Here in Vinales The Casa we are staying in, El Balcon, is undergoing renovations and expansion as is pretty much every other place in town.
Juan the Casa owner was organising a bunch of guys to do some concrete work on the upper terrace. They are building a walkway on the exterior of the house and are going to add more rooms in the back, this walkway will be the access.
The Operator had been watching them put up the boxing, check out the Cuban scaffolding.
When it came to do the concrete work a whole squad of guys turned up, a couple were across the road mixing the concrete in wheel barrows. The barrows were then bought across the road and emptied into a big bin.
A guy then filled up a bucket of concrete from the bin and passed it up to another guy who in turn carried the bucket to the main builder who poured the concrete out of the bucket into the reinforcing.
The head honcho then smoothed it with a trowel, all the while barking out instructions to the underlings whilst chain smoking cigarettes.
It took them about 3.5 hours to do the walkway in total, in the hottest part of the day, in full sun, in 33c….some were not even wearing shoes. The result, Rosie thought was a little bit of a rough finish, The Operator said they would probably tile the surface, we couldn’t ask Juan, he doesn’t speak any English.
We were sitting there on the terrace of El Balcon all ready to go out for tea and listening to the calls of another man walking down the street selling brushes, he calls out to the houses as he passes with his buckets filled with wares on either side of the handle of a broom he balances on his shoulder.
We are pondering the best way on how to get to the restaurant we were planning on going to as it was about 3.5 kms uphill, out of town. Rosie had already put her foot down and said it was too far to walk…when up the stairs walked two people we had not seen at the casa.
Enter Manfreid and Dorothea, both were German independent travelers and spoke excellent English, in our brief discussion we found out they were going to the same restaurant as us and….they had rented a car for their travels around Cuba and offered us a lift, yes please!
Manfried had parked down the road and round the corner on an empty strip between two houses, it has been turned into a car park for 4 cars to park, he pays the guy who owns the strip and lives next door $2US per day for parking and 24 hour security. As soon as we arrived at the car he came bounding out of his house straight away playing the ever vigilant guard. It was a pretty tight little parking lot and Dorothea was giving backing instructions from the footpath…not to be out done and proof that he was working for his money the carpark man came and shooed her away and started making the same backing gestures.
So we arrived at the Balcon de Valle. It is a restaurant comprised of three side by side independent decks, on a high vantage point, attached to trees, hanging over the valley. The precarious decks hang out over the precipice and on closer inspection are very dubiously constructed….but WOW, what a vista!
The Valley de Vinales lies before us in all its tranquil quiet beauty…Rosie was in awe of the pink, sunset tinged sweeping view. The Operator was fussing about the deck, he was not to keen sitting right on the edge….he was looking at the construction very closely and muttering about ‘another cave creek in the making’.
He chose a seat whereby if the deck started sliding down the mountain we would be the first off the little gangplank. If we didn’t trip over a chicken or a cat…they were freely roaming the platform skulking for scraps.
The menu is basic, you have a choice of either lamb, pork, chicken or fish and it comes with bread, soup, beans and rice and a salad of crispy vegetables and thinly sliced deep fried banana chips followed by fresh fruit for pudding. This complete meal is $8 each, Cuban rum cocktails are $3 each.
As the sun set and the lights came on in the trees, casting a romantic glow on the table, Rosie and The Operator were soaking up the amazing view when a horrific squealing arose. The pigs they keep out the back were going ballistic…The Operator made a comment of ‘ well that’s our pork being cooked to order’….he got a few chuckles out of that, some of the more delicate amongst us were visibly upset by The Operators comment and by the noise. The nosier amongst concerned diners inquired as to the noise and it turned out the pigs were getting feed. They go into a frenzy every night fighting over scraps. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink said The Operator.
Rosie and the Operator had a beautiful simple meal in a totally breathtaking place, followed up by a few more rums on the deck of the casa and a good chat to Manfried and Dorothea about the world and our experiences to date.
Tomorrow The Operator is headed out bright and early to try to get us a scooter for the day…he has tried the last two days and been unsuccessful, they don’t take bookings here in Cuba, first in the line gets a bike, hopefully today is the day.
