La Habana, Cuba.

We`ve hoped all along that we would make it to Cuba and it just depended on finding the right flight. While the price was right, Cubana Airlines isn´t exactly keeping boeing busy with orders, although as the Cold War demonstrated, there´s nothing wrong with Soviet technology. As I kept telling Nat, what was lost on onboard entertainment was made up for with reliability.

From the moment we arrived and met our driver we were exposed to the patent dissatisfaction and desperate urge for change felt by the Cuban people. Just like the story goes Orlando (our driver) was a University educated professional who earned a few dollars a month as an engineer and worked as a driver to supplement his income. This was the case with our guide (also an engineer) and our landlord (lawyer) who paid the government for the right to host tourists.

The hassling on the streets is intense and even people we met who we were already giving money to asked for extra. The Cubans made Central American street hawkers seem like those patient gentlemen who attend the David Jones menswear section.

Despite this, it has to be about the most interesting place we have been to on this trip, probably with South Africa as number two. It is beautiful... best described as a decaying, crumbling beauty from another era. The people admit that free education and health care is great, but everyone we spoke to wanted to the chance to earn more money and to travel.