I was pondering how to get out of Cuba, the cheapest airline is Cubana. Cubas national airline.

Online reviews suggested taking Mexicana as they have proper planes, and a decent saftey record. But Cubana won on price. I didn´t bother to check if it was on the EU banned list.

While exploring Habana I did come across this billboard. Yes that is a Cubana plane going down in flames.

Once I had bought my ticket, I discovered I was flying on something called a Yak 42. A quality russian airplane. So what if its called a Yak.. They’re pretty hardy animals.

Once on board, I was sitting beside a russian. The male cabin attendant was russian, part time onboard mechanic as well? And the panel above my head summed it up.

During takeoff the aircon system started misting up the cabin, some people started freaking out as it enveloped them.

After all that humdrum, it turns out I got to Guatemala safe and sound. And decided to read a little about the old Yak42…

Wikipedia states

The Yak-42 was built at Smolensk, and it entered service with Aeroflot in late 1980. Almost 100 had been delivered by 1993.

Shortly after the type’s introduction into commercial service, a number of accidents caused by vibrations in the tail section of the aircraft forced a suspension of the type’s operations. After the necessary modifications were made, the Yak-42 re-entered service in the Soviet Union circa 1985.

The type was never exported as new, only after the political transition of the former Soviet Union, a few Yak-42s were leased out to carriers in Africa, Cuba, Pakistan and in former Yugoslavia.

as of August 2007 133 out of 300 Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft remain in airline service.

I dont want to know what happened to the other 167 of the Yaks…

I ended up in Cuba on a whim, and I’m pretty happy I did.

I managed to spot Raul Castro. But couldn’t find Fidel in Vinegar anywhere.

I learned not to ask for chili sauce as the first response I got was “This is not Mexico” in Spanish.

Food wise, Cuba gets a bad rap. Salt is pretty much the only “spice”. I only once found mustard and pickles in a small ham sandwich street shop. That guy is going to be rich!

The answer is to eat mainly on the streets, and take your own chili sauce.

Eat as much street pizza, ice cream and lobster as possible.

• $1 for 40 Scoops of Ice cream (5 scoops for 3 pesos, 25 pesos to a dollar)
• $1 for 25 soft serve ice creams.
• $0.20 for a standard street cheese pizza
• $0.28 for a street pizza w Ham
• $0.80 for the premium Street pizza that put me into food coma.
• $8 for Lamb shanks that were amazing
• $8 for a meal including a whole lobster tail.
• $15 for a lobster tail, w a pianist accompanying us for our finale dinner.

In 16 Days, I would estimate I ate 8 litres of ice cream, 18 – 20 pizzas a couple of cute little lambs and a few  super tasty lobsters.

There’s something cool about the illegal taxis, they often sound like diesel trucks, often including the black smoke out the back. But when they deliver you in style. So cool.

As for the fashion in Cuba. It must say D&G in shiny letters, and be as skin tight as possible.

Cuba really has a great city life. Because there is only Government tour agencies, and they’re in the hotels, the entire city is actually lived in. (unlike Antigua, Guatemala). Grannies sitting on the steps, kids playing bottle-top baseball in the streets. Oldies dozing in the plazas, domino games getting serious on the money. Its funky!

While I was sailing to Cuba I managed to pop my eardrum.

I was also reading Bill Bryson’s “Short History of Nearly Everything.”

Which stated that ‘one can blow tobacco smoke out of the ear in question, which is a social accomplishment’

Travel is all about learning new things. Including cool party tricks…

One week spent on a 40m classic 1900′s sailing ship, cruising the waters of the Caribbean from Colombia to Cuba sounded pretty damn good to me! Being a classic ship, I assumed it wouldn´t have a swimming pool. So I brought one along.

most of the passengers were puking the first few days, the ship getting rocked around quite a bit in the first night due to a storm, even ripped 4 of the sails.

I gave up fishing after 4 days of nothing.

But then the fun started. We anchored and went swimming, snorkeling and rope swings off the mast…

Video of the Rope Swing off the mast into the Caribbean

Unfortunately I popped my eardrum doing said rope swing. Maybe no more attempted back flips for me.

