Early breakfast at Hostel Armonia ! Today the plan is to find a taxi willing to bring us to discover the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of Sugar Mills) & co. for a fair price. Knowing that taxis around the area of Plaza Carrillo (usually from there you take the taxi/bus to Playa Ancon) are the ones with the cheapest fares, we decide to opt for that against trying to find a taxi on Simon Bolivar street (more touristy road).
As you can guess, on arrival we’re greeted by a dozen of taxi drivers proposing the same tour: Mirador of Valle de los Ingenios, Manaca Iznaga Tower & Hacienda San Isidro. We look around looking for other tourist willing to share the tour and fare with us but nothing… only tourists in bikinis ready for Ancon. Although our casa owners told us that a fair price for said tour would range between 30-40CUC, we immediately get offered no less than 50CUC !!! Luckily, after some looking around and ignore-the-taxi-driver technique, we manage to rip off an amazing deal with a guy whom, for 25CUC, also includes a visit to Hacienda Güaimaro. Seems legit, we hop in the taxi and off we go !
The first stop of the tour is just outside the city of Trinidad: the Mirador of Valle de los Ingenios. As obvious as it can be, this beautiful viewpoint overlooks the Valley in all its beauty, from side to side as far as the eye can see. Palms, fields, lakes, a couple of villages and mountains in the back: perfect postcard ! The view is honestly breathtaking, probably the closest we’ve came across to the view of the Mogotes in Viñales ! We also get to know that apart from the tiny restaurant, visitors are also given a chance to do zip-lining over a small bit of forest next to the mirador for a not-so-cheap fare.
Next on is the Manaca Iznaga hacienda located just 14km away from the Mirador. There, we have our first huge let-down of the tour; all along the cobblestone road that leads to the tower, there’s an incredible amount of road-side shops, people pushing you to take photos with their “domesticated” raptor or cart-drivers offering tours, all on a mass-tourist tailored level. Apart from the fact that during the walk we can barely talk to each other without being interrupted, its sad to see how the place has become a souvenir trap. Even the beautiful architecture of the main building (what used to be the house of the owners, do enter just for a quick visit) has now been transformed into a popular restaurant where to buy expensive mojitos.
Our last stop (read next paragraph) is at the Hacienda Güaimaro. Immediately, we notice the colonial print of the outer architecture of the building only to discover, just minutes later, that it used to be the countryside house of a Catalan back in the 19th century. After paying the “political” 1CUC each for entrance (including the possibility of taking photos), our guide Denise starts the tour that will lead us through the 4 rooms of the house (two bedrooms, living room and office). Funny, knowledgable and kind, her humor keep us interested for no less than the 45min needed for visiting the house & nearby chapel. Even when discussing about the paintings hanging off walls, she has so much more to add and plotwist… most of the painting depict landscapes of Catalonia and Italy ! What a chance !
On the way to what was supposed to be our last stop, Hacienda San Isidro, we get told that the road to get there its too bad (due to last week rain) and hence there’s no wait to reach the place. Another let down. A couple of seconds later, we ask to the driver to bring us anyway to the beginning of the road to San Isidro (at this point we learnt we should never trust anybody) and as expected the reply is a simple “We’re too close to Trinidad to go back !”. A bit annoyed, we tell the driver he should have told us that the road to San Isidro was not viable back to when we were in Trinidad but the answer is even more suspicious… “I forgot.” Fed up with people lying to us, once arrived in Trinidad, we start discussing with the driver and end up paying him only 22CUC for the tour (instead of 25CUC). Surely, the tour is a great way to explore the history of the place but be ready to lower your expectations anytime !
PLANNING A TRIP TO CUBA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
[pt_view id=”f12e95aw5h”]