Reply With QuoteJesus... that is the worst tasting **** on the planet....Originally Posted by daught
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I completely forgot about the food...
massr1 is right..
WORST FOOD EVER!!!!
pack urself some food.
Jesus... that is the worst tasting **** on the planet....
R e a d S l o w l y ! - Children at Play.
They appreciate medical supplies.
We took lots (Tylenol, Bandaids, toiletries, etc...) and gave then to room attendants and anybody who served us. They took them with HUGE smiles.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/11/09/tourists.html
R e a d S l o w l y ! - Children at Play.
Yup...I went to cuba and basically starved the whole week.
When I went to Punta Cana Dominican Republic though, the food there was ****ING INCREDIBLE. We looked forward to the meals all day!
Food in cuba is not as good as DR, but the service in Cuba IMO is heads and tails above DR.
R e a d S l o w l y ! - Children at Play.
+1 on whatever the huge span bridge is halfway to Havana, the site is amazing, and get a PinaColoda at the little shop next door, rum is $1 a bottle for the locals and they are very liberal.
The food really depends which resort you are in, remember a 5* in Cuba is a 3* resort other places. We had really decent food at our last two places, you have to keep your expectations in line, its a third world country folks.
I would absolutely spend time in Havana, every bar is "where Hemmingway drank everyday" and makes the best Mojito ever LOL. Most resorts will offer a day trip guided walking tour and its worth it. I would not scooter into Havana the roads and vehicles are just to sketchy for me, take the tour.
skip the catamaran snorkel trips IMHO, but do scuba if you get the chance.
disagree...
you're going to a resort, so the food should be inline with the tourists they receive. That's like saying if you go anywhere in Asia and Africa the food is going to be crappy.
i don't understand why Cuba has such terrible food
I didn't find the food terrible, we ate well enough, but they can only get things for the resort that are available locally for the most part.
I know i'm in the minority but I guess we've had really good luck with where we've stayed.
My wife and I have traveled alot and oddly enough had some of the worse food experiences in places renowned for cuisine. I'm a huge foodie and this stuff is really important to me when traveling.
Back to topic, DONT buy cigars from beach vendors, you cant leave the country with them if the seals are not gov't issue and yes they check your luggage. The beach smokes are made with banana leaves as filler and smoking them will make you unwell.
The rum is a real deal, buy the 7yr old Havana Club anajo, its made in the old Bacardi factory and is superior to any Bacardi made today IMHO.
Unless you really need a laptop dont take one, you can get online at resorts and the paperwork to get a laptop into the country is nuts, Same for a handheld GPS , its a comunist country, they will confiscate it and when you go to leave they will have no idea where it went. Dont ask how I know this.
There are a few markets around the varadero area and handicrafts are rediculously inexpensive, cool stuff costs peanuts.
As mentioned by many others, there are simply so many things they have trouble getting, taking an extra suitcase of stuff to give away is a great idea.
I didn't mind it at all... but I will eat **** on a shingle... The local economies in Cuba have a hard time coming up with the goods to supply the resorts, and they have a heck of a time getting it from outside, they are after all a pretty isolated communistic country. That is my understanding anyway.
R e a d S l o w l y ! - Children at Play.
Dunno about the beach guys, but I got a box of Monte Cristo No5 in a village outside Varadero for 15 pesos. The dude had the box open but gave me the seals on the side. They were the real deal.
Dont buy rum from the store, buy it from the bar. I got 7 bottles of especial for $50CAD and some clothes.
Sorry dude, but this has to be the worst advice ever.
Matt, keep this in mind when traveling. Don't ever ask for anyone's advice, because people always give you THEIR opinion. So what you're getting isn't necessarily the truth, but a personal and somewhat arbitrary experience.
Do yourself a favour and buy a guidebook. A guidebook will give you the broadest spectrum of activities, and advice, based on a writer, and experienced traveler, who spent more than just 1 week there, and gained a wealth of knowledge in order to write about it.
In my opinion (I know, it's funny since I told you not to listen to anyone.), I would spent as little time at the resort as possible. Unless you're only interested in spending time with tourists, doing tourist things, and partying with tourists (the local clubs are only tourists). So don't be surprised if your resort is filled with Canadians, and when you go to the clubs, it turns out to be a bunch of people from Toronto. This has happened to me a couple times.
