[gary]

In order to travel around the island, we rented a car from the state-owned
rental car company.

Our six-year-old air-conditioned VW Passat was one of the minority of more modern
vehicles on the road.

Driving in Cuba was certainly less demanding than driving through,
say, parts of Asia or Africa.

Though within towns the traffic could be busy, in rural areas
the 8 lane autopistas that joined the major towns were virtually empty.

People couldn't afford to drive those distances on them.

Subsidized gasoline came courtesy of Venezuela.

Under the overpasses of the autopista there would be official government
sanctioned and controlled hitchhiking stops. All vehicles in Cuba, with the
exception of tourist rental cars identified with a "T" on their number plate,
are obligated by law to give lifts to people. If an official flags your car/truck
down, you must stop and give people a lift.

So it would be a common sight to see a dozen or more people riding on
the back of a truck in order to get to or from work.

In towns other than Havana, horse and carts were the predominant form of public
transport for short distances. There were thousands of them.

So whilst driving you would go from the open freedom of the freeway
with all four lanes to yourself to a rapid fire video game requiring
full concentration whilst you gave way to trucks and horses and carts.

As a rule, the Cubans were cautious and courteous drivers.

When the US embargo is finally lifted, I feel sorry for what might be the
eventual fate of all those horses.