Havana is split into 3 major areas – El Vedado, Centro Habana and La Habana Vieja. We started at Vedado, crossed over to Centro Habana (or Central Havana) and ended at La Habana Vieja (or Old Havana).

Vedado

Vedado is the new or modern area of Havana which serves as the Business district and the Urban neighbourhood. El Vedado means “The Forbidden Zone”, as it was once a Military area during the Spanish rule and closed to public. Post liberation from Spanish, this area became a favourite of the US Investors, leading to a posh buildings in different classical styles, which still exist today.

One of the main attraction or landmark here is the Plaza de la Revolución or the Revolution Square. This is the central Square of Havana, where key people like Fidel Castro used to address the Cuban people. Many important buildings surround the square, the most prominent one being the Memorial to José Martí – Cuban National hero who liberated Cuba from Spanish rule.

Facing the same, in the opposite end of the square, are two buildings with images of two other great heroes of Cuba. On the left is Ministry of Interior, with image of Che Guevara and his famous words – “Hasta la victoria siempre” or “Until everlasting victory always”.

On the right is the Ministry of Communications, with image of Camilo Cienfuegos, another Cuban revolutionary hero and Fidel’s friend, with his words “Vas bien, Fidel” or “You’re doing fine, Fidel”

On our way to the next destination,  our guide and driver stopped briefly at a calm and quiet area of the city, full of greenery. This was the Parque Almendares, the only major green area of the city. It has a lot of history and mystery attached to it. Now certain sections are used for recreation by the people in the city, but some bear witness to strange offerings and rituals of the followers of Yoruba Religion, practiced primarily by Afro-Cubans. They are descendants of erstwhile slaves who were brought from West Africa. Their religion is now integrated with Christianity, but still retain many strange rituals, which appear like voodoo or Black magic to most.

Another famous landmark in this neighbourhood is Hotel Nacional de Cuba. This is one of the luxury hotels in Havana with a lot of History. Many world leaders have stayed here on diplomatic visits. This Hotel also played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Anti-Aircraft guns and Bunkers manned in it’s compound during that time. Fidel himself used to visit this place and observe the American fleet from the bunkers here.

This area of Vedado has many luxury Hotels. Another one is Habana Libre shown below, viewed from entrance of Hotel Nacional.

Centro Habana or Central Havana

The Central part of Havana is not a Tourist friendly place. Sandwiched between Vadado in the west, Old Havana in the East and the famous Malecón Seawall in the North, Central Havana is a crowded, run down residential district. This the place we decided to stay, as there are many economical and well maintained Air B&Bs here.

North of Central Havana lies one of the iconic landmarks of Havana – the Malecón – an 8km long seawall and road along the coast. A walk through here is a must,  especially when the tide is high! Prepare to be drenched by the high waves splashing on to the seawalls. At night this area becomes alive, as it a popular place for local people to spend their evenings. They spend time chatting, playing instruments or munching on some freshly prepared snacks cooked on stalls that open up as night falls.

Habana Viejo or Old Havana

This is the most visited and touristy part of the City – primarily because of the vibrance, the architecture and history. The border between Central Havana and Old Havana is the Paseo del Prado, a promenade that starts from Malecón and runs inward. This avenue is richly decorated on both sides with classic lamp posts, marble benches and lined with trees in some sections.

As we move inward from Malecon through the promenade, we come to the Central Park, surrounded by ornate buildings.

From here the Pedestrian part of Old Havana starts.From here the Pedestrian part of Old Havana starts. You can walk through myriad narrow lanes, lined with bars, souvenir stalls, bakeries, street performers and of course, tourists like us!

Each building and alley had a story behind them and it was great to listen to them from our guide as we walked by them.  The photo opportunities in this part of town are unlimited!

The best place to get a panoramic view of Old Havana is the View point at the base of the statue of Christ of Havana. This statue can be seen from most places in the city and is located on a hill overlooking the Havana bay in the Casablanca neighbourhood.

