Most of the places we have been we have attempted to walk as much as possible. If you want to get to know a city, that's the way to do it. Buses can be useful in getting an overview. They cover a lot of ground, and at least you can see the ground you're covering. Subways are pretty useless. You can learn something about general infrastructure and neighborhoods as you watch people come and go but otherwise you have no idea what is going on up there. No, if you really want to get to know a place, you walk.
In Havana, deciding to walk is a pretty easy choice. There is no subway and though there are buses they are not really a viable option, especially for a visitor. First problem is that the fare is in a currency you don't have, the native currency (more on Cuban currency in the Cuba commerce posts). Now you could get some pretty easily - but getting some without breaking the law is a lot harder. The second problem would be getting on the bus. I have never seen buses more crowded in my life. Not even the buses that pick up at sporting events that have just let out, where people cram on rather than wait for the next. Here you would just cram on because the next will be just as crowded. And the crowding creates the third problem; you are a target for pickpockets, it seems.
At least that's what the guidebook tells you. That crushed together environment is perfect for the pickpocket. Of course they are touching you - how could they not? No, you are better off walking and so I did. Just once I took a cab late one night when it seemed unreasonable to walk. I thought I was going to asphyxiate. First, Havana has the worst air quality I have ever experienced (and I lived in LA in the 1960s when LA was worse than it is today) The cars, trucks and buses all belch smoke like you would not believe. In the cab, in traffic, that smoke is coming right at you. When it's not, the air is no better because inside the cab you are breathing the fumes from the gasoline in the trunk. Yes, apparently the cabs all carry extra gas in their trunks because you can never be sure if the gas station will have it when you need it. So, when you do find it you get as much as you can. I'm pretty sure the gas in the trunk creates both a health and a safety hazard.
No, you are better off walking. And when you walk you will see the neighborhoods tourists usually blow past in the cabs. The stores that Cubans rely on to meet their daily needs, the houses they live it, the schools they attend and the CDR office that makes sure everything in the neighborhood is just as it should be. You see the real life. It's an eye-opener.
At least that's what the guidebook tells you. That crushed together environment is perfect for the pickpocket. Of course they are touching you - how could they not? No, you are better off walking and so I did. Just once I took a cab late one night when it seemed unreasonable to walk. I thought I was going to asphyxiate. First, Havana has the worst air quality I have ever experienced (and I lived in LA in the 1960s when LA was worse than it is today) The cars, trucks and buses all belch smoke like you would not believe. In the cab, in traffic, that smoke is coming right at you. When it's not, the air is no better because inside the cab you are breathing the fumes from the gasoline in the trunk. Yes, apparently the cabs all carry extra gas in their trunks because you can never be sure if the gas station will have it when you need it. So, when you do find it you get as much as you can. I'm pretty sure the gas in the trunk creates both a health and a safety hazard.
No, you are better off walking. And when you walk you will see the neighborhoods tourists usually blow past in the cabs. The stores that Cubans rely on to meet their daily needs, the houses they live it, the schools they attend and the CDR office that makes sure everything in the neighborhood is just as it should be. You see the real life. It's an eye-opener.
No comments:
Post a Comment