Trinidad (not the one in Tobago)

A mamouth trek across the country exchanges rolling hillocks for more structured farmland and arable plantations; although the pastel colours remain their pantones are on the bolder side.

The cobbled streets of Trinidad are more of a tourist destination than Vinales, although amazingly confusing to navigate having been designed to flumux pirate raids when the town was first born, with the size of the colonial properties around reflecting Trinidads old position as the centre of the sugar industry. With the wealth contained in the houses completely disproportional to peoples wages it is quite a supprise to see antiques that would make David Dickinson wet his pants.
We found a beautiful 3 story casa with 2 massive roof terraces

overlooked by and ancient mango tree, where we would eat all our meals for the next few days, and so much marble in it that even the banister up the stairs was handcrafted out of a single piece.

Everyone here is an artist of sorts, be it a painter in one fo the many galleries, a musican in one of the many bands around town, or a barmaid who came up with this beauty ### which promptly wipped me out for an hour as it was about 50% alcohol!. Although after discovering that a bottle of rum was only 80p we soon made some good combinations of our own...

Needing another break from the relentless heat the next day was a pleasent cruise on a cat

to Cayo Blanco, 15kms off the coast. A beautiful white sand island populated by hundreds of hermit crabs

and iguanas, with some great snorkling on the reef just off shore.

Hooking up with a few others that evening we felt the safety in numbers needed to find the cave club. You know those spelunking trips you did at school, well the Cubans have found a decent alternative where you don´t have to crawl around in bat shit - a full on 200person club in a cave with lazers and everything. 100m undergound it is like something out of the lost boys where you´re expecting Kiether Sutherland bitiing your neck at any moment. Shame about the music which was a bizzare take on Cuban R&B, it would be an awesome place to hold a full on party.
A relaxing strole through the local mountains the next day

and a swim in the waterfall

cleansed out any remenants of a hangover the night before, then a bike tour (on particularly shoddy bikes) to Playa Ancon for a last bit of snorkling in the Trinidad region.