In Photos: The coloured streets of Trinidad – Cuba

The one hour drive from Cienfuegos to Trinidad felt much, much longer. Whilst the majority of roads in Cuba are excellent, having been recently rebuilt by Chinese investors, this short stretch was very bumpy.

Eventually finding our Casa Particular for the next three nights we were surprised to be simply given the keys to a 3-storey, 5-bedroom town house for just the two of us. The owner lived with her sister a few doors down and brought a meal on the first night, but other than that we didn’t see her until we dropped off the keys a couple of days later.

The bedroom was tiny, but a short corridor led out to a series of three balconies, one surrounded on 3 sides and very private, and the other two on the split rooftops. From the upper balcony we had a near uninterrupted view over the town, so it was easy to get our bearings.

The next morning we went out to the Sugar Mills, then spent the afternoon wandering round Trinidad’s colourful town centre. As with much of Cuba all the museums and other attractions close at 5pm. There’s then a lull of about 4 hours for dinner, until the music bars open.

A few highlights in town include the handicraft market. It definitely all looks hand-made, but I really didn’t find anything appealing. An example would be a local artist who made some beautifully vibrant paintings of Trinidad, but she seemed to have stuck a picture of her friends to the corner, where most artists would usually put their signature.

The Historical Museum in the centre of town doesn’t have too much on display, but has a tower that gives a perfect 360 degree view of the town. Climbing the tower was a little hard in the heat, exacerbated by the pushing and shoving of the fellow tourists.

By early afternoon Trinidad was annoyingly full of Russian tour groups. Without exception they were loud, rude, under-dressed and demanding, yet refuse to tip. We watched a couple of dozen of them swarm over an outdoor band, interrupt their performance to pose for photos, then walk away without tipping.

Rather like the Chinese, there are very few independent Russian tourists apparent. Instead they travel in huge hoards of up to a hundred, moving aggressively through the narrow streets. You could see and hear other nationalities just giving up and leaving various sites when the Russians arrived.

Ancon Point

To escape the impending hostilities we drove out to Ancon Point, which was a pleasant but average beach, so got bored after 10 minutes. Our taxi driver sensed our disappointment and drove us round to La Boca where we enjoyed a private beach. Far less sandy, and a less shallow wade out into the sea, but no belching Russians in Speedos.

Trinidad

Probably my favourite thing about travelling in Cuba is that nothing really feels too touristy yet. If you stay away from the obvious all-inclusive resorts then everywhere else feels like somewhere that people actually live. This is far more so than in other supposedly untouched places like Myanmar, where some spots were are almost exclusively for tourism. Museums are visited by tourists and locals alike, restaurants are busy with far more than just tour groups and northing feels too overpriced.

The whole town centre of Trinidad was given UNESCO World Heritage protection due to its beauty. By far the best thing to do in Trinidad is just walk about the streets. Take it easy by soaking up the atmosphere and keeping cool with the fresh fruit juices and smoothies available on every corner, then spend the evening watching (or taking part in) the show in a dance hall.