Today was a 7-hour bus trip to the regional town of Sancti Spiritus located 380 kilometres ((240 miles) from Havana. Thankfully it was on one of the air-conditioned Transtur tourist coaches and not the local service, busted arse Toyota coaster or mini-van.
The trip was broken up with regular breaks along the way including lunch at Pia Cua where they are apparently known for their Cubano sandwiches. For $5 USD you got two pieces of grilled bread, a piece of dry cold roast pork, a slice of lettuce, tomato and cheese with a choice of ketchup, mustard, HP or Worcestershire sauces. The sandwich was nothing like the Cubano sandwiches I came to love and enjoy in Little Havana in Miami.
From there it was about an hour’s drive to the mausoleum of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, just outside the town of Villa Clara. Che was the Argentine born doctor who became one of the heroes of the Cuban revolution and right hand man to Fidel Castro. Of interest was how passionate our guide was in telling the story of Che, in which he was literally brought to tears.
We managed to walk the oldest bridge in Cuba, that crosses the Rio Yayabo and continued on foot to our stop for the night – Sancti Spriritus.
We had an unscheduled last minute change in hotels, due to the original not having any water. This saw us freshen up at our new digs at the Hotel Plaza before heading for a meal at Meson de la Plaza. A little further research in my Best Cuban Mojito endeavours back at the hotel rounded off a great day. Whilst there, I noticed the bar doing a roaring trade in selling Havana Club rum by the litre bottle for $3 USD to passing traffic. The doorman was even in on the action as he was ferrying rum to cars or motorbike parked at the footpath.
