cuba

For most of our trip, we stayed in Havana.  For two days, however, we traveled about three hours to Cuba’s western most province, Pinar del Rio.  Pinar del Rio is known for its fertile valleys and its steep limestone mountains similar to those seen in Guilin, China.  Pinar del Rio is Cuba’s tobacco growing region.

We stayed in the Vinales Valley of Pinon del Rio which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we visited the town of Vinales.

The soil of Pinar del Rio is sandy and loose, perfect for growing tobacco.  To keep the soil from compacting, they do not use tractors.  Rather, they work the fields with oxen.  Throughout the region we saw carts drawn either by oxen or horses.

A note about travel in Cuba - very few Cubans have cars.  The cities have bus systems, but rural areas do not.  So, hitchhiking is not only legal, it’s expected.  The only vehicles exempt from picking up locals are tour busses.  So, trucks that were not loaded with goods, were often filled with people.