This is a first-person travel vlog by Nate and Kara Buchanan documenting travel from Viñales to Havana. They compare traveling by public bus versus shared taxi (noting the bus had A/C, seats, and a ~3.5-hour trip; it is described as about half the cost of shared taxi but drops passengers at a central station), check into an apartment in Havana, attempt to visit a cigar factory (many factories in Havana are closed for the month of January), and take a ferry to Casablanca to watch sunset from the Jesus statue viewpoint. The vlog emphasizes practical pros/cons of bus vs shared taxi and neighborhood exploration off the beaten path.
Questions this video answers
About three and a half hours.
January.
Chapters
So far, the bus is far superior to a shared taxi.
Good job.
It's day six in Cuba, and today we said bye to our lovely Cuban family in Vignales because we're leaving.
The original plan was actually to head to Trinidad today, but when we went to the bus station to buy the tickets.
And it's full, and I don't think it's a scam this time, unfortunately.
So that was this, with two choices. Either one, mark Trinidad off the list, or two, spend an entire day in a shared taxi. And if it was anything like our last experience.
We didn't want to do that. No A.C. crammed with six people in one car, in my suitcase, sitting in my lap for a trip that was supposed to be two hours that turned into five. So a trip that was already going to start out being eight hours. Yeah.
I don't know if all shared taxi experiences are that way, but we thought we'd try a new form of transportation.
So there were still a few things that we wanted to do in Havana. Anyway. So this morning we're jumping on a bus and heading back to Havana. And we thought it would be kind of fun to compare the experience between a shared taxi and the bus because those are the two main ways that most travelers who come to Cuba will get around the island. Cuba is a place that may be better to be backpacked.
You did it.
Thanks. Let's start in the morning with a little workout.
So far, the bus is far superior to a shared taxi.
It has air conditioning. Kara and I have a seat between us. And the biggest thing is I don't have a giant, giant suitcase sitting in my lap. This should be a much more enjoyable three hours. We'll see how many times we stop.
I feel like I'm sick.
They told us to get here 30 minutes before it left. Thought that was a little extreme. So we got here 10 minutes before it left and it worked out. Although it seems like everyone else got here right at 7:30 because we got the seats next to the bathroom.
But we have a home run ourselves.
All right. We are about an hour and a half into the trip, which I believe is about halfway, and so far, so good. It's been relatively uneventful. We just stopped at this gas station for a quick bathroom break. And unlike the last trip that we took to Vinales, there have been no surprise tours at a tobacco farm so far.
This is so strange. They did not tell us that this tour was a part of our ride.
The bus is great.
Back on the road.
We have made a couple Other stops along the way. And the bus did completely fill up.
So we lost this seat.
Three and a half hours later, we are back in Havana. But the problem is we are just at the bus station in the middle of nowhere.
So the bus only costs about half of what it would to take a shared taxi. But the good thing about the shared taxi, maybe the only good thing is that it does drop you off right at your door. So the money that we saved on the bus, we'll probably end up spending trying to negotiate a taxi into the city.
But the problem with the shared taxi is they also have to take everyone else to their door.
All right. And if you're last, then it ends up taking forever, which is what happened with both of us.
I would say in always, the bus is far superior, at least by our own personal experience. Mainly just mine. Mine was a bit traumatizing. Apparently the exhaust tube that sits in the front of the car broke, and so we've just been sitting in the car breathing in exhaust. Caras was.
It's.
Tennessee. Tennessee. Bruno mars. Bruno mars. Bruno mars.
I driver likes bruno mars as much as I do.
Gracias.
Okay. We just got checked into our place. We check. We tried to stay with the same family that we stayed with last time we were here in Havana, but unfortunately they were full. So we ended up in an apartment that their uncle owns, which is pretty nice, as long as you hold your breath past the peace melon stairs.
It's really interesting because we're not with a family this time. Like, it's just the apartment that he owns. We're, like, on our own in Cuba for the first time. Feels a little weird, but we're so excited about this afternoon because last time we were in Havana, we didn't have time to go to a cigar factory where they roll the cigars.
So that's where we're going. Plus our whole cigar. Our experience in Vinales was a bit underwhelming, so we're hoping we can redeem that. This afternoon.
We have found ourselves in a very residential neighborhood. As you can see, there is no one here. And we thought we got to the cigar place and it was a grocery store.
Turns out maps just picked, like, a random place on the map. We were, like, walking back through all these neighborhoods, and I'm like, yes, this is going to be, like, super off the beaten path. We're going to have this place all to ourselves. And we do. Yeah.
But it's cool because all these, like, old cars are on the side of the road. But it's like actual people's old cars and not tourists. Taxis.
Yeah. It's been a really cool, like, way to just kind of see the local life here, away from, like, everybody trying to sell you stuff.
Yeah, but there were two really nice old men in the grocery store who told us how to get to where we wanted to go. But it was in Spanish, so we think we know where we're going.
It was like a 50, 50 shot.
But either way, it's been a great walk. I think we're getting close. We found.
We have bad news. All of the factories in Havana are closed for the month of January. I guess they get a little break for the new year, so we don't get to see one. But on the bright side, we got to see a new part of Havana that we didn't know existed. On to the next thing.
We have made our way all the way back to the old town. We're here to get on a ferry that will take us across the harbor to Casablanca, which we've heard is the best place to watch the sunset over Havana.
Go seats.
We are definitely taking local form of transportation. I think 90% of people on this boat are human. We also didn't pay. Maybe we accidentally snuck on. Maybe we pay when we get there. We'll see.
So we are now in the Casablanca neighborhood. And at the very top of this neighborhood, there's a big statue of Jesus. And that's where we're trying to make it to before the sun sets.
We're gonna cut it close. We're here on our tour. It was a lot easier to get here through the tunnel.
We were certain that we were going the wrong way. And then we turned this corner and Jesus.
It was without a doubt worth coming over here. These views are absolutely beautiful.
Between either. Not going to trip so many roosters. Okay, now we're gonna try to make it up the hill to the Jesus statue. Not the Jesus to the statue. We're walking in a direction. We're just not sure if it's the.
Right direction, but it's up, so I feel like it's right.
Does this look weird? Yeah, because here there's a shadow.
