was a more restricted menu. Only
pineapple ice cream was available. It
was so good I had two.
We walked around town. A large
shop in a colonnade had an inviting
window. It seemed to have all sorts
of things for sale and I joked that
it was Cuba’s version of John Lewis
but when we went back the next day,
there was little to choose from inside.
Some creased shirts on a rail, all the
same size, must have been a recent
shipment for they caused a great deal
of interest amongst the customers. I
bought some toothpaste; Cuban made
with no nonsense about fluoride, cur-
ing bad breath or clinically proven
claims about stopping tooth decay.
We left our casa particular, much
nicer than the last one but at just over
half the price. We rode through agri-
cultural land with mountains a hint
in the distant landscape.
Royal palms lined the roads, mak-
ing shadows. Sometimes the shad-
ows turned out to be potholes making
us both exclaim with shock as Hector
rattled his way over them. We trav-
elled at 45kph, often much slower.
An overnight stop at San Diego
de los Baños 130kms south-west of
Havana in Pinar del Rio province pro-
vided us with a glimpse of what this
spa town might have been like in its
heyday. Famous for its curative wa-
ters since 1632 when a slave’s skin-le-
sions were cured, its fame spread and
it became popular with Americans.
We stayed near a time-weary spa
hotel which had been a haven for
rich guests during Cuba’s openly
decadent past. The Hotel Saratoga,
once grand, was now a decaying
restorative thermal pool for Cubans
with health problems. We asked if we
could stay there but it’s for the exclu-
sive use of Cubans.
We were greeted by Pedro as we
wandered round. He makes ‘the
best cigars in Cuba’ and showed us
how they are individually made with
selected leaves, cut to size and shape,
folded and wrapped. At a fraction
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