We returned our rental car to the airport, being very careful not to exceed the 70kph speed limit. Too bad none of the other drivers on the road were as conscious of the road rules as we now were, we were by far the slowest car on the road! Where was Constable Hernandez now .... probably at home sipping on tequilas bought with his ill gotten gains.
We joined the Havana queue at the Interjet desk and waited while the passengers were slowly checked in, when it was finally our turn we were asked for our Cuban visas. We thought we would get them at the check-in desk, but we had to go to different desk - thanks for letting us know guys, maybe you could consider putting up a sign? M went to sort the visas while K waited at the desk, 500 pesos later we had our visas and were ready to check in to our flight.
In the queue with us were lots of Cubans, bringing in all sorts of luggage and equipment, it was like a freight terminal, not a passenger terminal. Air conditioners and rubber tyres seeming to be the most popular.
The flight left on time and was only an hour or so. Getting through immigration at the other end was easy, there was a short wait for our luggage but it wasn't too bad, and customs was a breeze. We were met by Yuri from our hostal, who took us and our luggage to a bright purple 1959 Ford which we rode into town in, arriving in the suburb of Vedado about 40 minutes later.
Our hostal was an apartment in an old building, it looked like the rest of the housing in the block was occupied by locals, but this hostal was very nicely decorated, with lounge, kitchen and washing machine - perfect! Yuri showed us around the neighborhood, including where we could change money and then left us to our own devices.
We caught a taxi into the old town Havana Vieja about a 10 minute drive away, where we met Ken and Cally, a Tasmanian couple who write the blog at dodgyknees.com, who have been on a similar trip to us though in a slightly different order, so we had been exchanging information for a while. We had a nice dinner (including more cheap lobster for K), as we traded travel hints and stories about Cuba and Central America.
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