South America 2015

 

Pinar del Rio was a less than enjoyable experience for me. With Juanita off in Santa Clara I headed solo for the west coast to do some diving, based out of Pinar Del Rio. Maria Lagordia dive centre is about 160kms from Pinar but there is only one hotel there and it's extortionate. I checked into my Casa and spoke to the owners about getting there. They told me there was no bus or taxi service and you had to go by private car, hmmm, that seems strange because I know people who have done it by bus, anyway they were happy to send the Casa car with driver ( the casa owner ) for the day... For $100 cuc ( about €100 or $140 Aud ) . My 50 cuc per day Cuban budget didn't like that. We bartered and argued down to 70 cuc. I said at that price I would need to find someone else to go with and that I'd go walking the streets to find tourists, can't be that hard. I then got the standard spiel about the streets being far too dangerous and I shouldn't leave the house and there was no tourist office in Pinar, hmmmm again, I'll take my chances.

 

On leaving the casa I had 2 separate incidences of complete strangers asking why I chose to stay in the 'crazy' house, normally I'd expect this to come with an offer of a better house or hotel, but no offers came. Hmmmm. I found a friendly local who pointed me to the tourist office, hmmm it exists. They booked me on the bus, which also exists, for 40cuc including a buffet lunch, winning, a little concerned about my accommodation but winning. I went back and told them I didn't need the car because I booked the bus at the tourist office, and about now all hell broke loose, yelling screaming slamming doors and a lot of finger pointing at me saying I'd send them broke and that I was a liar. I said I'm sorry but here's the ticket  ... And I'd be back for dinner. 

 

A third stranger looks at me weirdly and asks why I'm in that loco house as i walk out. Yep you're getting the picture. I decide 3 nights there may be a bit too long, like 3 nights too long but I'd already paid for the 1 night so...  I found a barber for a shave and a beer, cause you can, and chatted with locals which led to new digs, cheaper, nicer, with hot water and I could move in before the dive trip, sorted. Go back to the casa for dinner.

 

I told the locos I only needed the room for 1 night as I'd be leaving town, they seemed concerned and asked me to pay the bill tonight, yeah fine, til the bill came. 20cuc for the room, 8 for dinner, 4 for breakfast, fine, then the 100 cuc for the driver ( yeah back up to 100 for a trip I wasn't doing ) plus a 20cuc cancellation fee ( despite not booking anything or going anywhere ) and the kicker was a 10 cuc fee for the owners son speaking some English ! What the actual F&@£

Anyway more yelling and screaming and finger pointing and tales how I bankrupted the family ( which I thought was pretty impressive seeings it had only taken me about 4 hours ) and I paid the 32 I actually owed and went for a beer. Loco house !

 

At the bar I found the locals from the barbers who invited me to dinner the following night after the dive trip, sounds great, I bought a round of beer,  8:30 they said, I get back at 7:30, it's a plan.

 

At 8:30 the following evening I walk into the restaurant and the guys have eaten but are still drinking, no probs, I order a plate of chicken and rice 11 cuc and a beer, 2 cuc. We eat, talk, drink for a bit, my Spanglish seems to be being understood, good times. They get up for a smoke, the waiter brings me the bill, 171cuc, wow those guys must have been there for a long time to rack that up. The waiter the explains that group has told him I invited them all to dinner and I was covering the bill. Wait what ? The group explains to me that if I accept an invitation in Cuban culture it means I pay for the hosts. Hmmmm, um, no it doesn't . I only had 17cuc on me. Then I get the sob stories for half an hour about how broke they are and can't afford food for their families ( despite all being overweight ) which didn't fly with me for a second. Then the conversation moved to the dad being head of the local mafia ( obviously, that's why he has no money ) and I need to pay or else, I said I'd have to check if I had that much money, he suggested I leave my credit card and he would sort it out, yeah, nice one champ. I went back to the casa and grabbed 30 more in cash, escorted by 2 of the group constantly reminding me I should pay to stop something bad happening and I was getting very pissed off. The only thing in my mind was what the repercussions of decking these two clowns would be.

 

The conversation moved back to the table where I explained I wasn't a wealthy person blah blah blah and they showed me their empty wallets and blah blah blah. I told the waiter I'd pay for only me and he bought me a bill for 40cuc, again, what ? I asked to see the menu and an itemised bill, but apparently everything the group had ordered wasn't on the menu but it was very expensive, hmmm. By now no one understood my Spanglish and apparently they all forgot their English at the same time but I whittled it down to 30, still far too much but I left with the group making that finger across the throat gesture to me, I wasn't scared by these jokers, mildly amused but also pretty pissed off they tried one over after being so helpful and friendly, and that dinner cost me 30 instead of 17. Back at the casa I explained the situation to the owner and he explained I should have paid the full amount because the 'boss' is his brother in law and he would have got a cut of the profit they made off me. Obviously well planned. I spent with the night with the door dead bolted and my pocket knife under my pillow. I think I may been watching too many walking dead episodes of late, but better to be safe than sorry.

 

At breakfast the casa owner told me the guys would be round later to discuss the money situation. Split second decision and I told him I was on the next bus to Havana, paid my bill for the night, packed my bag and left, all in about 10 mins. I found a 3rd casa in 3 days on a side street and sorted a day tour of the region without running into our friends again, grabbed an early night and headed to Trinidad in the morning.

 

The sad thing is this story doesn't represent the majority of Cuban people at all. Maybe it's just Pinar del Rio, a small rural town without much tourism. Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuego, Santa Clara are all amazing places. Most are happy friendly and generous folks. Cuba is a poor country and that tends to breed scamming and petty crime. Also, crimes against tourists are dealt with harshly, much more so than against Cuban nationals, this mostly eliminates pick pocketing and theft, to an extent. From what I've seen, the people have free education, healthcare, and benefits. The houses are old and buildings decaying but I haven't seen any homeless or beggars. They are also a larger weighted group, no one I've seen is missing a feed. If you're going to run a scam, and dinner costs 10 bucks, trying to send a bill for 170 is just plain greedy, I have no doubts the restaurant and the casa were in on it so maybe it's more people to cut in but seriously ? Again sadly, if it's this well organised I'm sure there are many more who have accepted the local hospitality in good faith, only to be shafted and not stood up for themselves. I always try and eat in local restaurants with local people when I travel, it's the only way to really see a place, Sadly this sort of thing really puts me off it.

 

Pinar del Rio was very disappointing, I won't be back.