Cuba

misgrace

flea72 wrote: »

you can take laptops, as long as they dont have a dvd drive

f

I think if your carrying your laptop as hand luggage, as you would anyway, you have to sign that its for personal use, as they dont want visitors taking over laptops to the locals.
Also, you can take in a portable DVD player now, again its got to be for personal use.

smilely

That's great thanks for the tips.

Snippa

Cuba is fanstastic, but sad. Havana is definitaly worth a trip for a couple of days. The main plazas have all been done up, so look vey European, but if you go just a bit off those main areas, you're very quickly into the "real" Havana!

We hired a car in Havana and drove north, which was truly amazing - little places with tobacco fields and animals running about in the streets, then south down to Ceinfuegos. The people are great. Loads of people do B&B in their own homes - think they were just called Casas. They're really heavily regulated and taxed, so sometimes they'll do you dinner on the very strict condition no one knows at all - did that a couple of times and they were the best dinners though!

Incapuppy

I have been to Cuba three times, it is lovely. Please double check your travel insurance as I'm fairly sure that at one time some companies were classing it as a 'war zone' and not covering for travel to there.

misgrace

Snippa wrote: »

. The people are great. Loads of people do B&B in their own homes - think they were just called Casas. They're really heavily regulated and taxed, so sometimes they'll do you dinner on the very strict condition no one knows at all - did that a couple of times and they were the best dinners though!

They are called 'Casa Particulars' and like you say heavy regulated, and the people who own, sorry meant run, (as no cuban owns thier home) thier homes do pay heavy taxes.
They do supply dinners and breakfast, that is part of staying in a Casa, but they will charge you extra for the meals, which is understandable.

There are illegal 'Casa particulars' where the 'tenents' rent out a room trying to earn a few bob, but if they get caught they will have the polce on thier doorstep and evicted within the hour.
Everything has to go through the Goverment, the Goverment own everything, you can buy land in Cuba, but you cant buy a home outright.

Its a different type of life out there, but I would live out there tomorrow if I had the chance.
There is hardly any crime, hardly any rapes or murders, or burglers, or junkies robbing you to get money, you are safe to walk the streets, people treat you with respect, the younger generation have so much respect for thier parents its unbelievable, the aged are well looked after, got one of the best healthcare systems in the world, got one of the best education systems in the world also, the down side is its a communist country, but I would still live there in a heartbeat.

smilely

Incapuppy wrote: »

I have been to Cuba three times, it is lovely. Please double check your travel insurance as I'm fairly sure that at one time some companies were classing it as a 'war zone' and not covering for travel to there.

I had noticed that and had a wee chuckle to myself one company exclude only 4 countries Afganistan, Kuwait, Sudan and Cuba. Booked AA travel insurance over the phone as i have a pre existing medical condition an told him i was going to Cuba but i'll double check the policy when it arrives to be sure.