Vinales

Photos to be added later. After lunch we left Havana to head to Vinales. We left the city via the seafront and then passed through lush countryside. I missed some of this as I dozed off.
We stopped an route at Soroa to see an orchid garden. Here we had to ask for loos only to discover that those in  the garden were closed and we had to visit a local hotel. Here we bought our internet cards with the hope of some communication. I and others parted from the garden guide who was very loud and slow. The garden was pretty but unremarkable  and the orchid  collection was small. I have seen better in  Costa Rica , but I managed a small sketch of something quite attractive. 

The next part of our journey took us into a mountainous area with beautiful landscapes. We stopped at a viewpoint for a drink with the valley and mountains stretched before us.

 Then in a short time arrived in Vinales, a small town of around 20,000  inhabitants and a grid system of streets, comprising one main commercial street and  two more residential streets running parallel. The town is surrounded by farms, mainly tobacco producing. The main street turned out to be full of bars and restaurants, and a main income is tourism. Many of the houses are turned into casas offering self contained accommodation for tourism, something that has been government funded but also raises taxes. These are simple but well appointed. Ours was in a separate block with three double rooms and a veranda with rocking chairs, and we ate breakfast on the patio of the family home.  Everything was very professionally organised. Our host was called Ria and had a little boy of about four who chatted away about his bike and riding a horse!

On the first evening I went out for a drink in the tapas bar with Alison, good white wine and olives. We had both had enough of being organised in a group  by this time. Alison managed to connect to the internet but not me! We returned home via the patisserie  where I had a small muffin and hot chocolate.  I am generally having two proper meals and a snack per day which is sufficient in this climate and when travelling about.
Monday's programme is a walk and I opted not to join the salsa and Spanish lessons. Have done those! Alison agrees. I am sure our guide wants everyone to participate  but it's my holiday and I will do the things I enjoy. He is a bit controlling,.
Our group of five had a wonderful spread at breakfast. Juice, fruit, pancakes and jelly, eggs, cheese, ham and bread! The eggs were  very tasty and fresh. The following morning we saw a bag hanging on the patio with a chicken in, I expect ready for a future meal.
We met our guide for our walk at 9am and were handed over to Abel, our local guide. In the plaza, where internet was still not available to me, the local dogs and tour groups were gathering. We went on a walk about, around the ,local fields and farms where we saw a lot of horse riding by both locals and tourists,  and visited various stages of the tobacco farming.

In the first barn, we saw the leaves  at various stages of the drying process and  in  the second we saw how a cigar is made. There was an opportunity to try and buy but I did neither.  Albert would have been in his element. All of the work in hand done and the farms appear not to have much mechanisation

We walked through the little settlements and saw many pretty little houses including one with a reed roof and veranda. We stopped at a little cafe where rum based drinks were the main offer with no coffee and drinks without alcohol, the same price! However it was possible to buy a plastic container of roasted coffee beans or even to pick a few marijuana leaves off a bush in the field.

At the end of the walk we returned to the town and Alison and I had a salad lunch, I ordered an Americano in the absence of a cappuccino and paid more for the milk than for the coffee.  Sometimes only black coffee is available.
This afternoon I walked to the end of the town to visit the botanical gardens; it was a small but friendly setup and had been founded by two sisters and is now run as a charity.  There was a short guided tour, an offer of fresh fruit and an opportunity to sit in the cafe which I availed myself of and drank a guanabana juice, a local fruit which tasted a bit like lychee. I didn't find any painting inspiration, so explored the rest of the town, the bookshops, markets and tourist shops.  There was little choice  of items to purchase, Che Guevara  memorabilia and hat's, wooden goods and fridge magnets, all rather uninspiring.  I had another attempt at communications and got my tablet to connect.

When I returned to the casa, I got ready for dinner, where we went  to Finca Paraiso, which had been established in the  crisis, and had increased gaining world heritage status for its organic production and community work.we had splendid fresh food with views of the sunset over the mountains.