30 years ago when I took my first long trip (Nepal and the Indian Subcontinent mostly- I was away for over a year) I figured out my own travel philosophy- which was to pay not so much attention to what other people were saying.
Even back then there were many people on the world travel circuit, and if I went to a tea/ hashish house in Katmandhu I could learn about the places in Goa or Dharamsala, where I could meet the same people telling me about the tea/hashish houses in Kathmandu.
Which is the downside of sites like this- everybody following everyone around. (Of course there is an enormous upside, which is information).
What I used to do is look at maps. It is amazing how much information is conveyed by maps.
For instance, I could see from a map that there was a high pass between Chitral in northern Pakistan and Gilgit, one province over, in the Hindu Kush Karakorum area- somewhere around 20,000 feet if I remember. The high resolution map map showed a small dotted line indicating a trail. So I went to Chitral and asked around and found a guide who said that he knew the way over the pass, so I had my unforgettable experience (the guide took me to the summit and then ran off with some supplies, so I got slightly lost for a few days).
I'm not sure there was any good reason to go to either Chitral or Gilgit and I'm pretty sure neither would make a list of Thorn Tree reccomended places, even today.
But as it turned out, everytime I hear about Bin Ladin and the tribal areas of Pakistan, I can smile to myself, because I have been to those areas, which turn out to be central just because they are so out of the way.
So, as much as I appreciate information, it is also important to visit places that nobody tells you about because nobody much has been there. There is something about the spirit of adventure which complements the reccomendations of everyone else.
Look at the map of Cuba for a moment. There are faboulous places that nobody talks about much but have cartographic interest! For interest Cabo Cruz, in Granma, near the 1956 embarcation, almost in the shadows of Parque Turquino. I have never been there, but there is someting interesting about that little spur, from Pilon to Niquero, and even if everyone agrees that there is nothing there, I suspect they are wrong and there are some very special people who live in that area, that I can nly get to know if I go there for a few days.
Or, for instance, there is a road going north from Manati in Las Tunas to a place called Puerto Manati, and then another road going north from near San Miguel Uno to a place that isn't even named on my wall map, on the Bahia de Malagueta. There must be something at the end of that road!
If I asked everyone for advice, then, I will go to Havana, Trinidad, and maybe Cienfuegos or Las Terrazas, just like everyone else.
But since I was willing to be a little bit adventurous, I met a girl from Sagua de Tanamo and took her to Gibara on my second trip to Cuba, later married her, which led to many other wonderful events. Perhaps if I had been following advice, I would never have gone to Sagua, since I have never yet heard one recommendation about Sagua from anyone! Yet Sagua de Tanamo has its own world of gorgeous beaches (completely undeveloped) and of course gorgeous women (also undeveloped, although I helped to develop one of them).
So, first time traveler- nothing wrong with Trinidad! Everyone loves it!
But why not also ignore everyone and look at a map, or follow your caprices to Sagua, or Manicaragua in Santa Clara, or Dimas near Punto Tobaco in Pinar del Rio. I have never been to any of these places, but I would tell the first time traveler- go to the places that everyone tells you about, but also go to your own place that nobody told you about. My guess is that you will like your own place better.
Another fabulous explanation why a rental car is a wonderful thing in Cuba...
Cheers,
Terry
True Terry but it is a bitch sleeping in the truck because there is no casa particular in the little "middle of nowhere" town you decide to stop in at. While I find that casa systerm improves the safety factor in Cuba, especially in the larger cities, it still has it's drawbacks out in the sticks where "real Cuban life" happens every minute of every day. Poor Funky almost did have to sleep in the car during out last trip in Las Tunas Province. Still, without the rental car, I would never have "discovered Gibara" and that place made my week insipe of the fact we were already at "Plan D" by that point.
You are right, Terry, especially if you pick up the hitchhikers and go to the places that they are going.
But even without the rent a car, it is possible to go anywhere with a little money and lots of stubbornness.
I actually took my Saguense novia to Guardalavaca (without knowing that she wouldn't be allowed there) so we hid for an evening and then went to Gibara from Guardalavaca, maybe 20 or 30 miles on the map but a full day of travel via oxcart, old truck, a little walking, and finally a rowboat across the bay to the town of Gibara, where we had additional adventures. I fell in love with her on this side trip.
Of course this is not a very efficieint way of travelling if you want to 'see' everything.
A person with a little money has a tremendous advantage in the land without money- like the one eyed king in the land of the blind. You can go anywhere with a little money- ask someone to drive you from an accesible place to an out of the way place, or hold out a green dollar bill on the side of the road! I bet the dollar is still recognized, even in the CUC epoca!
A car makes it much easier, you are right about that!
Thanks Lurker101, the most interesting thing I've read on TT since "the crackdown". Actually got my roadmap out and had a look.
But I might add, if one has the right attitude, you can find interesting things even in well visited places. In April when I was down, I met up with my brother who happened to be there at a different location from me, in Matanzas. He with his wife on their second trip, I with my 9 year old son on my seventh. We started walking from Parque Libertad and of course, after a bit, a fellow started talking with us, and so became our "guide". I had never done this, but he and my brother really hit it off. But, he took us to places that we would never, ever had seen, gave us information we would never get, and introduced us to people we would never have met.
What do I always remember from any trip? The people I meet. The places I go with them.
Thats my 2 cents worth.
OP thanks for this - food for thought. And #2 and #3 gibera was my favourite smallish location(i.e big enough to have casas) last year. Also enjoyed Banes as non- touristy town.
I could not agree with you more, Lurker; really quite wonderful advice for any adventure traveler--or even a non-adventure traveler who has some knowledge already of Cuba, and/or private transportation, and/or their own tent for pitching any old where.
Here is just one bit of advice which I learned the hard way, pedalling to the end of all those roads (often very good ones) which "must lead somewhere." This applies specifically to what is generally considered the best map available in Cuba, the Guia de Carreteras. Where you see a bright red line (signifying paved highway) leading to the shore (any shore), and there is NO INDICATION of any town there, and no little umbrella symbol to signify a public beach, and no little cabin symbol to signify a campismo, then what you will find at the end of that road is a military station--and naturally enough, you will not be allowed to enter.
I always try to do just that, use a map. However, on my first trip to Cuba, what I was looking for was music, and my roadmap was a couple of songs that I had listened to. That is what took me to Cueto, and from there on to Santiago. I was invited to the home of a musician from Cueto already on the plane from Amsterdam, the contact was made because he was curious about an instrument I had in my rucksack.
So, just as in Oz, following song lines is a rather good way too to find the unexpected ;-)
And I couldn't agree more, there are lots of places I wouldn't have seen if I would follow others or a guide book. Mostly I got involved with the locals and the rest gave itself.
Fantastic advice Lurker, you wet my appetite for travelling. When in Cuba I love to get on a local bus without having any idea about where it’s going, and then seeing if some place takes my interest – there’s bound to be an unusual market or town centre at the end of the line.
By the way, if you are the same Lurker who posts those amusing stories on the Cuba-Junky site, I think you could combine and develop them to make a wonderful novel. Have you any plans of doing so?
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