Now I wish I had spent the time to complete this report on our Cuban trip on our return, as my memory of the event's details is starting to fade away.
I remember the 5th day of cycling as fairly easy and short in comparison with the previous days. Also, we were much rewarded as the last few kilometres were along a narrow peninsula, with a striking blue sea on both sides of the road, and a bright sunshine above our head. But let's start with the beginning ...
There were a few hills, of course, as the photo below shows, but luckily, we cycled this particular one down :D
The landscape was gorgeous again and the vegetation luxuriant.
We were hopeful that pine trees meant that the sea was not too far away by then.
The contrasting colours of the land, vegetation and sky were striking, and so beautiful...
The sea!!! The sea!!! The sea!!!
(if you carefully look at the horizon)
This was wonderful news. What? We even SMILED pedalling uphill!!! This meant the end of the hard pedal-pushing challenge under the burning sunshine and the beginning of the much deserved and awaited sun-bathing and relaxing afternoon.These were the last hills before reaching the coastal flat grounds.
Look at the smile on our face!!!
Below is a village where most of us took the wrong turn. We soon realised that the road was not going to lead us to the beach, so we asked the locals for our way. It turned out that it was actually (very badly!) sign-posted.
There are 2 official currencies in Cuba. The Convertible Peso (CUC), which is exchangeable 1 for 1 with the US Dollar and to be used by non-resident only, and the Cuban Peso (CUP), which not exchangeable and must not leave the country, and is used by the locals. There are shops where you can buy things only in CUP, and others where you can pay in CUC. Officially locals are not supposed to own CUC, but people in contact with tourism will obviously be delighted to receive CUCs, as their value is much higher than CUC. One of the group leader got hold of a 3 CUP bank note, the most prized by tourists (like us!) as it features Che Guevara.
We saw a few fields of tiny mango trees. From the road, we were not quite sure what they were. For a moment we even believed they were hemp.
Just before reaching the peninsula, we gathered altogether for a last water stop. There was a guard post. The duty of the guards is to control that no Cuban passes this point, the government fearing that some people may escape by swimming across to Mexico. I don't recall them checking for passports but I think they asked for the number of people going, etc... Our Cuban guides were authorised to come with us, but they may have had to leave their name & address or something. I wish I had asked them the question at the time.
We gathered under a big mango tree for a group photo before the last few miles of our journey.
And there it was, the cherished sea, with a dream-like island surrounded by white sand...
Cycling along this peninsula was like being in a dream, literally. It was surreal, out-of-this-world, magic!
And after a few kilometres of this dreamworld cycling, we arrived at the beach, and hugged and congratulated each other on our exploit. There were some laughs, some tears, and anything in-between, it was quite an emotional moment for some!
And Charlotte made another very touching speech. (note that she is already wearing her flip-flops, ready for the beach)
After a few group photos, we were very quick to grap our lunch pack from Chino, a refreshment from the beach bar (yes, even such a remote place had a bar, and there was almost nobody else but us on the beach), and lied down on our beach towels.It became overcast after a few hours and as it started to rain, we jumped on the bus, on our way to our hotel in Viñales (yes, hotel, so much luxury was awaiting us).
Last glance at the beach...
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