.7 rum "Mulatka", cans of 0.33 with cola and two with beer. Bottled water can be taken at the reception at least every day for free.

The hotel has a swimming pool with sun loungers. If the sunbeds on the beach are plastic, then by the pool they are wicker. Umbrellas everywhere for free. Beach towels are issued, a deposit of 20 CUC is returned upon return of the towel. The deposit is paid for the first time, a towel is taken and then it is taken with you to the room, and it is rented out upon departure. During the rest, the towel can be changed to a clean one. Near the pool - a gym, a massage parlor, billiards, a bar, a small kitchen for preparing some toast sandwiches. Bar on the terrace by the beach and in the lobby bar. In addition to the main restaurant and a la carte, there is also a pizza restaurant. You can also eat something there.

I thought that in the tourist center, and even in the hotel, which was recently renovated, there should be normal sockets, but there are only flat ones. It's good that my comrades took an adapter with them. But in recent days, I saw that it turns out that the TV in the room has a European plug and is plugged into their sockets through the same adapter, and I began to use it to recharge my phone, camera and iron. It's good that you guessed to take the iron one at all. I had to iron often. A couple of times I gave it to wash T-shirts, maid trousers, they wash it badly.

The food at the hotel is not very tasty and not varied. All 12 days were almost all the same. Against the background of Turkey - feeding sucks. One soup, garnish - rice, potatoes or beans. A couple of varieties of meat, corn and peas from Bonduelle cans, boiled carrots, pancakes, eggs. For breakfast - juices, tea and tasteless coffee from the machine.
For lunch - only water, wine, juices, beer through the waiter - you have to wait, you have already eaten almost everything when he brings it. From fruits - unripe melon and watermelon, white and red sweet grapefruits, papaya, oranges, some local small fruit. There are three types of ice cream. They just lay it out in special refrigerated containers from buckets and crush it directly with their hands. I hope they wash their hands. Cocktails in bars are made in haste, and it is understandable, it takes a lot of drinking, there is no point in making fun of cooking. But in the city, sometimes they make very tasty cocktails for money.

In Varadero, between streets 57 and 59, there is a city park. I recommend visiting it. In this park you can swim on a catamaran on the pond, see ostriches, flamingos on the island. Some ducks, peacocks, geese and other birds walk right along the paths, you can ride and take pictures on camels.
There are cafes in this park, and in the depths of the park there is a gazebo with a beautiful view. And most importantly - in this park, as you enter, to the right along the path, 30 meters from the entrance, there is a bar where they make delicious majito and pino colada cocktails for 3 CUC. I took a moped and made a special trip to this bar in order to order cocktails, and then only drove into the city, and on the way back I stopped by again for a cocktail. In hotels, in bars, such delicious cocktails are not made. I recommended to some of our people to try cocktails in that bar, everyone said that it was really tasty.


A woman from Surgut was resting in our hotel and she had a friend in the neighboring Solymar 5 * hotel. He says that it is a very pretentious hotel, a large territory, gardens, cages with parrots, ponds with cuttings, in ours it is somehow simpler. They went to visit each other along the beach, and since the straps on their wrists were the same green color, they used each other's restaurants and bars.
So, in our hotel the food was even better and the cocktails were better than in that 5 * hotel, and there was no ice cream. So it seemed to us that our hotel is an excellent value for money. The hotel has one a la carte restaurant. You can go by appointment. Ordinary restaurant, food is good, you can order seafood. You just need to wear pants and shoes.

This hotel has a cabaret. Located in an annex to the hotel from the side of the city. Once you can visit the cabaret with dinner for free. Then, if you wish, you can walk for half the price as a hotel guest. And so the entrance costs 15 CUC. Dinner starts at 20 o'clock, approximately 1.5 o'clock, and then performances until 24 o'clock. At midnight and until 3 o'clock the disco begins, the entrance is already free for everyone. They dance right in the hall among the tables in the aisles or on the stage. The music is rhythmic Cuban. Cool!
And there are also discos: further along the peninsula on the outskirts of Varadero - the bar "Cueva del Pirata" (Pirates' Cave) - is made in the rock, inside there are tables, a bar, a stage, an incoming cabaret group performs for about 40 minutes, and then a disco on this stage ; then the disco bar "La Rumba" on the outskirts of the city near the golf course; even further away is the Mambo Club, as well as near the Cuatro Palmas hotel, the La Comparcita disco bar and on some 62nd street, were not there.
The weather in November was windy, in the ocean - meter waves. Swimming in them is great! Only all the time the rescuers ran out, blew whistles and kicked out of the water when you enter the water higher than knee-deep, as a red flag was hanging, prohibiting swimming due to a storm. They should stick this whistle up their ass, let them try to whistle like that. A volleyball net is stretched on the beach, there are mini-football goals. Only now it’s not very convenient to play volleyball in the wind, but nothing, everyone got used to it.

