Sunday April 14th and Monday April 15th, 2019 - Bayamo, Cuba

Fran and I wanted to go to the less visited eastern part of the island while we were there but the US rules were complicated. We were that we had to leave Cuba the same day the tour ended and return under a different 'permission' allowed by the US State Department. This time, we were there to 'support the Cuban people'. So although we were headed east, we flew west out of  Havana on Sunday to Fort Lauderdale, where we spent the night.

We had hoped for an easy turn-around - get a nice meal, do our laundry, get to bed early for a very early flight on Monday morning. Sadly, an eye infection that cropped up in my left eye on the Saturday destroyed that plan. By the time I had sought medical care and got medications, we were returning to the airport with 3.5 hours of sleep early on Monday. We thought ourselves crazy for putting ourselves to the trouble, and even contemplated calling it off.

It was fortunate we didn't because the Cuba we found in the east had a vibrancy and energy that seemed quite different from the west. As we flew in to Holguin we could see verdant fields and signs of flourishing agriculture everywhere. We had seen farming in the west, but it did not seem as widespread, especially around Havana.

Corn & cassava near Bayamo

Before we could launch ourselves into this active eastern world, the efficient immigration authorities in Holguin decided it was a little odd that we had left Cuba on Sunday and returned on Monday. They interviewed each of us separately for about 20 minutes before our itinerary satisfied them. I thought they might have thought we were spies, but more likely they thought we were drug-runners, as they are very strict on that. The surprising ending when we had both been cleared was to find the luggage carrel empty, yet our two bags were nestled together nicely, already placed on a luggage cart. Perhaps they'd received some other 'special treatment', but we saw no sign of anything untoward.

Happily we found our guide and driver and off we went to Bayamo, about an hour away. It was the second town settled in Cuba in 1513, so it's been around a while! It is renowned for still using colonial style horse drawn carriages, unlike any we had seen elsewhere.

It felt like being in the old wild west! Understand, some were used for tourists, but many more were just for regular transportation. 

......but the servings very generous and my lamb was fabulous!

The restaurant was tourist-priced

First stop was lunch, get money changed, then a nap to return to feeling human.

This was my room at the casa - it gives you a good idea of the type of accommodation that we generally experienced.

When we met up with out guide later in the afternoon, he announced that he had a surprise for us. 'Oh, joy', my tiredness said, but the surprise was perfect for the occasion! It was the gift of a carriage to save our tired legs and bodies for our orientation. It was very much appreciated.

As in other towns, houses were sometimes colorful

I love this juxtaposition of the carriage with the train behind it

Bayamo was very clean, in fact it has been named the cleanest town in Cuba. We saw little piles of debris that had been placed on the side of the street for pick up by the street sweeper the next day

I enjoyed seeing this lone musician with others enjoying the stage behind him

The sight of very 1st world 'go karts' was also a surprise

It was late in the afternoon, so people were out and about and relaxing.

I loved the colors and patterns of the more modern house-fronts

There were still plenty of  traditional frontages similar to those we had seen in the west, but the streets seemed much wider and there was a more spacious feeling here. There was also less of a sense of dilapidation - old buildings were still in good repair.

Once we had seen the outlying sections of the town, we left our lovely carriage and went back to our own tried and true legs, to walk through town. As we had seen in other places, people enjoyed sitting on their stoops in the cool late afternoon air.

Birthplace of Cespedes - they were setting up for a celebration of his birth in a few days

Carlos Manuel de Cespedes was born in Bayamo in 1819, which is a source of great pride for the city. He is highly regarded as the first revolutionary of note. He was a sugar plantation-owner and after  spending time overseas he returned to Cuba convinced that independence from Spain was vital. He freed his slaves in 1868 and immediately sought their assistance to set up an army and overthrow the Spanish government, an act which began a ten years war. His effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but he won the heart of his compatriots when the Spanish threatened to kill his fifth son, Oscar,  in order to get  Cespedes to step down from his leadership of the rebellion. Cespedes replied "Oscar is not my only son, I am the father of all Cubans who have died for Cuba." As a result, Oscar was executed and the Cubans regard Carlos Manuel de Cespedes to be the 'Father of the Motherland'.

I always enjoyed being able to 'see within' the spare frontages of the buildings. This was a business of some kind - perhaps even a museum, but I thought the inner garden I could see from the street looked really inviting.

Bayamo has a lovely paseo, (boulevard) and as you can see, people were out enjoying it. There were  several sections. One, as shown above, had been decorated as part of an art project and had some quite interesting installations. The other, below, was more commercial. Being commercial in Cuba means either that the store is owned and run by the government, or that it is the persons's own home with sections used as a storefront.

This is a children's hairdresser - barbershop

The chairs inside look as if they'd be fun for kids.

Before we leave this tour, there is a cathedral to show you. It is Catedral de San Salvador, which has roots dating back to 1814. The structure we see now was built in 1919, following a fire some years prior. There was one old section remaining from 1740.

There were a few unusual depictions of Christ with flames coming out of his head, which Fran and I found interesting. 

Finally, I leave you with Bayamo's Malecon. Normally one associates a Malecon with the ocean, but this one just has a trickle of a river running through. 

It hearkens back to the origins of the city, which was actually a port on the Bayamo River, allowing substantial ships to dock and deliver goods through Cuba's longest River, the Cauto. Because it was so far inland, it deterred pirates and corsairs, but the city managed to set up trade in contraband which led to prosperity in the early 1600's. A flood in 1616 changed the course of the Cauto and ships were no longer able to reach this far inland. Fun facts for you!