We continued our journey up through the heart of Cuba, avoiding the
autopista and sticking to the two-way single road
Carretera Central highway.
Along the way we passed through a small hamlet with the seemingly
unlikely name of "
George Washington".
We passed through vast fields of sugar cane. Cuba was once the world's
largest exporter of sugar and prior to the US embargo, supplied 1/3 of all
US sugar imports. Following that and up to the dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow purchased much of the crop at a subsidized
price and in return for fuel.
Today, many of the sugar mills are closed and we saw large mills that
had fallen into ruin.
Varadero is a resort town located on a 1.2km wide, 20km long peninsula,
with a white sandy beach stretching along its entire length.
For many Canadian, European and South American visitors to Cuba,
their resort stay at Varadero is as much of the island that they see.
The water here is crystal clear and aqua blue.
In the evenings, clubs along the peninsula come alive with live
music, dancing and low-priced cocktails. A lot of the country's
sugar makes its way into Havana Club rum and tall classes with
sprigs of mint leaves, ready to be turned into mojitos, would extend
for meters along the bar.
Nearby are large and impressive cave systems.