Heart of Havana: Part 4 – Collectivos Cuban Transport
Cuba is a strange country, a fascinating juxtaposition of old and new, of colonialism, socialism, and at the cusp of capitalism.
Viazul Bus Station – Navigating Public Transport
Further down, turning into Protestantes and Calle 26, we walked more than a kilometer to the bus station of Viazul.
There was a long line in the Viazul office.
Most of us were hoping for a chance to buy tickets despite being told they’re sold out.
A couple of girls ahead of us, from California, were headed to Trinidad. They decided to come back at the station tomorrow to get a collectivo to Trinidad. They were there to book a return ticket to Havana — found out Jan 4th was booked out and they got tickets for the 3rd, a day early. Fluent in Spanish, one of them helped us with the counter lady.
The Viazul bus to Cienfuegos was 20CUC, plus it would have cost us 10CUC getting to the station from our casa, and then in Cienfuegos, another 10CUC from the station to the next casa.
Mr Cowboy continued to be in the line, we finally had our chance, but the cashier said everything’s sold out to Cienfuegos, even the return to Havana on the 4th of Jan. Mr Cowboy and I thought, that’s a big risk, but we decided, fuck it, we’ll just go ahead. We’ll figure out a way to come back.
Collectivos – The Best Way to Get Around
I talked to one of the taxi drivers while Mr Cowboy continued to queue.
“Puede, voy a Cienfuegos..y cuanto cuesta?”
He asked for how many “Dos personas.” I said.
“Trenta ca da persona.” I thought that’s a great deal! That included pick-up directly from the casa.
Mr Cowboy was ok so I went ahead to organize the pick-up for Jan 2. Not ideal, but instead of 7 or 7.30am a pick-up, the driver said, 9.30- am would be the earliest. The good thing is that it would only take 3hrs to Cienfuegos by collectivo, instead of the 4hrs by bus.
One of the guys outside the station asked if we needed taxi for the town. We did — back to San Rafael. 10 CUC as usual. Chatted him up and asked if he would do Cienfuegos on 2 Jan and how much. (I just wanted to check the going rate aside from 30CUC). He said it would be around 25 CUC each, but he’s not available, he’s headed for Sta. Clara. He did give us his card, he told us to give him a call on the 4th of Jan, he’ll find us a taxi to get us back to Havana from Cienfuegos — 25 CUC each. Well, that’s hopeful!
Before we left, Mr Cowboy managed to buy a bottle of Rum at the store next to the station, for us to bring to the NYE CS party. It’s so cheap, it cost only 4.50 CUC.
Havana’s Double Economy
On a side note, I asked the two Cali girls, “what’s the highlight for you in Cuba so far”, as they said they’ve been around over last 4 days.
“More questions.” One of them replied.
“What do you mean?” I asked. She explained everything’s a bit different (and lots of contrast). The other said she’s still in awe. They stayed with a family friend so they had insight into day to day life of Cubans.
I asked them about the “groceries” or markets where I saw signs saying “Viva Revolucion”. I suspected there were places run by the government, and then there were private businesses. A double economy of socialism and capitalism.
One of them said that the family has a ration for a month from the government.
“To buy?” I asked. “No, for free.”
But of course, not enough so they still have to buy more supplies from the free enterprise economy. I would have thought that otherwise how would restaurants run their businesses? On top of that, they also run with two different currencies of different values against the dollar, the CUC and the CUP.
Cuba is a strange country, a fascinating juxtaposition of old and new, of colonialism, socialism, and at the cusp of capitalism… of a highly conservative society yet glaring sexually confident women in tight mini-skirts. It is unlike any Latino country I’ve been to before.