We finally managed to catch some Tuna, Dorado and Spanish Mackerel. Tasty. All in all a groovy week aboard the Steel Rat.

We were sitting outside a local pub in Cartagena, Colombia. A busker walked up, grabbed a chair and table and balanced them on his chin. Not bad I thought.

He pulled out a 5inch nail,  and proceeded to push it all the way into his nose, the head disappearing inside with a snort and a flick of his head.

Now he really has my attention. He does it a few more times. Then proceeds to do the same with a screwdriver, all the way till the handle is pressed against his nose.

I asked him for the nail, intending to act the fool and not actually put it up my nose.

But he came over and in rapid Spanish was explaining what I had to do. I understood nothing but put my head back, and probably something like don’t move too much or cough.

So now I can insert nails and lolly pop sticks up my nose to the gross entertainment of anybody around. Haven’t managed to get paid for it yet though.

The volcano looks like a pimple on the landscape.

you walk up to the top, scare away the oldies getting a massage in the mud, then you get to jump in from the lip and spray mud everywhere.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

When the novelty wears off you go down to the lake and the ladys wash you off.

Thats the travel “Bible” or “The BOOK” as travellers call it. Ive heard of people meeting their authors who dont visit the locations, just sit in one of the main travel hubs and chat to people.
No wonder the maps are crap!

Lonely Planet rocked by fraud scandal

April 13, 2008 – 9:03AM

Popular guide book giant Lonely Planet has suffered a severe blow to its credibility, with one of its authors admitting to plagiarising and making up huge slabs of his books.

Thomas Kohnstamm, who worked on more than a dozen guide books for the publisher, has even admitted that he didn’t visit one of the countries he wrote about, saying he worked on the book about Columbia from his US home.

“They didn’t pay me enough to go (to) Columbia,” News Ltd newspapers reported him saying.

“I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating – an intern in the Colombian Consulate.

“They don’t pay enough for what they expect the authors to do.”

He also claimed to have accepted free travel, breaking the publisher’s policy aimed at maintaining the independence of its authors.

Mr Kohnstamm’s confession is a severe blow to Lonely Planet, considered a bible to travellers all over the world.

More than six million of its country guides are sold each year.

Lonely Planet has conducted a review of all Mr Kohnstamm’s guide books, but says it has failed to find any inaccuracies in them.
AAP

Southpark has some real gems.. And you can watch the whole episode online for free

Die Hippie Die…

Cartman runs a “pest control” service to try and rid the town of hippies, a foe he has feared and hated for most of the series, mainly because, according to Cartman, “all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.” Having studied hippies in his quest to eradicate them, Cartman deduces that the hippies are about to start a music festival in South Park. His attempts to warn the town council are futile, and he is arrested soon afterwards for imprisoning 63 captured hippies in his basement.

watch it now

Parque Tayrona is an amazing coastal national park on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The plan was for plenty of swimming, eating, drinking and general merriness to celebrate my birthday.

Oh and not to forget to recuperate from the strenuous 6 day trek I had just finished..

First thing was to smuggle the booze into the park. I had packed away 2 bottles of Ron for my birthday. And with a smooth bait and switch the policeman searching my bags didn’t spot it. No point paying a bribe if you don’t have to! All of the others also managed to smuggle a bottle each. Maybe we were all extra clever.

To begin the evenings festivities we made cocktails. Beach version pina-coladas. Then the guys surprised me with a birthday flan with number candles and a disco bottle of vodka

It wasn’t long till the disco bottle was mounted, I received my birthday tattoo and life was just that little bit longer…

A 6 day hike in the Colombian jungle to a hilltop location where a bunch of people used to live a long time ago

Highlights.

• Lots of 20 year old army dudes that will happily lend you their guns.
• Swinging off vines like Tarzan

Kidding myself that it was a tough 6 day hike in the tropical heat. It was usually a casual stroll for 3 or so hours per day.

Brilliant!