Lester, Lyn, and Andrew Burns for Cuba
14/12/2007 – Fly CT – Jhb – NY
18/12/2007 – Fly NY – Las Vegas
21/12/2007 – Car hire: Vegas – Grand Canyon – Nevada Desert – Arizona – Monument Valley – Flagstaff – Montezuma – Nogales – Phoenix – Tucson
25/12/2007 – Fly Tucson – Phoenix – Mexico City. Car hire Dodge Stratus. Mex City – Pachuca – Teotihuacán – Actopan – San Miguel de Allende – Guanajuato – Morelia – Patzcuaro – Ocampo – Zitacuaro – Mexico City
04/01/2008 – Fly Cuba, Havana. 2 nights
06/01/2008 – Taxi Viñales. 3 nights
09/01/2008 – Taxi Havana. Fly Havana – Mexico City. Overnight airport hotel
10/01/2008 – Fly Mexico – NY – Jhb – CT (
15/12/2007
Landed at JFK in New York City at 9.30am (2,5hours late)
Left home at 11 on the 14th (7hr time diffs)
Passport control took ages but once we were through we easily found a cab driver to take us to our hotel. Riverside Studios – dodgy spot but near central park.
Off loaded our bags and went for a walk.
1st we went up to Central Park for the famous hotdogs, mine with all the trimmings. A messy affair but yum.
We watched the horse carriages ferrying tourists around, ice skating in an outdoor rink in the park, walked around Time Square, stopped in for a guiness at he Pig & Whistle. Met 2 ladies from Maryland and had a chat. Lester was freezing in his sweatshirt so bought him a NY Fleecy jacket. Stopped in at McGees for a Furtini & Guinness.
NY is alive with Christmas spirit. Christmas carols play everywhere including the taxis and pubs, Christmas decorations in every window. Christmas markets, etc.
16/12/2007
Woke really early. It snowed last night so everything is pretty and white but it has started drizzling and got windy – crap weather. Took the metro to Times Square, admired the Christmas displays in the windows. Rockefeller centre was amazing with a huge xmas tree and ice rink. Went to Ripley’s Believe it or not museum and then lunch at Dallas BBQ where we ordered a small starter of chicken wings to share. The portions are so huge it’s ridiculous. Went to Manhattan mall, to the Trade Centre site which was devastating – a big hole in the middle of the city. Went to Battery Park and got my first look at the Statue of Liberty over the Hudson River. Stopped near Soho for a drink in a pub and ended up watching American football. Back to Time’s Square to ToysRUs which was an enormous 3 floor toy shop crammed with toys. Went to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant.
17/12/2007
Up early to a clear sky but still freezing and windy. Went to the Empire State building to check out the views of Manhattan – very impressive but sooo cold, we didn’t stay long. Had lunch at the Australian club – only starters again as the portions are just too big. Took the metro to Soho, walked to China Town, to the Brooklyn Bridge to admire the beautiful views. Went to Pier 16 had a snack and a Guinness. Walked to the Financial district and Wall Street. Took a metro back to Time’s Square, found our pub McGees for another snack and went home, exhausted.
18/12/2007
Woke early after a very long sleep. It’s a beautiful day and much warmer. Got a shuttle to the airport, had a burger at Burger King and flew to Vegas over the Rocky Mountains – a huge expanse of snow-capped mountains. As we approached Vegas the snow disappeared and we flew over awesome lakes and finally landed. Vegas is unbelievable. The hotels are all so overboard – huge buildings designed and decorated in different themes. We are staying at the Flamingo – one the oldest and famous hotels on the strip. We are on the 21st floor with an unbelievable view over the strip. Our room is huge with a massive flat screen TV. The bathroom has another TV. The bed is big and so comfortable. We took the bus downtown to get our marriage licence. Then we just walked around Vegas taking in the sites and sounds. We walked down one alleyway that had the biggest overhead TV screen, we watched a light show, bought a cheapy ring for me and a cowbone one for Lester, had a beer. Went back to the Flamingo and ate Chinese takeaway – huge portions again and very oily. Watched the fountain show at the Bellagio from our window.
