Sunday, April 10, 2011

Matanzas, Cuba

Matanzas, Cuba by Barrybar
Matanzas, Cuba, a photo by Barrybar on Flickr.

This city was a big challenge for me. First, I couldn't find the hostel for which I was searching, but a generous woman took me to her place, consulted her husband, and I spent the next four days with them. He gave me his bed, because I think the floor was better for his back.

Then I ran out of money. You don't want to run out of money in Cuba because your credit card is worth nothing, and, thanks to a US 50-year-old embargo against the island, you cannot call home either because no agency will send the money. Running out of money in my travels is something that has happened too often: in Sao Paulo, in Beijing, in Cuba about 4 times. As a matter of fact, returning home from the carnival in Salvador, Brasil, I was allowed to leave the airport without paying the airport tax. And I am sure there were many other countries but they escape my memory at the moment.

[28 June 2007]

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