Vintage Cars of Havana

It would be a crime to move on if I don’t mention a word or two about the vintage cars of Cuba. As you may have seen in the pictures above, there are many 50s-60s era American cars in the street of Havana. After the Cuban Revolution when communists came to power under Fidel Castro, a trade embargo was placed on Cuba. With no local manufacturing facilities and heavy taxes, owning new cars became a dream for most Cubans. But there were many cars already on the streets, from the American period before the revolution. So the Cubans kept on maintaining them till date. Recently, when Cuba opened its doors to tourism, they became a sensation. The moment you step out of airport, you get a feeling of being transported back in time to the 60s, when you see all the classic cars plying the streets!

Important things to keep in mind before visiting Cuba

Bring Money in Cash as Euro or GBP – It is highly unlikely that your Debit or Credit card will work in Cuba due to the ongoing trade embargo. We tried unsuccessfully to withdraw cash using cards issued by Citibank, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, when we ran out of cash. (We survived couple of days thanks to our guide who trusted us and agreed to accept part of payment later once we leave Cuba!) US Dollars are not favoured and has an extra surcharge for conversion. Currencies that are popular are CAD, GBP or EUR. So best is to bring cash (always budget some extra) and exchange them at the counter in the Airport before leaving – and count the bills.

Mobile Roaming  most likely would not work –  Cubacel is the only Network on the Island and our Vodafone SIMs didn’t latch on to the same. There are coin operated pay phones in the streets at regular intervals. Our host was kind enough to let us use his land-line or desk phone for an emergency.

Internet is slow and expensive, limited to Public places – Internet is regulated by the government and individual connections are not allowed. They are available only in Public WiFi Hot Spots, access to which is provided basis Recharge cards. If your Hostel is offering you internet, it is illegal, routed from Hot Spot areas.

There are 2 currencies – CUC and CUP – operate with care – Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) and Cuban Peso (CUP) are two currencies in circulation in Cuba. As a foreigner, you are supposed to use only the former – CUC – for your transactions. This is roughly pegged at par to the US Dollar. CUP is used by locals, and is at a rate of 25 CUPs to 1 CUC. The CUC currently notes have Monuments while CUP notes have Portraits – easy way to check that you are not duped.

Where to Stay – Hotels are very expensive,  and cannot be booked online on booking sites like Hotel.com or Booking.com. However, there are many affordable, clean and safe Bed & Breakfasts, which can be booked online via airbnb.com. The ones listed on Trip Advisor, may not be listed here, so you would have to reach out to the host directly to enquire for availability. You must plan in advance or the good ones get booked out!

We swam in a few simple Cenotes in Coba, after climbing the Pyramid (Read here).  But many of them are openings to vast cave systems that go deep underground. Some of them have been well-explored and mapped by experienced divers, so that lesser experienced divers can visit them safely. These flooded caves and caverns present a unique environment – cave formations, crystal clear still water and sunlight effects – presents truly an out of the world experience for those who are brave enough to venture in.

Open Water vs. Cavern vs. Cave Diving

First it is important to differentiate between diving in an Open Water, Cavern and Cave.

Open Water divers always have air to surface in emergency, like in open sea. But in Cavern and Cave diving, there is an overhead, preventing the diver from ascending for air in case of emergency. However in Cavern diving, there is always a fast exit to the Open water environment and surface light is available at all points. The dive path is clearly marked with a guide line and you don’t require specialised dive equipment. This kind of dive can be attempted if you have an Open Water Certification and there is a Cave Diving instructor to guide you. When you dive Caverns, you’ll come across the entrances to caves, and must never venture there. Cave diving is the most dangerous of them all and require specialised training and equipment. Most deaths are when people don’t follow instructions (See this Video)

Diving Dos Ojos Cenote Caverns

I signed up with CenotXperience Team in Playa del Carmen for a day of Cenote diving. They picked me up from the Hotel in the morning and drove to their office in town. After finishing the formalities, we drove to the dive sites. This was the first time I was going to the dive site on land, usually it’s via boat !

The Original plan was to dive in a cenote called Chac-Mool. But when we reached there, the authorities requested submission of additional documents as Government had made rules more strict due to a recent death of diver! Not encouraging moment for first time cavern diver! So our guide took us to Dos Ojos, where all the papers where in order for him.

