Have you been to Cuba?
 

for those of you who's government doesn't outlaw visiting an island in the sun and having a good time :)

22 times:glugglug

I've been there a few times. Nice country but there really strict on internet and stuff there.

yeah, they have a poker tournament(hint, hint) every year in Cuba and Castero is always there. and if you beat him you don't make it off the island:(

I was thinking about going there this winter actually.. but finally decided on Costa Rica. :thumbsup

I'm going this year.

hmm, where are you from?

cool, the thought of that crossed my mind too.. has got to be beautiful.

Bring an extra $25k to cover the fine by the US Treasury Department for spending money in Cuba without its permission.

yeah, i still can't believe that,

Caribbean is a lot nicer. eastern caribbean is my second home:2 cents:

is it true that locals there dont wipe their ass...?

care you trying to be funny?

bullshit

to reply to topicstarter, I've been there many many times many years ago. Luckily US restrictions donhaha180;t apply to me cause I am no US citizen... :)

and you feel lucky? US is best :glugglug

:1orglaugh america is amazingly entertaining at least..

Yeah their denial is amazing anyways. :1orglaugh

The food is very bad and limited (they have other problems I guess)

The landscape is VERY nice., very green like in a jungle. Too bad I waited untill the last day before we rented a bycicle and moved away from the coast a bit

For internet we took a bus to havanna then went to one of the 2-3 hotels there offering internet per hour. Those hotels were also the only places to get some newspapers

I would not recommend to stay in Havanna all the time, rather stay at the beach in a small village near to Havanna, along a bus line, then take the bus for a city trip every 2nd day or so. It is easier to get good food like vegetables, fruits, chicken and fish in those small cities

Very proud people but especially in havanna you can sense the hidden poverty and now and then there are people trying to approach you with something although it seems to be strictly forbidden judging by the way they do it

i have never been to cooba

but they make some kickass cigar's :rasta

can you recommend a nice town, that's not too touristy but still safe?

not a joke.. some people I know lived there for couple of months and that is what they said...

only island i have been to is barbados our grandfather use to own a hotel there before he passed

you must have interesting friends, if that is all they had to say about cuba

No, but I've been to Mozambique - beat that :)

I forgot the name of the city we are at, this was 3 or 4 years ago

But it should be safe everywhere. There is a police guy standing at every corner throughout the whole country and taking notes - literally.

If you are into adventures, I'd just book a flight to havanna, and for the first night there a private room through internet

Once there, you can find your way into a better place in Havanna by just asking other tourists on the streets downtown. There are nice clean large rooms in huge old private villas downtown, ran by foreigners i.e. argentinians, for rent for about $30 (for 2 people combined, not each)

After a few days we went to a small town a 40 min bus ride from Havanna, at the coast. A favorite vacation area for the locals, I need to ask my GF about the name later

We had the half of a very clean double-villa with garden there, about 300 feet from the ocean. It was the most luxury house in that city as far as I could see. If only I could remember the bus line #. You could see the house when leaving the bus at the bus stop.

The owners were kinda priviledged I guess with that kind of house. They had one half and we the other half of the house, with half of the garden, a bedroom, a kitchen with everything, a living room.


They are allowed to privately rent out rooms and to run restaurants with up to 12 places or so, since about 4-5 years. You'll have no problem finding a place to stay. For $30 you can get very nice places and shitty ones. The food in those private restaurants isn't very good imho

The fine is 10,000, and personally I think it would be worth the price of the trip to go before it commercializes and turns into something else.

Younger and middle aged people there really love t-shirts with something printed on them. There are virtually no commercials there on buildings or clothing. Thus it kinda stands out and is valued as luxury or whatever.



I just remembered that, the first time when we went to that big hotel nacional or whatever the name was, in havanna, I went to one of the 3-4 internet cabins and the guy before me had left his last page open, and it was a maxcash porn site :1orglaugh

nah, it's not just Castro, most people who live there are still behind the revolution. Someone will take his place when he dies, they won't bow to the west ever. :2 cents:

Once a rational US president makes peice with that and lifts the sancations, they could pull themselves out of poverty without getting involved with the World Bank and going commercial.

I go at least once a year, the family loves it.

Isn't there a possibility of jail time for visiting Cuba?

Agree:thumbsup

All the cities are safe in Cuba.

As for the US government, if you go through another country, you have no problems. Fly to Mexico, or the Bahamas, and spend a night or 2 then fly to cuba. The Cubans WILL NOT stamp your passport. Then fly back to mexico or the Bahamas, and stay another night.

If the us asks where you have been, you tell them in the country you are departing from. Mexico or Bahamas. They will never know that you went. And once you leave the US it is none of their fucking business where you go to.

Just DO NOT TRY TO USE a credit card. Then they will know.

As for a nice small town, go to Baracoa. It is the first city founded in cuba. It is really nice.

As for the guy that said there is no food. WTF?? If you mean for the people, then you are partially correct. There is food. You just need the cash to buy it. And if you are a tourist, which you would be, there is more food than you will know what to do with.

I would go but I understand that there is no internet at all there? What about even AOL dialup?

I didn't say there is NO food. A lot of things are quite different in cuba compared to your typical vacation location. One of them is DEFINATELY food. Not only is the selection quite limited, the restaurants aren't quite up to par regarding quality. I am not complaining about it, in fact I mentioned that they obviously have other problems. But to make it sound as if the food/restaurant issue is no different then from let's say mexico, jamaica, france, greece, florida is quite ignorant, with all due respect. No make that VERY ignorant

Of course if you're fine with eating in the hotel all the time, or eating crappy unhealthy snacks in the tourist areas, you may see no difference. I was merely hinting that cuba is not the gourmet's paradise, quite the contrary actually, quite...

how would they know? go to canada then buy tickets to cooba

I have to basically agree with http about the food, it's not what people are used to from places like Mexico. It takes some getting used to.

Donkey burgers are a little gamey.


True, but some may not want to risk it.

Just be smart and don't use any cards or your cell phone and you'll be fine.

Not from what I've found in research. An attorney friend of mine went last summer on one of the last sponsored "educational" trips and while she certainly wasn't advocating anything illegal, pornguy's advice was an idle thought on her part to me... ;)

There's nothing that prohibits Americans from going to Cuba as far as I know, we are simply not allowed to spend any money in the country without prior State Department approval.

I've been wanting to go for years now and every year something always comes up. I had half a thought to go when I was in Miami this past week after the show, but with the storm damage throughout the area, once again, no dice. :(

dont wanna go while it is still a dictatorship, I have seen to many horror stories about going and being put in jail and not being able to get out