How Cuba Works, Part 1

The dual-currency system makes the island of Cuba one of the most expensive destinations in the Caribbean, but precisely because two currencies exist it's possible to choose one rather than the other. The tourists' currency is the Convertible Peso, which follows the Dollar: 1 Convertible Peso = 1 Dollar. All the prices you'll find are European prices, with the difference that Cuba is a Third World country! So how can it be as expensive as Italy or France? And how do Cubans manage to live with those prices? Because Cubans use the other currency, the Cuban Peso or Moneda Nacional, where it takes 24 Cuban Pesos to make 1 Convertible. There's no problem at all in using the dual currency as a tourist, the moneda nacional can be bought at any cadeca. Cuba may well be one of the cheapest countries in the world if you know how to move around.

Unfortunately some goods, including basic necessities, can only be bought with the Convertible Peso, and this applies to Cubans too, so either a Cuban has convertibles or he can't buy certain things. This is one of the reasons that pushes Cubans to have a negocio, that is, a more or less illegal activity that lets them "top up" the ten dollars or so they earn monthly in wages. Among the various extra activities there's also that of cheating tourists in a thousand ways, using the only weapon at their disposal: cunning.

Means of transport

Viazul: a bus company with air conditioning and a television on board. It leaves exactly at the scheduled time. You pay in convertibles and it's expensive. Never taken it.

Astro: the bus company used mostly by Cubans. Usually two seats are reserved for foreign tourists on each bus, but they can become four without a problem since the tourists pay in convertibles. To get on the Astro you have to show your identity document and the passport number or the identity card number of the resident Cuban is written on the ticket, so that the Cuban pays, for example, 10 pesos in the national currency and the foreigner pays, again for example, 5 convertibles, which would be 120 pesos, for the same journey! On the Astro you usually don't see many tourists and you may be the only foreigners on board, and you can make interesting acquaintances and see some curious things. Many of these buses are real wrecks!

Camiones: at the moment there are problems with travelling on the trucks; for safety reasons (road accidents) tourists aren't supposed to get on them, so if the truck driver recognises you he won't let you on, or he agrees in exchange for a few dollars, which in principle you don't pay! Why pay the equivalent of 100 pesos when the price is 5 pesos? To get on the camiones anyway, paying the right price, you have to blend in, that is, look like a Cuban, and it's not difficult at all; after a bit of a tan, just avoid little hats, flashy t-shirts, typical shorts and trendy travel bags, in short..

don't look like a tourist! Dress in jeans and scruffy t-shirts, always ask who's last in the queue, find out from the passengers how much the ride costs, take a number in case numbers are handed out for boarding, prepare the exact money, don't talk and don't look the truck driver in the face when you pay, jump on the truck and stay quiet until it leaves. The journey on the camiones, which resemble the troop-transport trucks of the Second World War, is an unforgettable experience, you bounce and jump at every pothole, and on top of that you see and learn a huge amount...

The camiones leave from the terminal de omnibus from 5 in the morning onwards and only connect with the nearby town and the various pueblos in the area; they don't do long routes, only short ones Some current prices: Cienfuegos-Cumanayagua 5pesos; Cienfuegos-Trinidad 5p.; Camaguey-Santa Cruz del Sur 7p; Camaguey-Las Tunas 10p.; Las Tunas-Bayamo 5p.; Bayamo-Santiago 7p.. If you want, it's possible to cross the island on a couple of euros! Just for comparison: the Astro from Habana to Cienfuegos costs 14 Convertibles, that is 336pesos!

Train: I took the train twice and it was wonderful, from Santiago to Camaguey, and it left an hour late because... the locomotive was missing, but still a good trip. The other train from Camaguey to Santa Clara cost 9C, corresponding to 216pesos; a Cuban going from Camaguey to La Habana pays 17 pesos!

Hitchhiking: on the ring roads of the cities, where the bigger roads intersect, it's possible to get a free hitchhike, so it can help to recognise car number plates: the first letter indicates the province the vehicle belongs to and therefore probably its destination too. (H=Habana - F=Cienfuegos - S= S.Spiritus - C=Camaguey - T=Tunas - G =Granma - U=Santiago, etc.) yellow plates are auto particular, private cars, blue ones are state-owned.

A different thing worth trying is getting a ride with the amarillo: the amarillo is a man dressed in yellow who, just outside the cities, stops all the vehicles he knows and gets people who need a ride to board; in practice, a driver travelling alone or with a free seat in his car is obliged to stop and pick up, free of charge, one or more people who need a ride! From Santa Clara to Habana using the amarillo costs 3 pesos, you take a number and wait for someone to pass that way; when your turn comes the first available car stops and takes you as far as the requested town...

Few thieves but many sly ones:

Cuba is the only Latin American country where you can walk down any street in complete peace, including isolated, off-the-tourist-trail lanes...at night! Apart from a few neighbourhoods of Habana where muggings and robberies are possible, the security and the control the police exercise over the whole island really do make a tourist's stay in Cuba safe. But where armed crime can't reach, intelligence, cunning, deception and fraud do. You can read 50 pages on how certain Cubans cheat tourists, but only once you're out in the field do you learn (by making mistakes) how to become craftier than them!

Restaurants: a very high percentage of restaurants, bars and paladares cheat tourists! How? -- Don't ask for the price list: basically you'll be fleeced. The waiter comes over and lists everything there is to eat and drink. Stop him at once and, very politely, ask for the list; whether it's a bar for a soft drink, a paladar or any restaurant, they're obliged to show the price list. -- Not checking the bill: a serious mistake, because 99% of the time it contains an error... in their favour! Prices are inflated compared to the menu, or dishes you didn't eat are added.... always jot down on a piece of paper what you take with its price, then work out the total yourself and check it.