Today the plan was to go from Cienfuegos to visit Rancho Luna – a beautiful beach recommended by our Airbnb hosts.
The morning was very hard today, after so much drinking Rum in the karaoke bar. I barely slept 4 hours and my stomach was very upset. But the sunrise was very beautiful!
It was a beach day. Our host recommend us to go to Rancho Luna, which is 16km to the South of Cienfuegos. It is a beach community with a small beachside village, which offers a relaxed atmosphere, with clear, warm waters and white sand beaches. The community boasts a rich Cuban culture, with its colourful architecture and lively street life. Visitors to Rancho Luna can enjoy its numerous restaurants, bars and shops, as well as its water-sports, fishing, and sailing opportunities.
On the beach I’ve ordered coconut with coconut milk inside. It was delicious and my stomach felt better already. Only 2 CUC.
After spending some hours on the beach we took a short walk along the cost. The night workers (or sex workers) in the bushes were calling us to join them. Also, there was another even more beautiful cost further away!
Eventually we got really hungry and the waiter on the beach said they have food and can bring a table to the beach, but we decided to eat near “bar”. We agreed to eat fresh fish. Waiter said something which I didn’t understand clearly. When fish came in it was so fried that it was very difficult to eat. Taste was OK though. Meanwhile dogs were running around and one of them peed on my bag. I grabbed my bag to clean with wet wipes, my coconut was on the ground too, so wasn’t sure it suffered dog pee too. I suddenly lost my appetite. Straight after one of the girls screamed showing the tick (blood sucking bug) in the leg. Luckily everyone has finished eating. We all started searching for more of them on us and getting scared not to get Lyme Disease or Encephalitis.
We asked for the bill and we were scammed a little bit. Beer was 4 CUC ($2) for a can, fish 12 CUC ($6) each instead 10 CUC. He said he told us, but I didn’t understand what he was saying. Surely, he forgot to mention price difference.
Another half an hour on the beach and we came back home. Showered and went to see the city. It was getting dark. I bought some magnets. 1 CUC each, if buying more – cheaper. Some places they don’t want to bargain, but in some they encourage.
We passed hour karaoke bar and it turns out the lake was near by!
The hardware shop like any other ones we passed by looked very grim.
It was completely dark and 7:00pm and we were getting very hungry. We decided to go back to “A la my love”. We’ve got the last table there. Waitress was smiling and happy to see us. Unfortunately they had no lobsters that were recommended by our host. Apparently you need to come early. Also, they had no smoked pork either, which I loved. However, I was feeling a bit sick and nauseous in my stomach. I’ve ordered beefsteak with ham and cheese inside. The food came after a good hours. Here in Cuba people are not in rush. People were queueing outside to get a table.
We’ve noticed that locals get different menu. So I saw same dish I ate costs around 70 CUP, I’ve paid 9 CUC. More than 3 times more expensive for tourists.
I’ve tasted a bit of my beefsteak but I couldn’t eat at all and felt nauseous.
After dinner we’ve got home and my host made me mint tea and I went to sleep. Everyone short after followed. No night out on Saturday.
