Viñales

José Martí (led the war for independence)

& Che Guevara (helped bring Castro to power)

I shot this at the rum factory, but it's everywhere.

SÁbado, el 1 de Abril…

Up early. Egg salad sandwiches for breakfast, then off to Hotel Parque Central to meet our tour group at 7:30. Folks from at least a dozen countries, most of which I’ve forgotten (but Ireland, Greece, Germany, Costa Rica & Switzerland were among them). Totally modern tour bus (AC!) and a great guide. Viñales (valley & town) is located in the most western of Cuba’s provinces, and it took a couple hours to get there, which was fine. We made friends immediately with a Swiss retiree, and the 3 of us had plenty to chat about whenever our guide wasn’t talking. I’ll let my pics explain the day.

Hamming (beefing?) it up for the tourists.

Guayabita may be rum, or it may be a
liqueur - whichever, it's only made in this
 one small factory. Exclusivo? ¡Si!

Rock mural (evolution of man) at the park where we had a nice sit-down lunch.
It's also a climbing wall.

Last stop was a tobacco farm/factory.

Boat ride through caverns.

Valle de Viñales, jewel of the Pinar del Rio Province.

BlogThoughts... Lonely Planet guide to Cuba describes Valle de Viñales as "a stunning national park blessed by fertile rust-red soil, layered in chartreuse green expanses of tobacco plantations and studded by precipitous limestone buttresses of rock. It offers Cuba’s very best hiking, climbing, caving and vistas, based around the tranquil farming town of Viñales on the edge of the park. This is Cuba at its most alluring." That may be a bit hyberbolic, but the trip was a nice break from the city. I was also fun to chat with folks from so many other parts of the world. Cuba is very popular. (There are also high end resorts on white beaches not far from Havana, but that's not the real Cuba.)