Viñales

When visiting Cuba, it seems rich world tourists all do the same three things: tour the capital city of Havana; visit the charming colonial town of Trinidad; and commune with nature in the beautiful valley of Viñales. Trinidad and Viñales are each about a three-hour drive from Havana — one to the west and the other one east.

While we could have more efficiently hired a taxi to drive us to Vinales, we wanted to experience the local bus. The bus ride was comfortable, but getting a ticket and dealing with the bus station would have been frustrating without the help of our local guide.

A ritual for tourists in Vinales is to taxi to a hotel on the ridge and “watch the sun go down.” But rather than watching the sun disappear, we actually watched the valley to the east as the light got all warm and beautiful. Knowing we’d be riding through this valley — so famed for its tobacco — the next day on horseback as we sipped our Cuba Libres was a nice way to cap the day.

Viñales is quite touristy. It has two main business streets and countless little eateries and places renting out rooms. With the arrival of each bus from Havana, locals who rent rooms gather to meet tourists with reservations…or to snare those without to fill empty rooms.

Our B&B in Vinales was a thriving little business for our industrious host family. The rooms were comfy, and the roosters were alarm clocks.

Photo: The Travelphile

In Viñales, it seemed the locals were already expert at running their small businesses. Our B&B hosts served memorable breakfasts and dinners on their rooftop. During one dinner, before Trish could dig into her soup, a little frog leaped into her bowl.

The tourist industry is pretty humble in Cuba. One street in Vinales is closed to traffic and filled with tiny stalls and tables filled with handmade souvenirs. For $1 to $4 each, you could have your pick of Cuban baseballs, maracas, finely carved Christmas ornaments, inlaid boxes, and kitschy Revolution stuff and Che Guevara knickknacks.

My son Andy loves to get a haircut in distant lands. Here, he grabbed a seat in the outdoor barber shop and said “Cuba style, please.” (Andy left us a bit early to fly directly to Europe for this semester’s study abroad tour season. His company, Weekend Student Adventures, offers great three-day weekends for American students in Europe.)