Dos Ojos means Two Eyes in Spanish. This is because of the shape of the Cenote. There are two eyes or caves that provide access to the system. From here, there are two established routes – Barbie Line and Bat Cave. Barbie line is named so, because at the end of the line where you turn back, there is a barbie doll figure, and Bat Cave, because there is cave full of bats en route!

We first did the Bat Cave Line, followed by Barbie Line. It was a surreal experience. Initially it started a bit scary, with no air above to surface and near dark situation! However, within a few minutes, I got used to it. All I had to do was relax and follow the dive master. Here is the video summarising my experience.

Diving in freshwater, that too underground was a entirely different experience vs diving in the sea! First thing that you realise is that your buoyancy is completely different in freshwater, requiring less weights. Then, the water is extremely clear. At Certain point you feel as if you are floating in air. The hand signals used for underwater communication do not apply here as the team is swimming in a line, in forward direction. So the signalling is done with help of your flashlight. Which is brings me to the next point – you need a light source to navigate and observe the environment. Although you can spot the surface light almost everywhere, it is not enough. The most thrilling (and scary) fact is that there is an overhead. It is like diving inside the wreck of a ship. You can’t immediately surface in case of an emergency! You always follow the Dive Master and in a preassigned order – not deviating from the line at any point of time.

What made this dive memorable was the incredible sights it offered – floating past intricate geological formations that took thousands of years to form, in crystal clear waters, with sunlight seeping through creating emerald beams of light, all with the adrenaline rush of going through a submerged maze! There was risk, but if you ask me it was well worth taking it!

After visiting Coba and swimming in the cenotes, we continued northwards, toward the city of Valladolid. The old Mayan city of Chichén Itzá is located just outside the city limits. We checked in to our Hotel – Hacienda Chichèn – and rested for the night. This property was once an old colonial Spanish estate. This property shared a wall with the archaeological site and had a private backdoor access! We chose this Hotel specially for this reason, so that we could start our visit of the site early in the morning, just before the arrival of the fleet of tour buses from Cancun. You can find more about the hotel towards the end, in the “Where to Stay” section.

Visiting Chichén Itzá

Since this is an important and large historical site, we decided to avail the services of a tour guide to take us through the complex. It was 900 MXN for two of us, for a 2 hours tour, which was sufficient to cover all the major buildings.  By the time we were done with breakfast next day morning, the guide was waiting at the lobby, and the hotel receptionist had arranged entry tickets for us!

We entered the site through the Private entrance reserved only for the guests of the Hotel! As we walked through the small path through the jungle, stone ruins started appearing, just like out of an Indiana Jones’ movie!

As we delved deeper into the complex, we could appreciate why this is more popular than the other ruins. All the buildings are of a different scale altogether, and the carvings are well preserved and intricate!

Our guide gave us a brief introduction to the Mayan mythology and the way of life when this was once a sprawling city! As any urban settlement this city had houses, noble residences, observatories, royal residences, playing fields and much more. When the Spanish found this site, it was in an abandoned state, with no records! They named different buildings they found here after places back home in Spain, basis their resemblances! For example the building below was named ‘The Nunnery’ because the arched windows reminded them of the convents in Europe! But they were government or civic buildings. Another building with meshes was named ‘The Church’ because the mesh represented confession rooms in a Church.

As you can see from the map below, we started from the small backdoor private entrance to the site at the bottom, covering first the ‘Nunnery’ first and working our way towards the north side.

The next building is the Observatory. Every town seemed to have one, circular as usual.

Another area referred to as just Temple of Deer – because they found a painting of deer inside.

Next was a miniature version of the Temple of Kukulkan. This was made more like a scale model, before the construction began on the main pyramid – sort of trial construction. A taste of what was yet to come!

Finally we reached the pièce de résistance – The Temple of Kukulkan or El Castillo (The Castle)! And what a majestic sight that was. When we reached, there were hardly any tourists! Mission accomplished – we got the pyramid for ourselves for a few minutes!