But in the Gulf of Cardenas there was a complete calm.
Yes, and on the southern coast of the island of Cuba in the Caribbean it was also quite calm, there was almost no wind and waves.

At the hotel reception you can change the currency: 1 euro - 1.22 CUC, 1 dollar - 0.8 CUC. A guide from TezTour Nyria comes to the hotel according to the schedule, you can buy excursions from her. Excursions, like everything else, are paid in Cookies. But she accepts both euros and dollars, but she prefers euros. Moreover, her rate is higher than at the reception - for 1 euro - 1.25 CUC. Change is given in Cookies. It was also possible to change the currency in the city at a commercial bank and at the exchange office of this bank, it is located opposite the park at the intersection, I think 59th street. The best exchange rate is in this exchanger.
The hotel has Internet - 5 CUC for half an hour. Near the hotel there is a rental of moped mokiks, from 12 CUC for 2 hours to 24 CUC per day, the longer you take, the cheaper each hour of rental. I took both for several hours and for a day. You can leave a moped for the night next to the hotel in the parking lot, it is guarded.
Gasoline - 1 CUC per liter, gas station nearby. At 2 - 3 liters you can drive almost all day, very economical. You can also rent a car. This is approximately 70 - 90 CUC per day. Plus, they usually immediately fill up with gasoline for 50 CUC.


For the first time, I didn’t know where to fill up, gasoline was at zero, I was driving around the city and I didn’t know who to ask. I look, a car drove up to some administrative building and a woman got out of it. All drivers know where the gas station is. I drove up in a mixture of Spanish and English: “Buenos dias, madam. Am sorry, help me. In is gasoline? ” and point to the tank of the moped. And she told me with a big accent, but in Russian answers how to get there. The moral is this: in Cuba there are people who know Russian. So it’s better not to swear on the street and not find fault with local customs and their life. The Cuban will not say that he understood everything, but what will he think about the Russians? So be more polite!
And then some from Russia think that no one understands them and swear aloud. Kinda uncomfortable. At night we were in the lobby bar, after drinking enough cocktails and playing enough billiards, we sang Russian folk songs in chorus.

In the second week, many Russians arrived and there were not 4, but 20 people in the hotel. There was an additional motive to sit in a crowd on the hotel terrace and drink cocktails. Everyone got to know each other right away. People began to sing songs not only in the bar, but also on the street. And, loudly. And on the floor where more Russians lived, doors slammed all night and a loud Russian conversation was heard. In general, the people on the floor did not sleep well that night.
In general, there is a sign: Italians speak loudly; The Germans, when they drink, speak loudly and neigh. But the Russians, plus everything else, swear loudly, sing songs right on the street, drum on the tables like drums, forgetting that the terrace is under the windows of the hotel and everything is clearly audible at night.
A regular double-decker bus runs along Varadero, the second floor is without a roof. The ticket costs 5 CUC, it acts as a travel card, you can ride all day with this ticket. Any number of landings and landings. There is also a scheduled train with a trailer, the principle is the same, the ticket-travel costs 1 CUC, it seems. The train stops not only at stops, but also on demand, you just need to raise your hand.

There are taxis - carts with harnessed horses. You go wherever you want within the center. Price - 5 CUC per person. Well, just taxis ply the streets, rides past - they will definitely signal, offer a ride. The price of a taxi is 5 CUC for everyone (per car) within the center and 7 CUC for everyone - if to the outskirts of the city.

The city has one more or less shopping center "Plaza America" ​ ​ behind the golf club. Two-story building, prices are the same as in all stores.

The streets in Varadero running across the city are unnamed, simply numbered in order from 1 to 69, and along the city - the first avenue and along the sea - Playa avenue.

We brought the Russian flag with us to Cuba. There are several flagpoles in front of the hotel to raise flags. We asked to raise the Russian flag, but we were told that, firstly, there were few Russians, secondly, the flagpoles were all occupied, and thirdly, they did not have such a flag. We replied that we have with us. Then the PR manager decided to take down the Italian flag and raise ours. They invited their hotel musicians, who in the restaurant sing local songs with a guitar, drums and maracas. They accompanied, and the six of us (three of us from Russia, a married couple from Tomsk - Sergey and Natasha - and a Russian girl from Moscow, living in Switzerland) sang the anthem of the USSR. And Leva from Ukraine filmed us. Our guide, Nyria, was also with us.
I wanted to leave Varadero back to Havana, spend the last three days again in Havana, wander around the city, through their slums and streets, take pictures, but my comrades still dissuaded me at the last moment. In general, in the morning at 8 o'clock there is a regular bus from the bus station on 36th Street. It takes about 3 hours, the price is 10 CUC. Or you could leave with one of the groups that had previously left for Russia to the outskirts of Havana, for this you can call the local guide at TezTour (8-662-062 in Varadero or 9-662-062 in Havana) and he will remake your transfer to an early the term, this service costs in TezTour seems to be 27 CUC.

