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Breakfast on the patio, the usual eggs, coffee & I also had a packet porridge I had in my bag. Charged for the day we walked down to the bus station area to organise our transport to Havana. It took barely 5 minutes to secure a collectivo minibus for 15CUC. We walked across the road to the hop on hop off bus stop & waited. And waited. Initially we figured it was just Cuba time but some other girls went to ask & the first bus was just canceled. Just because it seemed. We decided to go change money & it was lucky the bus had been cancelled as the change place was closing at 11.30 instead of 4pm. The usual long queue had us waiting for about an hour & we wished we had all our money on us to change so we didn't have to do this again in Havana. With money changed we were just in time for the 10.30 bus. Whilst waiting at the stop we were approached by a tout offering the same price as the bus to see the sights in a taxi with the two girls we were talking to. We all agreed so as the hop on hop pulled in we were instead off in a very narrow taxi. First stop was the Cuevos del Indio (caves) where you firstly walk through part of the cave then took a boat through the second part. Of course there was a queue but the caves were quite big with different texture rocks on the walls to look at. After our boat ride it was back in the taxi with the next stop el palenque, another cave which we didn't bother to pay to go in. We instead asked the driver to stop at a tobacco farm which when we first pulled up seemed as though we were just randomly walking through some tobacco fields but in the drying sheds a young suave guy showed us how they make a cigar & then of course offered to sell some. Mum bought 12 for 40CUC which seemed a bit much but she was determined. The next stop was the 'Prehistoric murals' which apparently took 18 people 4 years to paint on the cliff face although they were rather basic with some outlines of people, a basic dinosaur etc in big slabs of colour. It certainly wasn't the Sistine Chapel. On the up side our 3CUC entrance got us a free drink which turned out to be an amazing Pina Colada with rum bottle handed to us to add our own. On our merry way we next stopped at the Hotel los Jazmines which was set on a hill out of town with an amazing view over the valley & the round 'migotes' (limestone formations). The other two German girls wanted to also see a different view so we stopped at the El Ermita hotel which had a view over the town & the valley beyond. Finally the taxi returned to the centre of Vinales which after goodbyes with the German girls we just had enough time to walk out of town a bit to check about the Sunset walking tour to the Valle De Silencio. They had room on the tour so we waited about 30 mins then bundled into another classic car with a Dutch couple & another guy plus the guide & driver- a little squished it was only a few minutes drive up the road to a narrow gravel road running between some fields where we began our walk. The guide pointed out various crops & fruit plants on the side of the track and explained different ways they could be used. We stopped at a coffee farm (although I only saw one coffee plant) where they tried to sell bags of coffee & also had a big seating area to sell drinks. It was capitalism in a socialist country at its best with tourists everywhere buying coffee, drinks & horse rides. We kept walking to a small lake but no one in our group wanted to swim so we soon continued on to another farm/bar set up this time to sell tobacco. So far I hadn't experienced the 'Valley of Silence' as we passed so many other people & especially here as a large number stopped to watch the sunset over the valley (& learn about cigars & buy mojitos!). Once the sun set we continued up the track to be picked up by our old car but this time the guide had to get in the boot, apparently because of the police. Mum & I got dropped at our end of town with enough time to shower, hydrate & then sit down to enjoy dinner at the casa. Gladys provided grilled pork, rice, salad & a vegetable noodle soup. Although I had checked with Gladys that mum couldn't eat wheat or flour she seemed clueless to the fact that noodles contain wheat. The other people staying at the casa were a French Canadian couple so we chatted with them for a while then wandered into town so I could use internet & mum could check out the salsa place in the corner of the square before returning for bed.
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