This Pyramid is constructed as a series of square terraces, diminishing in dimension as one moves upwards. It is an architectural marvel because of many reasons. Firstly, during the two Equinoxes of the year, when the Sun shines directly over the equator, the terraces cast a series of triangular shadows on the stairs that join them, giving an illusion of a snake crawling down the stair wall. This was intentional and meant to represent the deity Kukulkan, who was believed have the form of a serpent with feathers!

Secondly, the altar at the top is acoustically engineered to amplify sounds emanating from the base, to produce a chirping sound. This resembles the chirping of the Quetzal bird, sacred to the Mayans. Our guide stood at the base of the Pyramid and clapped his hands twice to give us a demonstration. In a fraction of a second, the sound of a bird echoed back from the altar -something like ‘Pau Pau’! When the temple was functional, instead of claps, drums were used to create this sound, and the drummers synced the beats and echoes with the ‘crawl’ of the snake during the Equinox, to create a mystical atmosphere!

This Pyramid was so beautiful, we maximised our opportunity to click some pics before it got crowded!

The drummers were positioned in three big platforms facing the pyramid. Each platform was richly decorated with stone sculptures.

Next Area was the Ball court. This Ballcourt was so huge, almost 10 times that of Coba!

The guide gave us more background on the Mayan Ball game. This was played on special ceremonial occasions, by the best athletes in the city. The winner got the opportunity to get his head chopped off!!! Yes! The loser got the opportunity to cut the head of the winner! Apparently, it was considered a great honour to sacrifice oneself this way, and a shame to be the loser who decapitates the winner. Strange rituals! This is depicted in carvings on the sides of the court!

The next and last section was the Group of Thousand pillars. As the name sounds, it is a grand construction with many pillars standing upright.

On top of the raised platform, is a ‘Chacmool’ statue. It resembles a man in a reclining position, with a bowl over his stomach. Believed to be representing slain warriers, with bowl for placing offering to Gods!

That was the last section. With that the tour of Chichen Itza was complete and our guide left us so that we can do some exploring on our own. But it was getting hot and after clicking few more pictures, we decided to bid farewell.  On the way out, there were many souvenir shops offering interesting items.

We traced our way back to the hotel, this time from the main entrance. After enjoying a relaxing swim in the pool, we checked out and continued our journey to the final Mayan ruin in our tour – Ek’ Balam.

Visiting Ek’ Balam

Ek’ Balam is a small but interesting Mayan ruin that lies between Chichén Itzá and Playa del Carmen, which was our next destination. We dropped by for a quick visit.

Here the thatched roofs are reconstructed like the olden times and gives you an insight into how the buildings would have looked when they were in use! The main structure in this complex is the Acropolis, believed to contain the tomb of a King that ruled this place once.

Here you can climb the structures (much easier than Coba). Another important feature of this site is the well preserved plaster and carvings that gives an insight into the culture of Mayans!

Upon reaching the top, you get beautiful view of Mayan structures jutting out of the jungle!

With that, we ended our tour of the Mayan ruins and continued our drive to Playa del Carmen on the coast.

Where to Stay

Hacienda Chichen is a wonderful hotel to be based out of, to explore Chichén Itzá! The Hotel as we mentioned earlier is located right next to the complex and has a private entrance. It was an old Spanish Colonial villa or Hacienda, recently refurbished into a hotel. The rooms are spacious and cozy! There is also a large pool in the complex, with tall tropical trees on one side and beautiful lawn on the other! Perfect for a relaxing dip after the visit to the site. The Hotel room rate was ~Rs 13K per night, but we got it almost for free after utilising one of our Free Nights from Hotels.com! The Hotel staff will help arrange a guide for you at standard rate and buy tickets from the counter, just inform on the day before your visit.

About Coba

Coba was once a thriving Mayan city with up to 50,000 inhabitants during it’s peak. Most of the construction here happened between 500 – 900 AD. Now the village surrounding the site have little over 1000 people. It is located just 40~45 minutes North of Tulum.

