| After picking up the bicycle on Thursday, I finally took | | | | getting some exercise at the same time.In the evening |
| my first ride on Friday afternoon through the beautiful | | | | my friend Pedro and I decided to catch the "GuaGua" |
| residential area of Vedado. We had had a tropical | | | | again and we took a "Camello" (a very large bus with |
| downpour in the early afternoon, so the streets were | | | | 2 humps, pulled by a truck engine) from around the |
| a bit wet and it was about 4 pm or so by the time I | | | | Capitolio to the other side of Havana Bay to the old |
| got out. Of course, by that time, rush hour traffic had | | | | fortress of "El Morro" which was built in th 16th century. |
| already started and there were thousands of people in | | | | The Camello was so full that one of my feet couldn't |
| the street, waiting for buses. The bicycle was a pretty | | | | touch the ground and the hydraulic doors coulnd't close |
| new mountain bike, but it seems that all the gears and | | | | because people were hanging out the door. Certainly |
| derailleurs were totally screwed up and I constantly | | | | an experience.....Every day at 9 pm they have a |
| had problems with the chain. 2 of the 3 chainrings in | | | | ceremony at the fortress where they have a few |
| the front didn''t work at all and I had a pretty hard time | | | | men dressed up in old (colonial?) uniforms and they |
| getting along with the bike.But even more so than the | | | | shoot off 2 cannon balls across the bay to |
| technical difficulties, the stares I got from all the locals | | | | commemorate La Habana's military past. El Morro and |
| were a really unnerving experience, especially since | | | | Las Cabanas is an interesting area with a museum |
| there were so many people in the street. You don't | | | | and numerous stores selling tourist merchandise. After |
| see too many modern bicycles on the street, and | | | | the ceremony we caught another, much less |
| even fewer are ridden by women. Of course the guys | | | | overstuffed, GuaGua back to the western side of La |
| whistle at you at every turn, which, as I am told, is | | | | Habana and we had another very affordable dinner in |
| totally part of the culture and not a threatening gesture. | | | | the Barrio Chino.This time my intestinal system was |
| Nevertheless, I did feel rather unnverved with this | | | | okay and I caught a good night's sleep to rest up for |
| experience.Bicycles in general are basic means of | | | | the weekend.Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a |
| transportation here, not recreational vehicles. And | | | | website called Travel and Transitions( Travel and |
| considering that even a very basic new bike at maybe | | | | Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is |
| $100 or so is worth 5, 6 or even 10 months of state | | | | chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, |
| salary, it's not surprising that they tell you never to let | | | | interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights |
| the bicycle out of your sight. And riding through the | | | | and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and |
| streets I almost felt as if I was surrounded by a group | | | | many other features. You will also find stories about |
| of lions that were ready to pounce to capture their | | | | life and the transitions that we face as we go through |
| prey.So as a result I decided, I'd rather not attract that | | | | our own personal life-long journeys.Submit your own |
| much attention to myself and I decided to hand the | | | | travel stories in our first travel story contest( and have |
| bike back to the owner. The last thing I wanted is for | | | | a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the |
| the bicycle to get stolen, so I decided I'll wing it with | | | | Amazon River. |
| regular transportation options and do more walking, | | | | |