19/12/2007
Getting married today! What?! Got up early and took a Limo to the Wee Kirk o’ the Heather (one of the oldest chapels in Vegas). A cute little chapel from the movie Intolerable Cruelty. Got into my dress at the chapel, had a little ceremony, had a silly photo session and only chose 1 pic to keep – the rest were terrible. Took a taxi back to our hotel to change and go out for lunch. We went to Caesar’s Palace and ordered burgers and Bollinger champagne after lunch we went to Margaritaville for cocktails and met 2 American guys that kept buying us drinks – we had a really fun time and eventually headed back to our super comfy room tired and drunk.
20/12/2007
Today we walked around Vegas, went into the different hotels to check out their themed décor, shopped some kitsch stuff at over-the-top curio shops. Lester bought the worst, most American Stetson type hat and I bought a coca cola bag. Met Cherry, an ex-croupier on the casino tables, she was now older and working at the curio shop and had an estranged daughter in SA. We went to organise our hire car for tomorrow. It’s winter in Vegas so it’s not so busy giving it a bit of a desperate feeling with the show girls on the road trying hard to get people in the streets to come to their shows. Also, some of the famous rides were not operating. We watched an Elvis show (there are so many they are referred to in their collective Elvi) where they brough out the fattest Elvis in a wheelchair and congratulated him for losing some weight. We ate at the Harley Davidson Café where they give you the huge cocktail glasses to take home as a souvenir.
21/12/2007
Left Vegas early and drove towards the Grand Canyon through the Nevada Desert which was very scrubby and brown with rough mountains. We drove past Lake Mead and stopped at Hoover Dam before going into Arizona. There is nothing out here but mountains, scrub and a trailer park or 2. We got to the Grand Canyon at sunset. It was an amazing site and massive but so cold, there was snow around and the wind was blowing. We struggled to find a place to stay in the dark but eventually found a room at the Red Feather for the night.
22/12/2007
Had breakfast and drove towards Monument Valley, stopping along the south rim of the canyon for some more views of the canyon. Drove into an Indian Reservation and stopped to see dinosaur tracks and eat a subway. Passed a few small desert towns and finally entered Monument Valley, with the red sand finger rocks – really beautiful and unique. Turned around to head back towards Flagstaff and to Montezuma where we stayed for the night.
23/12/2007
Drove to Montezuma castle – a native American (Sinagua) settlement – a 5 story dwelling cut into the limestone cliffs. Less impressive to look at than it sounds. Carried on to Phoenix and stopped at Black Canyon City to hopefully wash our clothes but the laundromat was closed on a Sunday (and on a Wednesday and on a Thursday). A seriously one-horse town with a run down diner where we at a greasy skillet breakfast (the choice was with or without meat) consisting of eggs cooked in oil, toast, hashbrowns, bacon. And coffee – I made a mistake of asking for a latte which our waitress had never heard of – the choice was coffee with or without milk. The waitress, in her gown, was very friendly and asked if we rode elephants in Africa and eat bugs. After breakfast we carried on through Phoenix through Tucson and stopped in Tombstone – an old western town where they re-enact old western scenes as part of a daily show, the most popular being the OK coral gun fight with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, etc. The shops and saloons all mimic the old wild west and all the staff are dressed and act the part of the town folk. Quite fun actually. We went to Big Nose Kate’s (Doc Holliday’s girlfriend) Saloon for a drink.
Drove on to Sierra Vista and stayed in Motel 6, ordered in takeaways, did our laundry and watched TV. Tomorrow, we hit the border of Mexico!