Visiting the site

The site is vast and structures are spread out. We hired bikes from the hut right after the entrance (50 MXN per bike) to minimise the effort and time required for the visit. The bikes are numbered and there are designated parking spaces near each structure. You can also hire services of a Bike Taxi if you are too tired to cycle. But the road is flat and an easy ride.

The first structures you’ll come across are located right next to the Bicycle rental – Grupo Coba. A massive Pyramid called La Iglesia or The Church is the most prominent structure. You have to wait for the climb, this one is protected.

Cycling on, you reach the next set of ruins – The Ball court. The Mayan Ball game was played here. A ball from rubber was used for this game, and contestants tried to keep it in play using their hips, with the objective of putting them through the hoops on either side of the court.

The next major building was the Observatory. This had a circular base, as opposed to the rectangular base of the Pyramids. This was to keep track of the celestial bodies like Sun, Moon and Stars and synchronise the calendars.

Finally, we arrived at Nohoch Muul Pyramid. This was the last stop. Nohoch Mull apparently means large mound. One look at it and we were like, “Are we REALLY going to climb that ? The mound is REALLY tall!” And it is. At 42m or 130ft, it is the tallest Pyramid in the Yucatan Penninsula.

However, going up was easier than we thought. There is a big rope anchored in the middle, which was used for support. The stones were loose in some places, so we had to watch every step we took, as we climbed higher and higher. Once you reach the top, you are greeted by one of the most beautiful vistas.

Now came the difficult part – Climbing down. It turned out to be far more difficult than climbing up. We had to go down one step at a time – sitting down at each step and crawling downward.

Luckily we made it down without an incident Successfully completed Coba visit! Yaay!

What follows after a tiring climb ? A refreshing dip in a ‘Cenote’

A Cenote is a natural sinkhole found in Yucatan, formed when the limestone ground collapses to expose the groundwater below the surface. There are over 7000 such Cenotes in the Yucatan Penninsula. For the Ancient Mayans, it was a mysterious and sacred place, associated with the underworld. Certain cenotes were used for Human sacrifices, while most of them served as a source of freshwater for the region devoid of any major rivers or lakes!

Just few minutes away from the Coba site, there are 3 beautiful cenotes, perfect for a refreshing swim after a tiring day of sightseeing. They are Choo-Ha, Tamcach-Ha and Multun-Ha. Interesting names! I’ll refer them as Cenotes C, T & M for ease, please bear with me Cenotes C & T are located in same property while M is located slightly further away in a different property. They can be found on Google Maps, near Coba. By the way, visiting a Cenote is not free ! They are preserved and maintained by the owners of the property in which they are located, so they charge a small fee. At the entrance of Cenotes C & T, you can make the payment and get the tickets. Visiting one cenote is 55 MXN per person, but you get a discount of 10 MXN if you purchase all three together. We didn’t know which Cenote was which, so bought the combo ticket.

Cenote Choo-Ha

This was our first Cenote experience. There were shower/change rooms with curtains outside and a place to rent life-vests (@ 35 MXN pp). We  showered, changed to swimwear and entered the cenote. Viewing from the outside, the entrance is just a hole in the ground with winding wooden stairs leading you downward into darkness!

When you exit the stairs you enter this big chamber! There are two pools, one on the right which was large and occupied by a few people, and a small one on the left which was empty when we came.

Got the pool on the left for ourselves for few minutes, before another couple arrived. Because of that we were able to get a pic of ourselves

Cenote Tamcach-Ha & Multun-Ha

After exiting Cenote C, we got back in the car and drove a few hundred meters to the next Cenote in the property. This one seemed more crowded as there were lot of vans and cars parked outside. Once inside, we knew why! This Cenote was in the shape of a giant, deep well, with stairs taking you all the way down to the water level! At 5m & 10m height from the water level, the stairs had diving platforms. Both adults and kids were having the time of their lives running up, diving and repeating. Rahul decided to jump from 5m board. And trust me it is higher than it looks!

The last stop was Cenote M, located in a property a km away from the ticket booth on the same road we came from Coba. This one was also crowded, primarily because it was well lit, deep and clear, enabling people to have a good snorkeling experience there.  However, we were so exhausted after the first two cenotes, so just clicked a few pics and left.

