So the outbound journey was thirteen hours as opposed to the less claustrophobia inducing nine hour return. I’d booked rather late and the extra four hours didnt really make it the non stop flight advertised. But when we stopped at Holguin (a place I would later read beautifully described by Renaldo Arenas in his biography Prius nox) and a few people disbanded and the fuel fumes permeated the cabin it was a relief to be told we could get off. I headed for the small charming bar with windows overlooking the sleepy runway. Here, as everywhere else, change and exchange rates need to be checked carefully. My mental arithmetic was seemingly not too blunted by the journey and my challenge was met with polite apology and more Convertible Pesos in my hand. Its nothing personal, its the norm I’m told and my first transactions on Cuban soil did nothing to dispel this.

From England I had arranged an expensive 90 euro taxi ride to Vinales rather than take a ride to Havana just to rummage around in a suitcase, scatter things around, sleep for one night, pick up the scattered things and set off again in the morning. Ego legeram quod est in Valle de Vinales sunt spectacular views et dederunt caput ut vigilaveris ad eos. Quin et ego euntem per duas horas fere vacuus est motorway respondens Jorge minoris molimenti ea claustra esse quaestionum in Hispania fracta donec compleatur tradidi et post somnum, et placuit permanere improvidus Spanish. Quondam super viam regiam, pauper Jorge, duas horas, domum a forsit inveniens velit molestias. Consilia ad commissuras atque ambigue adjuvi missae numerum descriptum habebat, signa in capite omnium, qui aliquando legisse satis tuta loca Cuba, duobus diebus praesertim vertit obturaverunt car mea transeunt et intelligite Spanish. Quoniam tacui,. Finally I checked into the Hotel Los Jazmines and was taken down a path leading away from the main building and down some steps with little terraced bungalows to my left and the warm pitch black night to my right. The darkness was alive with the chorus of a trillion insects. I realised that I had almost forgotten the smell of fresh air.