Havana is by far, the best place to see in Cuba, and is only a 2 hour drive from Varadero. There's tons of things to see in Havana, like Revolution Square, the car that Che used to own, the places that Earnest Hemmingway used to frequent. And if you're going there with a girl, nighttime in Havana will get her to take her pants off faster than a roofie. The cobblestone streets and open concept bars with salsa dancing make it irresistably romantic. And if you're doing with dudes, then there's tons of great (and cheap) places to get sauced.
A cab can take you there (I think)...But don't be afraid to talk to your hotel staff. Hotel jobs are among the most sought after, so if a guy at your hotel offers to take you to Havana, chances are, you can trust him. He'd never want to do anything to jeopardize his position at the hotel. Or, try to find a bus there. Google pictures of Havana, and you'll see why it's such an amazing place to see. Maybe even rent a car and drive there yourself. There's really only one main highway from Varadero to Havana, so it's impossible to get lost. A friend of mine talked to the guy at his hotel, asking him where to get an authentic Cuban meal, and they guy said "give me $10 each, and i'll take you for the best food in Cuba". They ended up being taken to his grandmothers house, where they said they had the best meal they've had, and later, they had shots with the dude's grandfather.
So you don't speak Spanish, so what...Pick up a Spanish phrase book and learn some key phrases. Cuanto? How much. Ye-no por favor. Fill it up please. Donde esta El banos? Where is the washroom? Senor, dos cerveza por favour? Sir, two beers please. And Nos tra'e la quenta por favor? Please give me the cheque. That was enough to get me around Panama, and Panama has a lot less English speaking people than Cuba.
Another cool place to check out is Matanzas. It's only a 30 minute drive for your resort. 1.5 hours if you rent a scooter and you're riding two up lol. Probably not worth staying overnight, since it's kind of small, but it's worth the day trip.
Cuba is a safe country, with very little crimes against homes, and/or people. The people are very friendly, and very helpful. Not all of them are looking for money, but yes, a lot of them are. So even in a tourist area like Varadero, you get hounded to buy cigars, or spare some change. Just ignore them and they usually go away.
If you're looking for something more low-key, and relaxing, then just stay at your resort and chill. Personally, I like to experience as much of the authentic culture as I can, and Varadero isn't the place to do that. It was an area founded on tourism, so the only reason all those hotels and shops are there, was for the tourists. But you can still have an amazing time there. Even on the main strip in Varadero there's the "tourist" prices. And the "local" prices. if you go to a tourist place you can expect to pay 5 pesos for a beer, but at the places where locals frequent, it'll be around $1.50. It's been a few years since i've been so those prices might have changed.
But do yourself a favour and buy a guidebook. You'll get a wider range of activities and opinions than you'll ever gain from an anonymous messageboard.
...And if you plan to only stay in Varadero, well then I wouldn't bother asking anyone anything. It's small enough that you'll be able to discover everything first hand within the first 2-3 days.
at 15 peso's for a box, you can be assured that they were not the real deal. Thy may have been decent enough to smoke, but phonies for sure.
Good advice on the rum. If you can work the bartender you can get some great deals from him. Another great rum to consider is Ron Caney. Most people get caught up with Havana club because of the name, but it's worth it to give Caney a try.
keep in mind that the island was pretty much destroyed with the hurricanes this year (more so than in years past). Livestock and crops suffered making it even more difficult to find good food. I have been to Cuba 5 or 6 times now and on every trip there is always a decent meal to be had at every feeding. Sometimes you have to pick through some chit though.
Last edited by chinto; 01-27-2009 at 11:30 AM.
I had family members go down in Nov (just after the main devastation), they went to a resort that they LOVED before, they almost starved to death this time... they could not believe the lack and selection of food.
Me, I can live off those bar sandwiches and rum for a week, so as long as there is bread and rum, giddy-up.
R e a d S l o w l y ! - Children at Play.
Security is pretty tight in Havana too. There's tonnes of cops everywhere, whereas in Varadero, there's close to none.
+ 1 on the paying afterwards. We met a woman at the resort, and she said her husband used to work as a tour guide, and would take us to Havana. Awesome guy, very well educated, took us around and told us all about the history. Didn't ask for money until he brought us back to the hotel. We were so impressed that we gave him 40% more than what we agreed on.
But does every bar have a bronze statute of him in the corner like they do at La Floridita?
Well, Hemmingway was a raging alcoholic, so i'm sure he frequented every bar, on every day.
Re: going to cuba soon!
yeah we were there november / december at a resort that we have been to several times. Food was ok with the occasional exceptional meal.
That's unrealistic, and that's why so many tourists are seem to come off as rude. Because they expect the same standard of living, even when they're on vacation.
