Another long drive westwards of nearly 300km took us to
Trinidad, a UNESCO world heritage site, and perhaps the most celebrated place
in Cuba.
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| Sugar Cane Harvesting |
En route we stopped briefly for lunch in the town of
Sancti Spiritus and later at the Valley of the Sugar Mills. This was a slaving area where slaves were
forced to work long hours in the sugar cane
plantations and the sugar
mills. A tower 7 floors high was built
as a lookout to watch the slaves working in the valley. The tower housed two
bells: one was rung when it was time for the slaves to stop work and take a
meal in the communal eating house; the other when an escape was discovered.
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| The lookout tower in the Valley of the Sugar Mills |
Trinidad rightly deserves its UNESCO World Heritage site
status. From the vantage point of the
top of the tower in the museum of Municipal History the town is a rich
patchwork of cobbled streets, brightly coloured houses and red tiled roofs.
Music washes around you: every roof top terrace bar has its own band and every
restaurant its own group of troubadours.
At night on the broad steps beside the cathedral a salsa band beats out
its rhythm as couples sway to their sound.
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| Panoramic view over Trinidad from the tower in the Museum of Municipal History |
Many of the families who live in the old houses rent out
rooms, and our accommodation was at the home of Vivian and Pablo, close to the
centre. The rooms were impeccably clean,
the attention to detail outstanding, although the colour scheme of the room a
garish green which along with its cornices and mouldings reminded one somewhat
of a Mr Kiplings fancy cake!
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