Ryan and I hooked up with Devin and Alberto for a day of climbing at La Palenque Wall.
We decided to catch a taxi as it is slightly out of town (only a few km). Upon arriving we can see the classic Cuba Libre wall - it is a very steep long route that works its way out of a huge cave largely visible from the road.
Devin and Alberto are climbing a little harder than we are (Alberto is currently the top climber in Cuba), but we start out together on the vertical face on the other side of the road from the main Cuba Libre wall, where there are a few 10s to warm up on. Starting off on 'Socialism ? Oh Muerte' (10a), I am eaten alive by mosquitoes. Bad timing as this is the first day that I have decided to forego the long pants that I have worn the last few days to avoid this particular problem. With a rash of bites up and down my arms and legs, I still manage to have a good morning of climbing. We next jumped on La Kirenia (10d), Confiscado (11b), Allez, Allez, Allez (11a), and Mi Amore (11a/b). Being a bit slower climbing than Devin and Alberto, they decide to lounge on the grass across the street while we finish up the last climb, which takes us a little while - it being a little run out in a couple of places and phasing Ryan a little. I decide to just clean this one rather than lead it under the circumstances. Seconding wasn't too bad, though I am sure the headspace would have been quite different on lead.
Once we are done, everyone is in more of a mood for lounging than climbing, so we sit on the lawn in front of La Palenque - (also a touristy spot for a cave restaurant that we didn't even check out. Apparently on some Saturday nights they have a nightclub here in the cave which sounds fun, but I never did get to).
In the end, we don't even bother climbing in the afternoon, and simply hitchhike on an old tractor back to town (or at least most of the way back).
Friday, March 21, 2008
First day off
On my first day off, I thought I would try to do some sightseeing, so Ryan and I decided to try our hand out with the 'yellow jackets' - government workers wearing a yellow vest that essentially stop most traffic heading out of town to allow hitchhikers to ride with them. There is a queue, and he gives you a number that indicates your priority in heading a particular direction. As it turns out we time it quite poorly and end up waiting over 3 hours for a ride. Luckily, we met a nice Spanish woman waiting for the same ride, so we were able to pass the time chatting. Nevertheless, after 3 hours we had had pretty much enough, and Ryan suggested we give it another 15 minutes tops. 14 minutes later a truck came by and we all loaded in! Despite our wait, we had a great ride standing up in the back of the truck with all of the other passengers. The countryside in this area is quite scenic - lush and rural.
The ride itself costs 1 cuban peso (standard) - about 4 cents!
Our destination is a large cave outside of town that is quite well known. We have to walk a little from the sideroad where the truck lets us off, but it is a pleasant walk and not too far. Once we get to the cave area, we decide to avoid the tour groups and guides, and wander up the path to where the cave entrance is (we think). After a 10 minute walk up a trail, we arrive at the opening to the cave, but it is deserted and there is a fence and locked gate barring the entrance. We decide to just climb over the fence and wander in on our own since we have headlamps. Inside there are sections which are quite impressive cavernous sections, but probably not worth the $10 or $15 entrance charge. After about half an hour of exploring we hear voices and figure that we should lay low, but it is too late. The guide sees us and inquires how we got in. He knows we jumped the fence and suggests we simply wanted to avoid paying - which is partially true. We feel a little guilty, and are a bit sheepish about how it looks, but he is fairly cool about it. In the end, Ryan suggests that we make our way out so that he can pretend he never saw us and he agrees. We head out and down to the main information station, where we inquire about getting a guide (since we know that they probably saw us head up the trail, and wanted to make sure we had a story that would both keep us from getting in trouble and prevent the guide we had met from being interrogated about us).
The price for a guided tour is a little steep, and we don't really want to go back so we come up with an excuse and head back. On the way back to the main road, Ryan is feeling hungry so we decide to ask a family with some banana trees outside if we can buy a few bananas. They wander back to the house and come out with a bunch of bananas, not taking any money.
On the way back we get picked up by something that looks like a local van / bus - it is fairly empty, but people seem to use it as local transportation. They drop us off in Vinales and do not take any money (not even a Cuban peso). We are a bit confused about this, but happy to have had the chance to try yet another form of transport.
The ride itself costs 1 cuban peso (standard) - about 4 cents!
Our destination is a large cave outside of town that is quite well known. We have to walk a little from the sideroad where the truck lets us off, but it is a pleasant walk and not too far. Once we get to the cave area, we decide to avoid the tour groups and guides, and wander up the path to where the cave entrance is (we think). After a 10 minute walk up a trail, we arrive at the opening to the cave, but it is deserted and there is a fence and locked gate barring the entrance. We decide to just climb over the fence and wander in on our own since we have headlamps. Inside there are sections which are quite impressive cavernous sections, but probably not worth the $10 or $15 entrance charge. After about half an hour of exploring we hear voices and figure that we should lay low, but it is too late. The guide sees us and inquires how we got in. He knows we jumped the fence and suggests we simply wanted to avoid paying - which is partially true. We feel a little guilty, and are a bit sheepish about how it looks, but he is fairly cool about it. In the end, Ryan suggests that we make our way out so that he can pretend he never saw us and he agrees. We head out and down to the main information station, where we inquire about getting a guide (since we know that they probably saw us head up the trail, and wanted to make sure we had a story that would both keep us from getting in trouble and prevent the guide we had met from being interrogated about us).
The price for a guided tour is a little steep, and we don't really want to go back so we come up with an excuse and head back. On the way back to the main road, Ryan is feeling hungry so we decide to ask a family with some banana trees outside if we can buy a few bananas. They wander back to the house and come out with a bunch of bananas, not taking any money.
On the way back we get picked up by something that looks like a local van / bus - it is fairly empty, but people seem to use it as local transportation. They drop us off in Vinales and do not take any money (not even a Cuban peso). We are a bit confused about this, but happy to have had the chance to try yet another form of transport.
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