GENERAL IMPRESSION: Before the trip, I read reviews on the forums about Cuba and Varadero in particular. A couple of years ago, prices were not so high. And now the prices for excursions and products in shops and on the market are 2-4 times more expensive than similar ones in Thailand. Interested in local girls. In Varadero, a girl for love is almost impossible to rent.

Firstly, they won’t let her into the hotel even for money, the guards are afraid of losing their jobs. There are also no private houses in Varadero, as it is forbidden, all tourists are accommodated in hotels. The guide said that tourists can meet at a disco, and when asked where to take her, he answered that "she knows where. " Well, not on the bench and not in the car.

Everything is easier in Havana, you can meet at a disco in Havana Libro. As soon as you go there, you will immediately find several invitingly looking girls next to you. It is desirable to know at least English. In short, the girl takes 40 CUC for the service. It is difficult to take her to the hotel, because the security does not let her in, but you can pay about 30 CUC and they will let her in until the change of watch, that is, until 5-6 in the morning. But if the police are near the hotel, then the girl will not go to the hotel, she can be arrested for prostitution.
In the Naitilus bar, according to the local Rafael, you can also meet a girl, it costs 40 CUC, plus you will need to pay for a particular (room) about 15 - 20 CUC for use.

In total, it turned out up to 70 CUC for a girl, which is 87 dollars or 56 euros, that is, about 2000 rubles. Practically the price of a prostitute in Russia is not even about any cheapness. An anecdote immediately comes to mind: The husband is going to go on vacation, and the wife says to him before the road, “Darling, do not spend money on vacation on something that you can get at home for free. ” We were interested in girls not in order to film them, but in order to learn as much as possible about Cuba.

There is nothing special to see, this is an island, there are no sights. Well, sand on the beach, well, the hotel is good, well, the weather is warm. And that's it! The service is unobtrusive, especially no one is in a hurry, the waiter in the restaurant has to wait until you call, it may not come up.

I wanted to call Havana from the hotel in the evening, they told me that today is all, only tomorrow, the Internet is also tomorrow. I went to the call center on the main road, a little to the left, it was already closed there, also only tomorrow. On request, they washed and ironed things in my room a couple of times when I was about to leave for Havana, I wanted to pay for these services the day before, they again answered that only tomorrow, because today there is no one to accept money from me. They all close at 17 or 18 hours, nothing works. All you hear is “Tumorrow” or “Manana” (that is, tomorrow in English or Spanish). In my opinion, this is their favorite state - "tomorrow", i. e. why do today what you can do tomorrow.

Happy country: they sing, dance, relax and don't worry about anything.
I did not notice any special sympathy for the Russians, they are absolutely indifferent. They have more respect for Germans and Canadians - they tip more and speak English.
Only those Cubans who used to study or work in the USSR are happy with Russian, and now they are nostalgic for those times or just want to remember the Russian language and speak it.

Excursions are somehow empty: the jeep safari is primitive, their supposedly “off-road” compared to the Russian one is Broadway. Jeeps - beach Suzuki, drove 50 km beyond the neighboring city of Matanzas, drove to the peasant, looked at how he lives, what he grows, drank coconut from him, chewed sugar cane. Then we rafted on scooters for a couple of km along the river, had lunch, rode 100 m on horseback, took pictures on a bull, with a crocodile, a snake and some kind of rat in our arms, swam in a cold lake in a small cave. That's the whole tour. It cost about 45-50 CUC.

Excursion to the Bay of Pigs: 1.5 hours by bus.
And at the end we stopped at the Caribbean Sea, gave out masks and fins for swimming for an hour in clear water. Visibility in the water is about 30-40 meters, the water is clean. And the sea was absolutely calm, unlike the ocean.
Excursion on catamarans: ride on a catamaran, drinks included. Then you can swim in the sea, where there is a little fenced area with dolphins. You swim, dolphins kiss you, a Cuban photographs you. A photo costs 10 CUC. Excursion - 85 CUC. That's the whole tour.

When leaving Cuba, there is a limit: 50 pcs. cigars and 2 liters. alcohol (3 bottles of 0.7 each). But in fact there was no control. You can put it in a suitcase and put it in your luggage. And then buy more in Duty Free, no one checks.


TOTAL: For a 4 * hotel, I would put 5 points. But in general, Cuba did not really like it. It became expensive and uninteresting. You need to go once to put a tick that you were here. The second time I will not go. At least for a long flight.