Day 8: Mambo de la Luna, Camaguey to Trinidad

Historic Camaguey, or Port Principe. The tour started with an old church, including an offer to tour the crypt. I took the tour, hoping to get a glimpse of some relics, maybe a body part of a saint or two, or a chunk of the true cross. Sadly no such luck. They had three rooms open, each with some interesting items. The first had a candle presented to the church by Pope John Paul II, the glasses of a priest that is held in high regard the locals, some other items like 17th century art that has been found under the church. Through a very low doorway into the second chamber, that had a crumbling sarcophagus in one wall, complete with what I was advised were the bones of an unknown woman. The third chamber, through an even smaller doorway, had the church’s original wooden cross and a bunch of hand-made woodplanes of various types, the sorts of planes that sell for quite a bit among hard-core woodworkers.

Up in the main church the prize piece was a coffin made of silver, complete with a story about two young men fighting over a woman. It seems that when the Cubans aren’t burning their towns down, their wealthy seem to find other unhealthy distractions. Pointless tragic romanticism/mindless machismo aside, the coffin was definitely pretty, with a row of bells at the top which forms part of the burial ceremony (not as a warning of undead rising, apparently). The church also has some interesting old art.

From the church it was a walk around some other cultural and historic buildings, generally of the sort that this nice priest lived here, this other nice person lived there kind of thing. There was also a good opportunity to admire the decorative window bars, period-look restorations, some obviously older than others. I did love the newer creations made from recycled re-bar, another great example of Cuban ingenuity.

The historic tour finished in a small square that held some artist workshops, including Martha Jiminez, who while I hadn’t heard of her before today is well regarded internationally, and has a great style. Google her to check out her work, she does a mix of sculpture and painting, and is definitely worth checking out. As the only place we’ve so far encountered in Cuba that had working credit card facilities, we now have a couple of her prints.

In the square are some sculptures, including three women chatting, a man pusing a cart of traditional clay jars (the sculpture is of metal, however) and an old man reading a newspaper. The man that this sculpture is based on is still alive, and most days comes and sits next to his statue. Of course once the tourists and cameras come out, he’ll happily adopt the same pose as the statue for a peso or two.

Then it was time to hop back in the taxi and hit the road, riding the bumps to Trinidad. Fields of cattle, fields of cane. Also fields of corn, which is often grown between tobacco crops as part of a crop rotation. Also goats, chickens, horses, the usual rural assortment. It’s a very pretty country, when you’re not the driver having to negotiate between everything from big trucks down to bicycles.

Trinidad’s history is a bit more modern (if you’re wondering about the name similarity with the West Indies island, Trinidad is the abbreviated name, and comes from the Spanish word for the holy trinity). While it has been a town since the 16th century, much of the development and building took place in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the town was home to five very rich families who seemed to spend their time trying to outspend each other, when they weren’t burying their wealth or trying to bump each other off. I’m guessing that prior to this, there were pirates to provide this level of amusement. Now Trinidad is known for its museums and proximity to Cuba’s best beaches, and gets smothered by tourists in the high season. We’re coming through a little after the end of high season: on the plus side we don’t have to fight through hoards of tourists to see or do anything; on the minus, we’re much more obvious to touts offering the usual taxis, horse rides, cigars, rum, etc.

Lunch was at a restaurant called San Jose, which offered a mix of Cuban and Italian food. It was here I took the plunge and had my first Cuban sandwich, which was ham, cheese, pickles and mustard on a small crunchy baguette-type roll. It was a good sandwich, maybe not up there with the queen of banh mi, but something good and sustaining. We also had more stuffed tostones, some with shrimp and some with ropa viaja. (I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned ropa vieja before — literally “old rope”, it’s slow cooked pulled-beef with a tomato-based sauce and very tasty.)

Then it was time for the historical tour of the old city, with its rough, cobbled streets (apparently 17th century recycling, where merchant ships would dump their ballast before taking on sugar, an enterprising local started using this for street paving). In short, Trinidad has a bunch of museums, statues, and tales of a brief period when it was incredibly wealthy. It also has some decent places to get mojitos (though I’m generally noticing that the further from Havana, the less mint is used), coffee, food, and tourist souvenirs. I succumbed and got a couple of small, slightly tacky coffee cups, which are as close as I’m going to find to a starbucks mug in this place.

Tomorrow is another day in Trinidad where we hit the beach, do the dreaded salsa lesson, and if there’s time maybe try what I’m told is a local craft brewery, as I figure I should check this out. Otherwise I’ll take the plunge and try what seems to be the main Cuban beers, Cristal and Bucanero, which both seem to be of the lager-style. I’m also hoping to at least try some of the other rum expressions, some older Ron de Santiago and Havana Club. We’ll see.