Neo-gothic churches, Soviet-era offices, dilapidated ocean-front facades, old timers and hasslers and touts and bygone glamour, jineteros y jineteras, revolución…Is there anything Havana does not have? Apart from chocolate of course…

It has been 8 years since my last visit to Havana. I felt then that the country was changing; progress was in the air, but people still preserved their dignity, the air was cleaner, prices reasonable and everything seemed like an adventure.

I was disappointed to not find the same things this time. People are almost as desperate as in 1994 (year of my first visit), despite el  périodo especial long gone. Prices have spiked to insane, insulting levels and the only people who seem to make a decent living are the ones tangent to tourism. Havana may be a must of your stay in Cuba, but if you want to live something more exotic, original and decent, you are better off to somewhere else, where the hordes of tourists have not yet alienated the people and their habitat.