24/12/2007
Drove through a cute town before we got to Nogales, the border town. A busy, dirty town. Got to the border crossing and decided we better find out about the car hire on the other side seeing as we had to give up this car. Basically, we would have to hand back the car, catch a bus into Mexico and then hire another car. Luckily, we checked first as all the cars were booked out for the next 3 days. We decided to drive back to Tucson and fly to Mexico City. Booked a flight which cost us $500 each in first class – there were no other seats available. Returned our car and walked to a nearby hotel near the airport. Checked in to a really nice room and went to the bar where they were having free cocktails and snacks – bonus! We met this young couple and proceeded to drink the night away.
25/12/2007
Had a very early wakeup call as we had to get to the airport. A very tricky start, severely hung over and struggling to get Lester to the airport and onto a flight. Bought 2 sandwiches to try sober us up for $20 and flew to Phoenix where we had to wait another 2 hours for our flight to Mexico. Got into our first-class seats which were rather nice – big comfy seats with endless drinks and snacks and a big lunch. Lester pretty much slept through it all while I drank coke continuously. Flying over Mexico City was a shock – absolutely massive and sprawling endless buildings and homes all looking a big dusty and grungy. Tried to hire a car at the airport but all were already out. Finally managed to secure a Dodge Stratus in gold which was big car with low suspension which would catch ever speedbump we went over (topas). We just got in the car and started driving North with no idea where we were heading as this was not a planned part of the trip. Drove to Pachuca, which was a big city and booked in at the Sahara Hotel for $450 for a night.
26/12/2007
Finally found our way out of Pachuca – very confusing road system. Drove through a few tiny towns where we stopped and ate cheese tortillas. And then drove to Teotihuacán – a holy city 50km North East of Mexico City, built between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D. Huge impressive temples and pyramids of ancient Mexico. Driving back toward Pachucan we took a rough shortcut and ended up in Actopan – a bit of a dump really (actually most of Mexico so far looks a little like a dump site – not at all pretty). Stopped at a gas station to ask about a hotel nearby (in my best Spanish) and was directed to a spot nearby – after checking in for “the whole night” wink wink. We discovered we were staying in a Brothel. Where you park your car outside your room you can pull a curtain to hide your car and enter the room which has no lock. The bed in the middle of the room is round with a very worn-out carpeted head board, dodgy looking linen, a bucket one side and a tissue dispenser on the other. The towels were torn and the furniture is bolted down and the door handles are sticky. After giving the handles a wipe down and getting out our sleeping bags to sleep in we get a knock on the door and are asked to move as the boss is in town and this is his room. So, we have to move to a worse room which is even stickier and more broken down. We went into town for food but couldn’t really understand what was available so ended up with spaghetti, chicken schnitzel, refried beans and tortillas. Back at the room I covered myself in bug spray, covered the pillow with a towel and got into my sleeping bag and drank a few beers to help the night pass easier. Also, to use the bottle as a warning system in case anyone entered our room once we were asleep. Middle of the night I was woken with load music, engines revving, and laughter. I hopped, in my sleeping bag, to the window to peak out and watched girls dancing in the windows, girls lying on cars and guys having a “party” with them. Holy moly!
27/12/2007
After a very interrupted sleep we got on the road asap on our way to San Miguel de Allende. We were told by someone we met in Nogales that this was a beautiful place to go so we were going to check it out. Stopped for lunch when we saw a sign for tortillas, which turned out to be a family home where we ate green chicken in the kitchen, out of a huge pot that had been sitting on the stove. Could not communicate so we ate in silence while they watched us – a bit uncomfortable. Got to San Miguel de Allende – a very pretty town. Booked into a lovely hotel for 3 nights here. We walked around the cobbled streets with colourful buildings and pretty entrances to restaurant courtyards. In the town square which was very pretty we had margaritas and beers and ate nachos with fresh guacamole dip. We walked around the town some more and found a bar with very friendly expat locals with whom we got very drunk on tequila, we danced and laughed and had a blast until they sent us home in a taxi. Most of the night is a blur but we had photos to tell the story.
