Backpacking

Leaving the hustle and bustle of Havana behind it's a short hop on a perfectly air-conditioned tourist bus to the Valleys of Vinales.

Every country has its own take on the mellow chill-out town, and Vinales is the best of the many the Cuba has to offer. Where as it may not have all the hippy prerequists of other Caribean islands it makes up with the pure friendliness of the people. Rocking chairs come as standard with the houses and in the evenings everyone sits on their porch watching the world go by.

Moving from the initial tourist hotel into the more Cuban Casa Particular (essentially just a B+B) was a pleasant change, the people are great and the food superb (apart from the birthday cake which pretty much consists of magnolia flavoured sugar meringue)

A moped ride is a must in any country and the afternoon was spent checking out the mogottes and authentic cave paintings…

Although the next days horse-trecking allowed things to be seen at a slightly more sedate pace.

The major product in these hills is tobacco and the plantations stretched on for miles

interspersed only with sugar cane to keep the local rum drinkers watered. Telling people you don't smoke in Cuba brings about a strange look as Cigars are the norm in these parts, might have to get me one just to chew on for that authentic Clint look

Breaking in to the local resort to cool down in their pool was a life saver, along with the next days adventure to the coast and Cayo Levisa. Although the tranquility of most of Cuba's best beaches is spoilt by the resort hotels that take up much of the sands and views. Even the concept of ripping off a captive market is not lost of these people with even a bottle of water costing 3x as much as it does on the mainland.

The story begins in the home of quality rum, Buena Vista Social Club and shaking salsa booties; and even at a glance you can see how all compliment each other perfectly.

An early morning strole along the Malecon

, the 10km stretch of sea-wall sheltering Havana (though not always the tourists) from the worst of the storms, is where a lot of Cubans come to meet and pasty English tourists are easy to spot by the local jineteros (hustlers). With the promise of Buena Vista Social Club playing in their old haunts for óne day only' being too hard to resist I took a wander with 'John' into Centro Havana. Ok it was blatantly a lie, but in my experience the best way to see the true side of a country rather than the tourist façade is with a local, and even paying them $1-2 is a lot cheaper than I would get for a 1-1 spanish lesson in London.

You can easily see the wealth that was prevalent in this place

that has made it what it is now, but with the last few years of fighting and trade embargos everything has been neglected and so most places are in quite a state of disrepair, and when you see people queing at the ration shop for their weekly supply of rice, eggs and maize you know this is the real deal.

We go for a mohito in Bar Pekin, one of Buena Vista Social Club's favourite places, and after paying we leave but he returns to the bar for his commission. On returning this to me he explains how tourists are charged double if they are with a Cuban; maybe he's a nice guy after all?

The thing you can't miss is the beautiful cars

they're everywhere and obiously without any replacement parts coming in the resourceful engineering keeping them going is a testament to Cubans throughout the country.

Its hard to keep from shouting McFly and hitching a lift on the back of them on my hoverboard…

The next day is was over to the other side of the harbor to visit the Fortulazee San Carlos + lighthouse by cunningly joining on to the tail of an American tour group (they are good for something afterall!)

A lot more peaceful place although the metal detectors and body searches getting the ferry back across the harbor from Casablanca was strange (are they seriously worried about people hijacking the boat for passage to florida?!)

A tour and samples at the Havana Club rum factory put me in good stead to sample the pretty but more touristy parts of Havana Vieja (old town) before watching the sun set over the Malecon with the locals

The last part of the Havana tour is into the main revolutionary sites. Including the Havana Libre hotel where Fidel ran the country from the 23 rd floor

and the massive Plaza commemorating the revolution

Noticing a lot of people wandering around with bundles of plantain it was cool to stumble across the monthly locals market where produce is shipped in from the surrounding provinces, but even with the masses of food on offer there were still the obligatory queues for everything.