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Perhaps no words can better describe the country of Cuba than the verses of To Huu:
"Halfway around the world, through the clouds"
He arrived in Cuba one morning.
The sun weaves silk across the sky and emerald seas.
The fragrant island, a strip of pink silk fluttering in the wind.
My dear, Cuba is incredibly sweet.
Green sugarcane fields, verdant hillsides
Delicious oranges, sweet yellow mangoes from the farm.
"The bee, having lost its way, scatters flowers in all directions."
These are beautiful fragments of memories, the purest and most radiant images when recalling a country so far away, where the blue of the Caribbean Sea and the color of the sky seem to blend into one in the golden sunlight that pours down like honey.
The streets of Havana are very old and mostly haven't been painted or renovated for decades.
But what is Cuba like now?
The war is long over, but Cuba remains mired in helplessness and contradiction, still under embargo by a superpower just 180 km from Havana across the Florida Strait, and with nine out of ten Cubans talking about how to escape to that superpower.
To better understand the meaning of the word "embargo": if you go to Cuba, you won't be able to buy travel insurance from US-owned companies, and you can only use certain types of bank cards. Using social media like Zalo, Viber, and Facebook is also very limited or impossible, or even simply your iPhone might suddenly stop updating the time and location of your destination. While the whole world is talking about Industry 4.0, AI, and ChatGPT, this has made Cuba even more isolated and excluded from all the game.
Classic cars in Havana
Cuba is blessed with natural beauty, as To Huu's poem suggests, yet its people remain poor, very poor. The sea teems with lobsters but fishing is prohibited; the fertile land lacks exploitation; the sea and sky are breathtaking, yet the entire country is served by only three state-owned tourism companies operating at a snail's pace with scarce information. Havana, situated right on the azure coast, offers no restaurants in sight; entire streets along the bay, bathed in the gentle lapping of waves, remain closed, silently enjoying a poignant tranquility.
Images of Cuban women with their characteristic brown skin and curly hair.
Not only is Cuba under embargo, but it also refuses to open up and remains one of the few countries that still maintains a subsidized economy for its citizens. On the streets, it's not uncommon to see crowds holding notebooks, waiting: waiting for buses, waiting to buy vegetables, rice, gasoline, paper... There are no shops, no markets; only occasionally do you see a state-run store, and even then, it's often sold out before it even opens. Life is stifling and oppressive because even with money, you can't buy what you want because: there's no supply. This includes essential items like gasoline, repair parts, food, and consumer goods. Cars break down for months waiting for parts to be repaired, and even ripe oranges and mangoes are lost because there are no vehicles.
The Parliament building in the capital city of Havana.
But Cuba also has things that I can never forget.
Those are vintage cars from the 1950s and earlier, painted in gleaming colors of blue, red, purple, yellow, and pink, speeding through the streets. A complete contrast to the old, faded streets. Oh, vintage cars, they are the only thing that makes Havana vibrant and cheerful.
There's also rum and cigars – two things that have become global icons. In Cuba, there's probably no other pleasure besides these two. From janitors and security guards to business owners, everyone has a cigar in their hand, because what other enjoyment could there be?
House for drying fresh cigar leaves
Take a sip of rum and savor it before swallowing; the aroma fills your mouth, rising to your nose, with a bitter, spicy taste tinged with a very subtle sweetness of cane sugar, and then take a puff of a pungent cigar… You feel something very North American, very Cuban. It’s no coincidence that the iconic image of Cubans is that of curvaceous, fiery women with their distinctive hair, a cigar held askew in their mouth, and a glass of rum swirling in their hand.
Cigars – that's pure tobacco – from the harvesting of fresh leaves to the packaging, everything is done entirely by hand, from small, home-grown cigar factories to international commercial production and packaging plants. When the cigar plant is mature enough to be harvested, it's about the height of a person, the fresh leaves are as large as banana leaves, and are harvested when they are sufficiently mature. They are dried indoors, not directly in the sun; freshly picked leaves are placed lower down, while dried leaves are stacked higher in layers for sorting. Once dry, they are brought to the factory and sorted according to thickness, strength, integrity, and toughness.
The cigar plantation is preparing for harvest.
The cigar leaves began to dry in the shed.
The driest, ugliest leaves are placed inside, while the most beautiful, smoothest, toughest, and least veined leaves are packed separately to form the outer layer. The rolling and packaging process is also entirely manual. A good cigar should produce a consistent smoke, with a light puff revealing a pungent, spicy flavor on the tongue… Trust me, a cigar bought directly from the farm might only cost around $2, but its taste is almost as good as a Cohiba or Behike; connoisseurs might even prefer it for its "natural" quality. Cohiba and Behike are essentially the same in terms of growing and packaging, only differing in brand and possibly a little added flavoring – which not everyone appreciates.
The Parliament building in the capital city of Havana.
When in Cuba, you absolutely must visit the seaside city of Varadero – a city as beautiful as paradise, where the blue of the sea and the blue of the sky are separated only by a thin line. You must visit the home of the writer Ernest Hemingway, author of *The Old Man and the Sea* – where he spent 20 years of his youth living and writing, and visit La Bodéguita, a pub Hemingway frequented. And also, visit the restaurant that hosted President Barack Obama – the first and only president to speak of lifting the embargo – a move unfortunately vetoed by his successor. The restaurant has hung and nailed the chair Obama sat in to the wall as a memento.
Statue of Ernest Hemingway - author of the book The Old Man and the Sea.
Ernest Hemingway's house – the author of the famous work "The Old Man and the Sea" – sits under the shade of lush green trees in a spacious garden that features a statue of him and the fishing boat he often used to go to sea.
Furthermore, there's something incredibly unique that you absolutely must try if you visit Havana: Corona Extra beer with crushed ice, a few drops of special soy sauce, and a sprinkle of coarse salt around the rim of the glass. The combination sounds... quite shocking, but surprisingly, it creates an explosion of flavor: the saltiness of the sea salt blends with the Corona beer, enhanced by the sweetness of the dark soy sauce, making the cocktail irresistibly sweet.
Holding a cool cocktail in your hand on a breezy evening with the scent of the sea, immersed in the vibrant Latin music and accompanied by Cuban dancers with their fiery figures, graceful yet powerful steps, and seductive, dazzling costumes, these will undoubtedly be the final images that will make your trip truly unforgettable.
The photographer took the picture at the beach in Varadero.
