Houndoc
Registered User
- Location
- Grantsville
To go along with my post on the cars of Cuba, thought I would put up a few photos and a little info about the rest the country.
First, I was very surprised at how open the people were to talk politics and to be critical of their government. Talking with a farmer he explained that they have to sell 90% of their crop to the government "for really lousy prices" and a veterinarian I met talked about leaving working for the government-owned clinics (he was paid $20/month) and now running his own, illegal (but not really hidden) practice that he admits is '100 years behind.' They mocked their leaders (and President Trump.) And we had some interesting discussion about how the economic embargo from the US is what has propped up the communist government by giving them a scape-goat for their own failed policies. They also openly discussed the food and fuel shortages they deal with.
We could go anywhere we wanted and our Cuban guide told us on the first day that we have nothing to fear in regard to physical violence (although discussed a few scams) and we can feel safe going anyplace in the city any time of day or night. We wandered a lot of places we would not have felt safe in a US city and never felt the least bit threatened.
One big surprise was the common use of horses outside of Havana. Horse drawn carts commonly seen on major highways and what they call (in Spanish of course) 'mini-buses') are horse wagons that carry about 6 passengers.
I will start with a few pictures from in and around Havana.
First, I was very surprised at how open the people were to talk politics and to be critical of their government. Talking with a farmer he explained that they have to sell 90% of their crop to the government "for really lousy prices" and a veterinarian I met talked about leaving working for the government-owned clinics (he was paid $20/month) and now running his own, illegal (but not really hidden) practice that he admits is '100 years behind.' They mocked their leaders (and President Trump.) And we had some interesting discussion about how the economic embargo from the US is what has propped up the communist government by giving them a scape-goat for their own failed policies. They also openly discussed the food and fuel shortages they deal with.
We could go anywhere we wanted and our Cuban guide told us on the first day that we have nothing to fear in regard to physical violence (although discussed a few scams) and we can feel safe going anyplace in the city any time of day or night. We wandered a lot of places we would not have felt safe in a US city and never felt the least bit threatened.
One big surprise was the common use of horses outside of Havana. Horse drawn carts commonly seen on major highways and what they call (in Spanish of course) 'mini-buses') are horse wagons that carry about 6 passengers.
I will start with a few pictures from in and around Havana.
