Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Day 5 and Day 6 - the mountains

I didn't hear from Dad last night. Just got a text through to say "ngsl mon" which in Dad's text speak means no signal Monday night ! 

So Monday he spent cycling in the Sierra Maestro which is Cuba's highest and most extensive mountain range which stretches along the coast line. He managed to find himself a cabin for 5C (£3.32) in a place called La Mula. By the sounds of it, it was a local place for local people! From reading up I think he was staying at Base de Campismo in a cabana ... and the blurb says the cabins are in a small wood, with a banana plantation and on a lagoon next to an empty beach (this is sounding a bit like heaven !). 

Today he's continued along the coast and is now in the rural town of Pilon (not that rural as it has a mobile phone signal!). He's found himself a Casa for the night. I have no idea where it is, or if it's actually a legal Casa as reading up on Pilon it doesn't sound like it's very big on tourism. However, I'm sure Dad will manage - he usually does.

So the above comes courtesy of Dad's four line text ... sorry it's not a bit more in depth but it probably took Dad about 15 minutes to type the four lines !

When I Googled Pilon it came up with Lynette Chiang's blog. Apparently the Handsomest Man in Cuba was actually found in the back streets of Pilon. Well all I can say is the Handsomest Man in Cuba has competition now that my Dad is in town :)

Updated: Just received another text to say ... couldn't send a long text earlier the lady in the Casa was in the way !  Dad has had his first swim in the Caribbean at La Mula. I bet he didn't pack his trunks - so heaven knows what he swam in.  It's been very warm on the coast road the last couple of days so he's knocked of cycling after lunch. He's cycled through two tunnels. The road is very busy with lots of crabs, goats, turkey, horses, pigs and the occasional Cuban bus. No cars though! Oh how I wished my journey home from work tonight had been on roads free from cars!

1 comment:

  1. He did tell me on the drive down to Gatwick that one of his friends had not long come back from Cuba. She told him that at some point the crabs commute between the sea/beach and a lagoon across one of the roads. This results in squashed crabs and for cyclists can be a puncture hazard. Can't imagine that I will ever have a crab puncture. Though this last 3 weeks I have had a puncture every other day. Or so it seems.

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