To get a tour of Havana, we contracted with our trusty Mercedes cab driver, Abel. He agreed to drive the three amigos around Havana and conduct a 3-hour guided tour for $60. Where have I heard that phrase, "A three hour tour...", before?

Clearly, Abel's job is a very cush position in Cuba. The whole economy revolves around US dollars, and Cubans that have access via tips, have a much higher standard of living. Out of curiosity, we asked Abel how he got the job. He indicated first that he felt extremely lucky to have gotten it, and then went on to tell us the qualifications the government was looking for in assigning these plum positions. Basically, they boiled down to the following:

    - Driver's needed to be young, and very good looking.

    - They had to have 5 years experience as a driver.

    - They had to have made some contribution to the state. In Abel's case, he had a distinguished military career that included a 2-year stint in Russia.

    - They had to speak at least 3 languages. Abel speaks Spanish, English, and Russian.

If you put together this interesting set of talents, the government seems to be looking for people that will convey a very good impression of Cuba, and that will be loyal to the state. Interestingly, Abel confessed that while he was a party member, he was a capitalist, not a communist. He did differentiate the bad part of capitalism, which he called "imperialism." Don't look now, Abel, but you have already succumbed to America's new economic imperialism in your quest for the almighty dollar!

There are a variety of interesting forms of transportation to be seen in the streets of Havana. By the way, they bustle with activity, but are by no means overcrowded with traffic as are similar-sized cities I've been elsewhere.

To right, we have the uniquely Cuban form of mass transit, which they call the "Camel", no doubt due to its distinctive hump-backed profile. The Camel is actually not a very pleasant way to travel. It's a large trailer pulled by an 18-wheeler tractor. They carry up to 300 people, and contain very few seats and no air-conditioning. We rode the camel from our airplane to the customs and immigration terminal when we entered Cuba. The windows were open because it was hot even at 11pm at night, and the diesel fumes were pretty unpleasant.

Just below the Camel is a 50's era American car so stereotypical of most Cuban accounts. These cars used to be much more numerous in Cuba, but since the communists have begun relaxing things to encourage tourism and trade, they've fallen into the minority position. I would guess they comprise about 30-40% of the vehicles seen on the road. Some are much older than this, and look like Model T vintage cars. Parked in front of the hotel were beautiful old convertible touring cars for hire. We didn't take one, for fear it would be too hot, but car buffs will appreciate seeing these vehicles.

Also prevalent were motorcycles, and I think I saw more motorcycle with sidecar combinations than at any other time. Scooters ala Vespa, were strangely absent, although there were a fair number of mopeds. 60's-era Russian Ladas were also pretty common. The bulk of newer cars were of French and Japanese manufacture, with about equal quantities of both in evidence.

The people of Cuba were universally friendly, and very curious about American life. Pictured at right is a young chemistry student I met named "Aymara". She directed me to a nearby restaurant for lunch while I was walking around.

Many Cubans speak pretty good English. Abel's was flawless, and Aymara's pretty good too. In her case, she is studying chemistry, and as in most technical professions, English is required to understand the technical literature.

I could never detect any signs of animosity towards Americans whatsoever, though a few Cuban-Americans we met displayed considerable hostility towards the Castro-regime.

In general, the Cubans seem to be a very happy people. The streets feel very safe, and we were told that violent crime is very rare. Things can sometimes "walk away" however, so its best to keep up with your belongings and not leave them laying around. That's true of any place I've ever been!

There are some modern buildings to be seen in Cuba too. These mostly reflect the three big growth areas--telecommunications, medicine, and tourism. In other words, we saw new telco buildings, medical research centers, and resort hotels.

It's interesting the high-tech medical research is going on here. We saw complexes with several prominent European drug company names on them.

The initial part of our tour was towards the South. After passing some typical shops and gas stations (gasoline is about $4/gallon, incidentally, when ours in California is about $2), we were passing through the embassy zone where all the embassies are located. We were told this part of town is called "Salmento".

As is common, many of the embassies just look like large mansions, and in fact, there are many family dwellings made out of ornate old houses from the pre-Castro era when there were wealthy in Cuba. These days, most of them are either used as offices, or they have been subdivided and turned into apartments. It's odd to see laundry flying from a second-floor balcony in what would otherwise be a very upscale mansion!

By far the largest embassy was that for Russia, not surprisingly. It was a fascinating building that resembled a concrete bunker office building at its bottom and a modern art castle tower at the top. It was foreboding, in any case, and looked like it could house as many as a thousand workers.

Fidel Castro's compound is in this area. We were explicitly told not to photograph it, but Steve, of course, had to sneak a shot. It isn't very conclusive, but I think we've just driven past the main gates. The gates are wrought iron painted white, with the design of a Nautilus shell worked into the bars. There's a soldier standing to each side, but the overt military presence is minor. You can see a really large Mediterranean-style house set back a ways, and lots of more modern looking buildings near the edge. Castro's generals, and important officials live in big houses that border the property on the back side.

The route up to this point has little guard houses at every intersection. These are occupied by policemen whose job it is to switch the traffic lights and close down the streets twice a day. Castro comes by this route to go to work in the mornings, and then comes back home at the end of day. We're told it only delays traffic by about 20 minutes, and that it isn't anything special.

Apparently Castro is a real workaholic and never fails to get in 7 days a week to his office.

The image of Che Guevara is more popular than Fidel's, although you do see them both. Che was a very handsome man, and one gets the sense from photographs that he had tremendous charisma. To the Cuban people, he is something of a martyr. He must have had something going for him because Jean-Paul Sartre called him "the most complete human being of our era."

Guevara was shot while trying to foment a revolution in Bolivia after being captured. The Bolivian military dictatorship decided within a day of his capture that a firing squad was called for. Apparently they did not want to repeat Cuban President Batista's mistake. Batista had Fidel Castro in prison on charges that should have kept him there for 15 years, but released him in a rare show of clemency after just a few years. Things did not go well for Batista after that!

Heading back North, we passed the square of the revolution, which is a big park for their monument. To my eye, it looks like a cross between a pre-Columbian astronomical observatory and the Washington monument. It's certainly very impressive, and displays more warmth than most of the concrete-bunker style office buildings the communists have built since Castro came to power.

Castro's office is one such bunker, and is located so he can look out his window at the revolution square while working.