Playa La Herradura – Las Tunas

One of the interesting and sometimes extremely annoying things about Cuba is the lack of street signs in particular on the main roads. That coupled with the lack of internet, decent Spanish skills and a detailed map has made entering any city an exercise is patience and perseverance.

So it was after a long hot ride that I arrived in Las Tunas with very little patience and exhausted. The city didn’t care about that at all. The first person I asked directions said to go back the way I came, I ignored that and plodded forward. When I got to the road to Camagüey I new I went too far so turn around again. I finally got some good directions from a pedi-cab and in short order made it to my Casa. I stopped in front of another one and after some time was able to deduce that I was actually going to be staying there but I should meet with my original Casa owner first and he will make the introductions.

Frank was a nice guy and spoke great English. He should me his awesome place , with pool and roof deck. The place I won’t be staying in! Then we walked down to a nice woman, her name escapes me, who’s home I will be staying in.

The location was great as it was only a few blocks from the central park area where everything is located.

The second day there was a lot of military and cops around on all the corners and I was thinking maybe Raul was making a speech or something. As I was walking up the main street a bunch of cops came flying down the road clearing pedestrians and making a lot of noise. Shortly after I finally understood what all the to do was about as the first of about 100 cyclists came zooming down the road. Yup there was a bike race… in Cuba. That’s something I never thought I would see especially in a country that doesn’t have a bike shop. It was pretty cool though and fun to be a spectator rather than the spectacle for a change.