Coldsnap wrote:Dr. Hess wrote: I don't usually post these, but... Back to fried bananas and black beans...Haha, this is great!Back to Havana
Funzone. It was a bunch of studio musicians that made a group and one album. Fantastic. Check it out if you can find more of the songs on it. Plugged Into the Big Amp in the Sky is classic. "Jesus likes my music... So does his Dad. They love to hear their rock and roll on Sundays at their pad...."
If you want to tour around Cuba a bit from the comfort of your living room, check out the documentary Buena Vista Social Club. A great look into the music and culture of Cuba.
You took some nice looking pics! It is funny that Cuba is so close but yet has been so far away all these years. I agree it would be great to go there before it is over run by americans and loses a lot of its authenticity that makes it its own place.
Id love to make a trip, one day soon I hope. Flights from Seattle to Cuba start next month IIRC
Being aware of the fabrication skills, ingenuity and low labour cost, I at one time was working up a business-case for shipping cars to Cuba, having them restored in a properly equiped shop and repatriated at a competitive cost.
Then I factored in the factor that said all the tools were going to be broken or stolen in the first year, the staff was going to be running a second and third business of their own out the back-door and the palm-greasing overhead was going to exceed the labour cost, so I poured another shot of rum and put that idea away.
that appears to be a Pony?
looks like an awesome trip.
More like this:
z31maniac wrote: Would also love to visit there before it turns into every other destination in the Caribbean.
Than this:
Joe Gearin wrote: I so want to go there before there is a Starbucks on every corner.
I'm not worried about Starbucks. An overrated coffee shop isn't going to ruin Cuba. I'm more worried about the cruise ship companies turning it into a tourist trap. Hell, with the new tourism, it will probably do it all by itself in a few years time.
So, from Old Tourist Trap to Commie Hell Hole to New Tourist Trap. Yup, Progress.
Now that we're all friends again, hopefully the Cuban people will get something out of this, more so than last time.
I read a few more chapters in that book, they reuse oil and with no brake fluid available they use liquid shampoo in the brake system.
impulsive wrote:
I think it's a Lada Samara. Well actually I'm pretty sure. Why do Ladas have heated rear windows? To keep your hands warm in winter!
Reviving this thread with more Cuba car content after our 5-day trip.
I also asked our the drivers about their cars. They are completely bodged together, even the nice-appearing ones. Many were foreign drivetrain all the way to the brakes and hubs. You could see steering rack dust covers behind the front wheels, as opposed to original pitman-arms, indicating much more than a simple engine swap. Lots of front discs. Some did have original engines, which you could easily spot because they didn't emit a plume of black smoke behind them and lacked the diesel exhaust cacophony. A lot of them had awful period-incorrect fleeBay wheels. The cars that weren't 50's American were Russian Lada or Mockbuy (Moskvitch) ranging from 60s to 90s, little Fiat hatchbacks, some 90's/2000's Hyundai/Kia models, and the newest cars were usually Chinese company "Geely".
Here's every cab we took:
And the car-related photo dump...
The highway had these bridges to nowhere...they were planned interchanges in the 50's that never got completed.
Pile of sad engines.
View from a fancy rooftop bar, of a plant or factory on fire.
Havana is loud, dirty, completely run-down, absolutely beautiful and a ton of fun to explore. It had all the traditional signs of being sketchy but without any bit of actual crime. The people are awesome, fun, and helpful, when they're not trying to hustle you for precious $CUC's 
And no one in customs cared I went to Cuba, in case you were wondering. You check the box on the 12 reasons list before you board in the US, and on the way back home it's the usual customs procedure. Would highly recommend before it becomes another Cancun.
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