I first woke up to the almost forgotten sound of a cock crowing and a little later to the sounds of horses being led close by. When I opened the curtains the views of the mountains and the valley were breathtaking.
All that had been available when I booked had been a junior suite and I seemed to have landed the best room in the house or rather the best room leading away from the house. It was simple and clean with huge bed and a sofa and a TV (with several Chinese programs since a cultural sharing initiative began between the two countries in 2008) and had the wonderful advantage of being the last one in a row of little chalets, the furthest from the main hotel building. In front of my veranda, decked with the two obligatory rocking chairs a well kept lawn sloped down to the trees leading to the valley.
When I eventually went up for breakfast there was no sign of any other guests in this hotel that was supposed to be full. I later found out that there was a Saga Holidays group and the old folk had gotten up much earlier to go on one of their excursions. The breezy dining room above the lobby was empty apart from a few staff members wandering in and out and tiny birds swooping in for crumbs left on the uncleared tables. All around doors opened onto balconies and the panoramic views beyond. Breakfast at the wonderfully pink Hotel Los Jazmines was fine, chopped guava and papaya and the same fruits juiced along with a selection of others, bread cheese, tomater och sallader och kakor. Det var en uttråkad kock som stod vid en omelettstation och olika varma rätter för köttätare. (Ett ord av försiktighet för vegetarianer, alla bönerätter som jag såg vid frukosten på Kuba hade något slags kött i dem).
Efter frukosten gick jag upp till en kulle med bergsbacke som var lugnt under större delen av tiden bortsett från, som jag hade blivit förvarnad av Trip Advisor, den ordinarie tränaren remsan stannar när turisterna skulle ner i området för att ta bilder av den spektakulära utsikten och dricka pina coladas eller mojitos från baren som flankeras det. Ibland irriterande, dessa högljudda besökare swooping in som sparvarna vid frukost skulle ibland ge en intressant distraktion.
Fantastiskt foto av det rosa hotellet och poolen. Det ser underbart och frestande ut, definitivt en plats du vill dröja … förmodligen på de gungstolar på verandan 🙂 Intressant för de kinesiska TV-programmen och jag gillade jämförelsen av turisterna med sparvarna. But I want to know about the acrobats by the pool !!!
In 2008 Raoul Castro began lifting what he called ‘excessive prohibitions’ on censorship. China and Cuba have very strong trade relations and if lifting censorship means showing programs from a communist country then there is less chance of socialists being corrupted by capitalist propaganda! Conversely on cable TV in the bar one night they were showing Green Zone (a US film with Matt Damon).
The acrobats appeared by the pool one morning after breakfast. At first I was the only other person there and then a few more people wandered in. He was Cuban and his adoring parents were also there, she was Eastern European. They practised their moves for some time as the parents (and I) took photos. They stopped when her bikini top slipped! Then they all sat down for lunch and cervezas, even acrobats drink beer.
I lingered for four days, it was very relaxing.
The photographs are fabulous, wonderful vista. Tempting me to visit
I think you would love it!
Thank you SO MUCH. We get chickens every year at the local SPCA, and I plan to? adopt a clpuoe of them in a year or two, but until then, I don’t want to use eggs in my baking. Those tips will be very useful to me, and it will be a pleasure for me to show my family how delicious and satisfying vegan baking can be.