Cuba is alleged to be a country at a crossroads; and with the recent rate of change travelers would be wise to visit the nation before its romanticized past becomes the stuff of memories. With an abundance of things to see and do, the country is a popular destination for budget travelers led by a sense of adventure.
Sights
Discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, the Caribbean island of Cuba enjoys an enchanting history now centered upon the life of famous revolutionary Che Guevera and the reign of Fidel Castro.
Both the museum at Santa Clara and Havana’s Museo de la Revolucion provide a background for those seeking to understand modern day Cuba. Situated nearby is the Granma cabin cruiser, in which Castro and Che nearly drowned in 1956.
Elsewhere in Cuba, attractions include the cultural city of Santiago and the spectacular beauty of stalactites and stalagmites in the caves of Pinar del Rio. Havana’s oldest fort is also a sight that should not be missed and simple pleasures such as a casual stroll along the El Malecon seawall and a guided tour of the Havana Club Rum Factory will illuminate any backpacking holiday.
Food and Drink
Cuban food is a cacophony of Caribbean, Spanish and African influences with black beans, rice, pork and plantains featuring heavily in the local diet. Criollo or creole food is served in a paladere, or private dwelling, and offers travelers an inexpensive and authentic dining experience. Restaurants owned by the government are significantly more expensive and the staff often depend on tips for wages.
Cuban bars are always lively and serve speciality rum cocktails such as the mojito and Cuba Libre. Venues often provide great live music with Cubans never needing an excuse to reach for the guitar and enter into spontaneous song. Those who make it to Santiago should not miss performances of son cubano, a unique style of music originating in Cuba and the inspiration for salsa, at the Casa de la Trova.
Where To Stay
For the complete Cuban experience, stay in Cuba hostels, or casas particulares, which are private hotels adapted for travelers and backpackers. Havana hostels usually consist of a room in a private home. This kind of accommodation is abundant and of good value with prices varying depending on facilities and location. As food and other services are likely to cost extra, so backpackers with a very tight budget should ensure they ask about these prices on arrival.
These days, you can get almost all the information you need from the internet. So why would you waste space carrying around a huge guide when you are backpacking South America? First of all, a guide is great resource to have even before you travel! Use it to plan your trip, and keep it on your nightboard to keep you motivated while you are saving up money for your adventure.
Second, the guide is always a great backup to have in situations where internet or other resources aren’t available. How much should you pay for a taxi from the airport to the city? Where is there a hostel in this god-forsaken town where I am the only English speaking person in miles range? It’s always a good thing to have a guide as backup, even though you might not use it every day!
There are loads upon loads of guides for backpacking in South America. Some cover the whole continent, others cover only countries, cities or islands in greater detail. What kind of book you should buy depends on how your trip is laid out. Are you planning to stay in only one country? Or only one city? Or are you planning to do the whole caboodle? If you are planning to do a large trip covering more than one country.
I would advise you to only bring a “bible” guide that covers it all. Carrying around too many books will take up to match space and bring a heavy load on your back. There are mainly 3 Guides that are recognized as backpack south America bibles.
Lonely planet – South America on a Shoestring:
South America on a shoestring is definitely the most popular book to bring to South America, and also that book that goes as “the bible”. The book covers the whole South America with information on everything from big attractions to restaurants in a small outback town. Lonely planet books are known to be very good on accommodation, restaurants, things to do, and so forth.
Drawbacks are that the book gets a bit dry with only text and no pictures, and also the historical and details on locations can be a bit thin. Still this Is one of the better books on South America, and the book you will see the majority of people are carrying around.
Rough Guide to South America on a Budget:
The rough guides are the new modernized version of Lonely Planet. While Lonely Planet focus on pure quality information, Rough Guides are heavier on readability and visual enjoyment. The positive sides with RG are the Top-todo lists for countries, inspiring pictures and good detailed historical and guide information to places. Negatives are that it lacks some on the resource side. Many of the listings seem to be outdated, and hostels/restaurants might be closed down or moved. Rough Guides are a very good book for those who prefer visual reading enjoyment and good background and historical information.
Footprint South America Guide:
Footprint is the old dog in this competition. Back in the 70s; Footprint were topping all the travel guide lists. After a few years in the dark, they are now fighting to regain their position as top dog. And the new 2010 edition surely is a new good breeze, however it still has a few important flaws. Footprints new book is heavy on good detailed information on all the major places and in many cases it also covers the minor cities in much greater detail then the other two.
Footprints major drawbacks are some unnecessary mistakes that should have been fixed before publication. Many of the maps are incorrect and some of the basic resource sections are outdated. They have done a good job fixing up many of the mistakes in the new 2010 edition. This book is in many cases better than the two others, especially on information on places and attractions, however the book still has some flaws, especially on maps and locations that need to be fixed for this book to be top notch again.
When you are going to pick out the book that fits you the best, you should really consider what you will be using the book for. Are you planning to only use it as resource for restaurants, hostels and directions? Or do you also like to read information about cities, countries and so on.
Figure out what you want and pick the guide that fits you the best. And last, if you are planning to backpack South America in the near future, you can never buy your guide early enough. Once you buy it you are one step closer to your dream of backpacking around South America!
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