ASMALL crowd had gathered on the dusty street corner to survey the scene. Workmen downed tools and came to give their opinion on the situation, while an elderly bystander shook his head slowly and whistled through his teeth. Children on bicycles came skidding to a halt and dismounted to get a closer look. Somebody muttered something and the crowd erupted into giggles.
The spectacle? Two English women in a red Daewoo Cielo reversing out of a parking space. Hardly enough to stop traffic back home, but in this dusty suburb of Havana it was a major sight and the crowd was going to milk it for all it was worth.
To be fair, we had strayed a long way from the tourist track and our car did look very big, red and shiny compared to the rusting bicycles, Ladas and horse-drawn carts which were the main mode of transport in the town. Add to this the fact that women drivers in Cuba are few and far between and Iguess we were fair game.
Maybe Itoo could have joined in on the jokeif we hadn’t spent the last three hours trying to find the motorway out of Havana. Like some medieval quest our journey had been thwarted by decoys at every stage. The smiling bell boy who waved us off from the Hotel Plaza (was it only this morning our journey had begun?) started it by directing us the wrong way up a one-way street. He was followed by the two student hitchhikers who tried to convince us that the resort of Varadero was actually on the way to Pinar del Rio – even though the map showed it to be a two-hour drive in the opposite direction.
It was the first day of a two-week driving holiday in Cuba and we couldn’t even get out of Havana. My companion ignored my suggestion that we take the car back to the rental firm and just forget the whole thing and after one final effort we hit the motorway – six lanes of empty tarmac stretching into infinity. There is only one motorway running east to west along the backbone of Cuba. We chose to head west, for the hills and valleys of Pinar del Rio.
The city suburbs soon gave way to open roads and a landscape of palm trees, tobacco plantations and bohios (triangular tobacco storehouses). We caught glimpses of cigar-smoking farmers ploughing the fields with oxen while cowboys on horseback rounded up cattle.
Ahead was the setting sun, to our right the misty blue mountains of the Sierra del Rosario. The latest salsa hits crackled over the radio. Apoliceman parked on a motorcyle waved at us. We waved back. Life was good. We were finally on our way and it looked like we would make it to Los Jasmines hotel in time for a poolside cocktail.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that the smiling policeman was following us only he wasn’t smiling anymore – he was motioning for us to pull over. We were speeding. This seemed a fairly minor offence compared to the crimes against the highway code Ihad seen committed that day: the stretch-lada carrying nine people which reversed up a motorway slip road to pick up two hitchhikers, to name but one.
After much apologetic gesturing on our part the policeman waved us on and, against all the odds, we arrived at the hilltop hotel just in time to see the sun slip down behind the mogotes – the hive-shaped hills which break up the landscape of western Cuba.
The thickly-forested hills of Pinar del Rio are home to a varied wildlife and there are several nature reserves and ‘eco-hotels’ here which can be used as bases for horseriding and walking – a perfect antidote to the hustle of Havana.
There are plenty of day-trip excursions from the city to this area but for real freedom and a perfect opportunity to meet the local people, a car is recommended. Signposting is haphazard and a basic level of Spanish is essential to ask directions. Fortunately, in Cuba you are never far from someone who is only too pleased to climb in and show you the way. Over the next two weeks, we took children to school and farmers home from work, blew kisses to cowboys, got stuck in the middle of a herd of cattle and waylaid by a plague of giant land crabs blocking the road for as far as the eye could see.
Driving in Cuba has its frustrations but it’s also great fun:the open roads, stunning scenery and self-appointed tour guides you meet along the way will compensate for the crabs and cows. Just don’t go if you are sensitive about your parking skills.
n Havanatour can arrange a six night Western Cuba flydrive combining three nights in Havana with three nights in Pinar del Rio from £636 per person including Cubana flights and four days’ car hire.