Before you go, don’t Forget to…

Carry lots of water – There is only one shop at the very end that sells food and drinks, that too at a premium. Best is to carry a bottle or two in a day pack.

Wear proper shoes – As you saw, climbing up and down the pyramid is tricky due to the huge stones. To minimise the chances of slipping and hurting yourself, wear proper shoes and avoid sandals or slippers.

Arrive early in morning or just after lunch – As with any monument, best way to visit is in the morning. But incase you can’t make it, try visiting after lunch. The heat keeps most people away.

Bring bath towels, soap and swimwear – If planning to swim in a Cenote, you have to take a shower first and rinse off all the synthetic chemicals on you body – Hair gel/Make Up etc – as the cenotes are delicate. While showers, restrooms and changing rooms are available before going down, there are no other amenities. So bring your own.

Research Cenotes to Swim – Do a bit of research on what kind of Cenotes you prefer to visit. Cenote C is perfect for non-swimmers to take a dip and enjoy the cool waters and avoiding the crowd. Cenote T is perfect for people who like to jump from high platforms into water. Finally Cenote M is perfect for those who want to snorkel in a cave.

Reaching Coba

Best way to reach Coba is to be a part of a Tour group that starts from the major tourist centres. The other options is self drive. The Coba village is just 45 minutes north of Tulum. After visiting Coba if you wish to get to the Cenotes, you have to go outside of the town for a few Kms. The entrances are well marked or you can navigate there via Google Maps.

Staying in Coba

Coba is a small town and best visited while being based out of the nearby towns. We continued onwards to Chichen Itza, our next destination, after swimming at Cenotes, and stayed there. About that in next post. Stay tuned

Answer – Tulum, Mexico.

Tulum is a bohemian beach town located less than 2 hours south of the popular resort city of Cancún in Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

This town is famous for is laid back and backpacker atmosphere, giving a feeling of Mexican beach town – a stark contrast to the very commercial resort zone in Cancún! Tulum is a perfect place to just relax on the beach, sip a cocktail or two and enjoy Mexican food.

However, the major attraction that draws tourists from the region are the Mayan Ruins here. This is a unique archaeological site, as it is sandwiched between the Carribean Sea and the Tropical Yucatan Jungle.

Tips for Visiting Tulum Ruins

Tulum Ruins are relatively small and can be covered in just 2 hours. Many people visit Tulum Ruins as part of a day tour from Cancún. But this means you arrive at the site along with hoards of tourists around 10am.  So the best option is to arrive at Tulum just before the opening time of 8am. For this, either you start early from Cancún or stay overnight at Tulum. This allows you skip the tourist hoards and get the ruins almost for yourself, presenting opportunities to snap some great photographs without any people filling the frames! The temperature and humidity would be conducive as well, as it peaks closer to noon.

If you are reaching by means of a rented car, the official parking lot is a reliable place to keep your car, but it is expensive – 70 MXN ! Compare this to the Entry ticket at 65 MXN per person. There is a 5 minute walk from the Parking area to the Ticket Counter. This can be covered in a tractor pulled train for 20 MXN per person if you are in a hurry.

How to Reach Tulum?

The closest well connected major airport is Cancún. From here you can either rent a car and self drive to Tulum. We opted for this option and rented our car from National Car Rental. Otherwise, you can opt for a Private Transfer to Tulum offered by many Travel Agents, bookable online in advance. Or if in already in Cancun city, you can take Tourist bus that runs this route.

Where to Stay?

Being close to the protected environmental zone, most accommodation in Tulum are Eco-friendly and expensive. We stayed in a small Boutique hotel, with just 8 Rooms and a Private Beach called Piedra Escondida. Nightly rate was ~Rs 18K including breakfast. The room was right on the beach and had beautiful unobstructed view of the beach. Another reason for choosing this hotel was the Private Parking lot offered by the hotel. If you see the Google street maps, you’ll realise that the hotels and shops are located on either side of a one lane road. So parking is difficult to find.