e2e.bike

Cycling adventures across Britain and beyond

Menu
  • End to Ends
    • Britain
    • Ireland
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Spain
    • Austria
    • Liechtenstein
    • Poland
    • Slovakia
    • Isle of Man
    • Faroes
    • Cuba
    • Sri Lanka
    • Taiwan
  • Coast to Coasts
  • Yorkshire Ridings
  • Others
  • Writings
Menu
← PreviousNext →

Cuba 16: Cienfuegos to Playa Girón

Posted on 14 April 20152 April 2021 by Rob Ainsley

After two weeks I’m beginning to get a bit of ennui. The days are becoming samey, and I’m feeling adrift. I woke from a nightmare at two in the morning, and panicked when unable to find the light switch in my pitch-black, unfamiliar room.

I laid awake till six, when I managed to retrieve my bike stored in the casa opposite and slip out of lovely Cienfuegos (pic).

Cubans are remarkably easy-going about getting up to help travellers who have very early starts. The casa owner, Dr Victor, was waiting nonchalantly in his car for me outside with a novel. I suspected he’d been there all night.

Yes, ‘Dr’: he told me that running a B&B is what earns his living, and he’s a medic at the local hospital essentially as a socially responsible hobby.

I was back on the main road out by 7am (pic). I hope my shadow is this shape because I’m taking a picture, not because I’m holding my head in my hands, The Scream-like.

From here it was a half-day of long, hot, empty roads through endless flat fields. Lincolnshire teleported to the Caribbean. Norfolk after climate change.

Traffic was sparse: just the odd car, and the odder horse- or ox-cart (pic). Eventually – after some pleasant relief through woods and tame forests, still on flat empty roads – came the final tedious straight couple of miles into the sea-breeze headwind to get me to the tiny beach resort of Playa Girón.

I found a decent casa and picked up tips from the other guests on how best to go snorkelling tomorrow – this is one of the world’s best places to do it – but there was little to do in the village. I didn’t fancy the touristy hotel, so ate at the locals’ slightly forlorn beach restaurant with straw canopies and a menu in biro.

And then the long afternoon to fill, and not much to fill it with. No internet, no guitar, no books, no shops. I resolved not to fill it with beer, as I’ve done too much of that so far. So I filled it with rum instead.

Miles today: 51
Miles since Baracoa: 758

Previous
←   Cuba 15: Trinidad to Cienfuegos
Next
Cuba 17: Playa Girón to Australia →

You are here

e2e.bike > End to Ends > Cuba > Cuba 16: Cienfuegos to Playa Girón

Recent Posts

  • Portugal 4: Viseu to Coimbra 13 May 2023
  • Portugal 3: Lamego to Viseu 12 May 2023
  • Portugal 2: Chaves to Lamego 11 May 2023

Random Posts

  • Cuba 1: Baracoa to Imías30 March 2015
    After a 15-hour bus journey from Havana, during which the driver had …
  • Stanhope 3: Case for a winter bike28 October 2018
    Cycled home from route research in Weardale just as winter arrived. Time …
  • Britain 16: Ayr to Loch Lomond28 May 2013
    The pleasant Sustrans route north out of Ayr on this sunny morning …

Search e2e.bike

Find me

        
Facebook • Twitter • Linked In • Email
© 2023 e2e.bike | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme