[LA HABANA] Budget and Itinerary

FRIDAY: 17 June 2016

Tourist Card (Cuban Embassy) - 25.00

Interjet (Mexico City - Havana - Mexico City) - 424.27

Interjet (Rebooking Fees) - 104.99

Airbnb (2 Nights) - 35.00

USD589.26

Airport Taxi (Airport - Old Havana) - 25.00

Restaurante Los Tres Chinitos (Arroz Frito Tres Chinitos + Water x2) - 6.05

CUC31.05

[HAVANA] Too Hot in Cuba

My Airbnb host said that his friend, a surgeon, earns CUC 50 (~PHP 2,350), and I wondered how do you survive with that amount of money for four weeks. But then again, locals transact in CUP, which makes their expenses considerably cheaper. And then I told him that the Cuban government must be cracking down on Airbnb. If he was earning CUC 15 a day (x30 days), that means he must be getting an equivalent of USD 450 (~PHP 21,150) a month if his place is fully booked. But he said that Airbnb is legit in Havana.

[MATANZAS] Budget and Itinerary

SATURDAY: 18 June 2016

Viazul (Havana - Varadero - Havana) - 20.00

USD20.00

Toilet (Viazul Office) - 0.25

Restaurante La Casa de Miel (Scrambled Egg w/Bacon + Sandwich + Milk x2) - 6.25

Beach (Reclining Chair) - 2.00

Beach (Mineral Water 1.5L) - 2.00

Restaurante La Casa de Miel (Beef Steak + Cola) - 5.30

CUC15.80

[VARADERO] Varadero Verdadero

The taxi driver in Havana won’t shut up about Varadero. CANCÚN? NAH, Varadero is the best beach in the world. Wow, such pride. I’m from the Philippines, Grandpa. I’m pretty hard to convince when it comes to awesome beaches. But he was right to some extent. I mean, I am not raving about Varadero, but I did enjoy my stay there anyway. To me it seemed more like Boracay but without the crowd and the party people. It was chill like that. The sand is white and the water is clear. Picture perfect, it was indeed.

[HAVANA] Too Hot for Cuba

After the visa issue that left me a hundred dollars poorer, I finally managed to get on a plane and add that pink immigration stamp to the collection on my passport. Or so I thought. I was stopped by the nurses at the immigration counter because their thermal scanners thought I was so hot. I wasn’t flattered because I felt literally hot, and with a bad case of sore throat. Maybe I indeed took home the Zika as a souvenir from Guatemala a week ago. Really, Cuba? After that visa stunt, now you think I’m too hot for you?

[VISA] Cuba (Tourist Card)

What happened is that a week or so before my flight, the Cuban government changed their regulations regarding the tourist card. The norm before is that you only needed to get one at the airline counter right before your flight. The rule change came in the form of a list of countries that are no longer eligible for that, and that list includes the Philippines. Basically, you are still getting the same tourist card, but with the seal of the Cuban embassy at the back. In my case, it was the Cuban embassy in Mexico City.