Las flores de la vida

Las Terrazas
the valley of Viñales
Viñales village
Pinar del Rio

Quick Tips:

Let me start by saying that staying in hotels isn't the best way to visit Cuba. I've spend only two weeks in Cuba and that was enough to notice that the service in the hotels wasn't good and most the personnel wasn't motivated to make your journey more comfortable. Almost every hotel is owned by the government and if something is broken there's this mentality that you have to make a telephone call to Fidel to have it fixed (as a matter of speaking). Therefore I would advise everybody who is planning to make a trip through Cuba to look for casas particulares - private houses - because that probably is the ideal way to gain more insight into the country and its people. These casas particulares operate like guesthouses, with propietors renting out rooms in their home for private income (look out for the state-issued stickers - a blue triangle on a white background). I'll go seek them if I ever retun to Cuba and maybe I will, because two weeks didn't gave me enough time to absorb everything I saw.

Best Way To Get Around:

He has one room with double bed and private bathroom. It all looked very clean and above all, it is right in the centre of the city. Leon told us it was 15 USD for the room, breakfast included. You can also have an excellent diner (delicious lobster with fresh vegetables) for only 7 USD per person.

Along the winding road into Viñales village lays this elegant colonial-style, pink with blue hotel. It is settled in an unbeatable hillside location with stunning views of the most photographed section of the valley. Therefore it is said that it's one of the best located and most attractive hotels in Cuba. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony of our room looking at both the sunrise as well as the sunset. The panoramic view was incredibly beautiful and colourful.

The valley of Viñales is very amazing. It's one of the most outstanding and attractive areas in Cuba. The limestone pinnacles that have been eroded into bizarre surreal shapes are impressive. The Viñales valley is an outstanding karst landscape in which traditional methods of agriculture (notably tobacco growing) have survived unchanged for several centuries.

Although there are not so many hotels in this area, we had the opportunity to stay in Los Jazmines along the winding road into Viñales village. This elegant colonial-style, pink with blue hotel is settled in an unbeatable hillside location with stunning views of the most photographed section of the valley. Therefore it is said that it's one of the best located and most attractive hotels in Cuba. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony of our room looking at both the sunrise as well as the sunset. The panoramic view was incredible beautiful and colourful. Mountains encircle the fertile valley, and its landscape is interspersed with dramatic rocky outcrops. These unique maggots or boulder-like hills were formed during the Jurassic period through a process of erosion. I was also lucky to see the smallest bird in the world, the zunzuncito or bee hummingbird. It's fascinating how they hover on rapidly beating wings to extract the nectar from flowers.
Early in the morning you can see vaqueros, Cuban cowboys who roam over the red earthen tracks with their horse and straw hat. Probably on the way to the indigenous constructions known as casas del tabaco, or triangular tobacco huts that the valley lodges. These drying sheds are covered with palm leafs for moisture and coolness. It is not surprising that this area produces the best tobacco in the world!

Viñales town, located in the valley itself, still preserves the traditional scenery of a peasants settlement represented by its main street, columns in both sides and houses with red tiled roofs and with a unique and pleasant appearance. The laid-back atmosphere and the diminutive size turn Viñales into a quiet and peaceful village with absolutely no kind of hassle. Luckily, it has not been particulary developed for tourism. There are not many restaurants and no offical accommodation. At the moment we were wondering where we were gonna eat that evening, we got this address of a casas particulares by a word of mouth. We were full of the traditional black beans and rice, Moros y Cristianos (as being served just about everywhere) and therefore we were very enthousiastic to go and look for that place. And because it is said that you can get the best food in the private houses of course... As it was illegal for houseowners to serve food to people not staying in the house, most will do it anyway if you are 'discreet' about it. We've got some delicious lobster with fresh vegetables and advocados for only 7 USD per person. So if you're planning to visit Viñales maybe this could be a perfect place for you to stay (Nelson Leon, Calle Camilo Cienfuegos No. 4). We also saw the double bedroom with private bathroom and it all looked very clean and above all, it is right in the centre of the city. Leon told us it was 15 USD for the room, breakfast included.

Sitting on a bench on the lazy little main square, which hosts all of the noteworthy buildings, or in an outdoor café upon Salvador Cisnero is an excellent way to spend your afternoon. Enjoying the beauty of life just like the people of Viñales when they rock backwards and forwards in the rocking chairs on their porch! Sometimes I wondered if the Cuban people have the same idea on the concept of 'freedom of life' as I do?

I already mentioned that tobacco is an intrinsic part of Cuban culture. Tobacco farming and cigar smoking are nonetheless closely linked with the history and spirit of Cuba. Therefore we went to Pinar del Rio to visit the diminutive cigar factory Fábrica de Tobacos Francisco Donatién, probably the most important highlight of this little town. Who am I, as a non-smoker, to talk about cigars but anyway, this factory is home to Vegueros cigars, a lesser-known brand but well respected amongst connoisseurs. A cosy atmosphere dominates the intimate, non-mechanized workshop. You get an insight into the care and skill involved in producing some of the world's finest cigars. You can witness the continuation of the tradition, which began in the nineteeth century. While a compañero reads out articles from a newspaper or novel, tabaqueros sit at wooden desks rolling and cutting tabacco into shape. After the cigars are approved they'll be banded and boxed. Beware of the harassment because a lot of people will try to sell you a box of cigars, even within the factory itself.
The most prestigious cigar brand nowadays is the Cohiba, a name given to a tobacco plant by the indigenous islanders. After it was introduced in 1968, Cohiba quickly became the flagship brand of the Cuban cigar industry. Developed initially as a medium bodied protocol cigar for presentation only by officials of the Cuban government, Cohiba was marketed widely beginning in 1982. The Cohibas undergo a unique triple flavor-enhancing period of fermentation and the Cohiba Esplendido became the most exclusive cigar brand in the world. Other well-known brands are: the Trinidad, Castro's favorite, a light cigar full of flavor, the Monte Cristo, considered the premium until Cohiba was created and then the cigar named after the lovers in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo y Julieta. The brand is traditionally credited with the introduction of the Churchill shape in honour of the British statesman Winston Churchill.