28/12/2007
Got up very late, very hung over. Ate food at the square, watched a wedding going on at the church while we ate. A cowboy came into the square on his horse and was offering horse rides into the countryside so we decided to do this tomorrow, and then went home to bed. In the middle of the night there was a huge noise as a mariachi band started up some close to our window. We had a look out and some drunk guy had thought it a great idea to bring the band to play outside his girlfriends’ hotel window. As they started all the hotel guests came to the windows and he looked a little embarrassed. Haha.
29/12/2007
Woke early and had breakfast before going to meet our horse-riding crew. We drove out into the countryside for about an hour, past a pyramid and onto a ranch. Got allocated our horses and off we went. What an amazing ride! We rode into some very wild countryside, down into a canyon, through a river, galloping over the rocks and between huge cacti – absolutely beautiful. Got back to the ranch for lunch and then drove back to town. Had drinks at the square and went for dinner at our new “friends” from the other night’s restaurant. We got quite a lot of teasing for our wild behaviour on tequila night.
30/12/2007
Time to leave San Miguel to go to Guanajuato – a pretty town built on the side of a mountain with steep cobbled roads and tunnels from one part of the town to the next. We walked around, had a beer at a pretty town square and booked in at a hotel in walking distance from the main town seeing as we were here for New Year’s Eve party. We walked to the top of the hill to see the view of the city, walked over the hill to see another statue and got lost – eventually found our way back and went to the square for good food and beers. Went back to our room for a siesta before the big night out. Left our hotel at about 9.30 in the evening – so many people on the street but no one looked like they were going to a party. People were heading for the churches which were packed but the bars and restaurants were empty – not a sole around. Went to the square but everything was closed. Eventually found a pub with very load music and decorated tables like they were expecting a massive party so we got settled in at a table with some drinks to wait for the people to arrive. 12 o’clock came and still no sign of anyone. Lester went to the loo and while I sat on my own the barman came over and sprayed foam on me and handed me a blowy party pipe thingy so when Lester got back, he had a good laugh. We asked some young kids where everyone was and they said everyone celebrates at home with family after church. All very strange so we headed back to our hotel and tried to sleep through the sounds of fireworks and dogs barking all night.
01/01/2008
Drove to Morelia and then to Patzcuaro which we were told was beautiful – it was not. Stopped for a view of the lake but decided to leave and go back to Morelia which was quite pretty. Booked in to a beautiful expensive hotel on the hill with a view of the whole city and church towers. Bought some wine, ate dinner at the restaurant, and then went back to our stunning room with a fireplace and drank wine and played cards.
02/01/2008
Ate a yummy breakfast and left for the butterfly sanctuary. We had an awesome drive through the mountains and pine forests to the town of Ocampo and then turned into a really bad brick road with massive speed bumps (not good for our very low car) all the way to the start of the walk. We walked for about an hour up a mountain to 3300m high and there the trees were covered in Monarch butterflies. About a 100million butterflies fly here from Canada and USA for winter. Absolutely breath-taking but also a bit sad as there were so many squashed and dying on the ground. Coming back down the mountain we were running out of fuel so we did a fair amount of freewheeling to make it. We drove to Zitacuaro city where we stayed the night in a hotel. We walked around this manic little city looking for a bar or restaurant and found a place that served delicious tortillas with meat and chilli and had cokes while we walked. Mostly there were just an abundance of shops but not much else.
03/01/2008
We started heading back to Mexico City on a pretty road through the mountains and forests but soon the road became crazy with traffic and wild drivers overtaking on blind rises. The closer we got into the city the more crazy the traffic and street system got. We had to stop at a takeaway to see if we could find a coordinate to get us to the airport. Once we got there, we decided to book in at the airport hotel, which was the most expensive so far, and give the car back so we would have no stress in the morning. We had delicious snacks and drinks in the hotel bar overlooking the airstrip and a good night’s sleep.
04/01/2008
Off to Cuba after a delayed take-off due to heavy fog. Met up with Andrew and headed off to find a hotel on the water’s edge. The buildings are incredible – solid, decorative but rundown and broken. After mojitos at a bar near our hotel we headed into the main part of town where the bars and clubs are. We drank more mojitos, listened to a live Cuban band for a while and then went to another bar. Awesome and vibey but tiny, with a band and lots of dancing, more mojitos and cigars…such a fun night out.
