February 29, 2020 From Pilon to Santiago de Cuba

February 29, 2020 From Pilon to Santiago de Cuba

This hotel staff has not been the friendliest, but we understand, dealing with drunk people wearing golden all-inclusive bracelets every day, who can tolerate that.

We are faced with a big decision, either we take the coastal road - 176 km of very bad road, the guide says if we leave early, we may still arrive before dark, or we take a detour of about 100 km and arrive in Santiago de Cuba around 4 pm. And the fuel tank is only half full.

All the gas stations we stop at, and we always stop, either have no gasoline, or only give out 5 or 10 liters.

Decision has been made for the detour and I sigh with relief.

Nothing new in the landscape, sugarcane and rice cultivation as far as possible. Occasionally, goats run across the streets, as well as chickens and dogs.

After about 100 km, we notice that a tire is losing air, and from now on, the search is expanded to find an air pump. But wherever we ask, most gas stations do not have an air station, some have them but without a hose, and others have them with a hose, but it's broken. Damn it. Instead, we bought 4 large bottles of carbonated water, we are happy about the little things in life.

In a larger town, a tourist from Berlin tells us that fuel rations can be obtained on a nearby street, great tip, we get 10 liters, not Super but regular. And what does our 4-page, densely written, Spanish rental car agreement say about what happens if we use the wrong fuel and the engine is not amused? No idea, and we don't really care at this point.

Finally, we have arrived, a very good hotel welcomes us with an upgrade. We accept and enjoy the comfort and tranquility. Tranquility has become important to us. It's quite noisy everywhere, the music, the people, the roaring mopeds. Only the car traffic doesn't make noise, there are hardly any cars.