Most of what people eat in their countries, as a direct reflection of what they have access to. For instance, in Korea, it's hard to get beef because there's a lot of mountainous terrain, and not a lot of flat land that's good for raising cattle. As a result, access to beef is not as high as it is here, and when you do find it, it's expensive as hell, and probably not the best quality. Not like Alberta beef at least.
When you throw in the fact that Cuba has a trade embargo with the states, I'm sure a lot more restrictions come into play. It's unrealistic to expect that you can get what you can back home when you're on vacation...And isn't that the whole point of going on vacation? To experience different cultures?
When you go to another country, you have to expect what's in line with the standard that the country is capable of giving.
I've mentioned this tonnes of times before, but the food here, might taste better, and that's not necessarily because it's better quality. Our government allows a certain number of genetically modified organisms into our food. And I myself find it bizarre that all our produce seems to be the same consistent colour with no variation whatsoever. When my parents grew organic fruits and vegetables in their garden, it looked COMPLETELY different from what we get in grocery stores. Leaf lettuce would come out with shades of brown, and yet, in the grocery store, it's bright green throughout. So much so that it actually looked like plastic...So there's a lot to consider when it comes to our food, and the genetic engineering that go into it, and comparing it to the food in other countries.
I'm willing to hazard a guess that the food in Cuba is more organic than it is here.
Last edited by Guy Fawkes; 01-27-2009 at 12:06 PM.
Some people have HUGE expectations. Even around the city. I've heard people say "THAT PLACE IS DISGUSTING" when I bring up a place I happen to like, even though I know saying that it's "disgusting" is a HUGE exaggeration. I know this because they're my friends, but when you factor in that they might be giving that opinion anonymously on a messageboard such as this, it gives you an insight into the fact that anonymous opinions have to be taken with a grain of salt.
I've heard so much stuff about traveling, and so much of it is misconstrued. High season, low season, star ratings, blah blah blah.
For the record, a star rating doesn't have anything to do with the quality of food. They don't serve you dog food when you go to a 3 star resort, and going to a 4 star doesn't mean you'll get good food.
I've been to a 3 star resort in Cuba, and the food was excellent. Out of the two times I went to Varadero, it was just as good, if not better than the 4 star resort that served crab legs every night. In fact, everything was excellent. The only key reasons I could see for it being a 3 star, was because it didn't have 24 hour food and drinks.
Keeping this in line with what I said about anonymous opinions, I guess my opinion shouldn't matter either, or maybe I got lucky with the 3 star resort I was at...But if nothing else, my personal experience accomplishes one thing, and that's that it creates a reasonable doubt in everyone's opinion when they say "crappy star rating means hotel/food". Even if that was the only nice, clean, 3 star resort in Cuba that had good food, it's enough to prove that you can't depend on the star rating, or anyone else's opinion for that matter. When I make travel plans, I make it a point to never ask for someone's personal opinion. I went to Panama recently, and the people at the resort complained about the fact that none of the staff spoke English. And I remember thinking to myself "Do you remember our orientation when buddy told us the resort is 90% spanish speaking?!?!"...But those people probably went home and complained to their friends about that fact.
The last time I went to Cuba, our air conditioner was dripping. Not enough to really care, but enough that it would create a small puddle after an entire day. My fiance and I could have complained and changed rooms, but we didn't care enough to re-pack all our stuff. We just put a towel down to soak up all the water and everything was fine. Someone else might have gone home and said it was the crappiest hotel ever.
Guidebooks have proven to be a priceless resource for me when traveling. Whether it's in the states, in Cuba, Panama, Korea, etc. I realize that some of them are biased, and have skewed info (IE: some of the writers are bribed), but as a whole, I've found them to be far better than asking people for recommendations, and even for finding things off the beaten path.
Part of the thrill of travelling is finding yourself in situations that you wouldn't normally encounter. Something that seems really crappy at first, but provides for some good storytelling later. When I was in Panama, my fiance and I scaled this huge hill, with a 45 degree incline, just to see if it was the lookout point of the volcanoe that people were talking about. All the while, it was 38 degree's outside, and we had buzzards flying around our heads waiting for us to drop dead.
I always say you're best off going to the store. That's what the tour guides say to. You know it's the real deal, and you're guaranteed to not get ripped off.
...And it's still 40% cheaper than what you'd pay here.
I appreciate all the input gentlemen!!
Guy, I definitely will explore Cuba beyond the walls of the resort. I'll take your advice and pick up a guidebook. Thanks.
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