05/01/2008
Woke up with a hangover but walked around Havana taking photos of the beautiful buildings and colourful old 50s taxis. Took a cute purple taxi to the baseball stadium to watch a game. Baseball is very popular here. After 3 attempts to buy local tickets, we finally had to buy the more expensive tourist tickets and sit alone in a special section for foreigners. In this section we could smoke cigars and had a net protecting us from any wayward balls. After the game we came back to the hotel to change and then headed out to a cabaret stopping for a few cocktails on route. The cabaret was very noisy and had a selection of old singers and bands doing old 50s numbers. We left after ½ hour and found another cabaret – this one was very upmarket but we just walked in and watched for a bit until Andrew decided to go to the front to take photos and we all got kicked out. We decided to head back to the bar area where we met a nice guy Remy Pablo who was a local that spoke good English and knew a lot. We had cigars and a few drinks with him and chatted.
06/01/2008
Up early feeling good. Hired a taxi to take us to Viñales about 2 and ½ hours from Havana – to experience a more traditional way of life in Cuba and see the tobacco region. Our taxi driver, Anester, has to log his trip in an official book with his fuel usage but the taxi drivers have ways to bypass the system. He only filled up with a little fuel – enough to get him to his uncle, there he fills up his tank from his uncle’s underground storage. This way when we pay him, he can keep the money because it is not logged. Viñales is a beautiful town surrounded by tobacco plantations and tall, rounded, green hills that rise abruptly from the flat plain. There are no hotels here so you stay with families in their homes. The first place we tried had no water so had had to close. Most only have 1 room to rent out and there is a maximum of 2 people per room so Andrew had to go find another house while we moved into Orcadia House. We had a big room with 2 beds and a bathroom. The family we stay with will do your washing, cook you dinner and breakfast for $20 per night for a room. We dropped our bags and went to the main square for a beer. We ended up staying very late, dancing and drinking with the locals who invited us to come and join their group – such fun and friendly people. At one stage the electricity went out and one of the girls just stood up and started singing – these Cubans really appear to love life.
07/01/2008
After a huge breakfast at our house, we hired bicycles and cycled 4km to the prehistoric park where a 120m mural of the evolution of life was painted by 20 farmers and took over 4 years to complete. We ate a massive lunch here of slow roasted pork and pina coladas. For the pina coladas they bring you the coconut drink and just put a full bottle of Rum on your table to help yourself. Rum is so cheap here but mixes are the more expensive thing. After lunch we took a taxi to Rubina’s Tobacco farm where the most expensive cigars are produced. We watched how the women roll cigars. That night, back in Viñales, we at dinner and had a few drinks.
08/01/2008
After another large breakfast cooked by our lovely hosts, we went on a bicycle tour. 1st to the Prehistoric place, then to a tobacco farm where the farmer grows, picks, hangs and dries the leaves and then rolls his cigars. He was quite a character, surrounded by chickens and happily going about his busy day. Bought some cigars and then had a longish cycle to the Indian caves where the slaves escaped to. We took a boat trip through the caves and had lunch. The return trip back to Viñales was long and uphill. More drinks, cigars and listening to music and then went with Andrew to his Casa where we chatted to his “family” and I played with a very cute little girl.
09/01/2008
Anester arrived to come pick us up. True to his word he drove back from Havana to Viñales to collect us and drive us to the airport in Havana. Andrew still had more time here and was moving on to another town. We are very sad to be leaving this special place. Such amazing people, such a beautiful country. I wish we had left more time for Cuba. At the airport we had another delay – 5 hours this time. By the time we got to Mexico City we were pretty tired. We checked in to the Airport hotel, had snacks and drinks in the bar and then early to bed.
10/01/2008
Woke at 4am to get to the airport for check-in. Had another 3 hour wait in their freezing airport before we could board our plane to go home.