I've been to Cuba too last year and I have the feeling Cuba is changing fast. Me and my girlfriend are used to travel in Asia and South America and we always try to connect with locals and find our own way but in Cuba this was not easy. We always had the feeling we never saw the real Cubans and that they saw tourists like a walking ATM.
We managed to change some CUC in Pesos but in most places they just refused our money and demanded CUC so the price was x25 higher. We tried to eat local in small restaurants away from tourist centers but they all have a 2nd price card with 'tourist prices'. After a while we started to get tired to avoid being scammed every time.
My cousin traveled to Cuba in 2015 and again this year and visited some of the same places and he said the country was totally different. When I was there in September 2016, there were again direct flights from the US and American tourists were flooding in. Locals adapt very fast and visiting Cuba is loosing it charm.
Oh really? This sounds kind of bad, I am probably lucky that I have been to Cuba in 2015, but I plan on visiting again. But even in 2015 the problem in Cuba was that scamming tourists for a few Dollars can earn a Cuban a lot more money than working in a government job; if they just manage to make one Dollar a day it already is a decent income and since most tourists don't mind one Dollar they probably make a lot more than that. The "bad Cubans" were mostly the obvious scammers approaching me in English at the tourist places.
Do you speak Spanish? I was lucky enough to have learned Spanish at school and I found that even most Cubans who speak English will only see you as a tourist and therefore as a walking Dollar-Sign when you talk to them in English. Speaking Spanish, I got to know many amazing people and almost none of them were trying to earn money with me.
Yes, my girlfriend speaks almost fluent Spanish after doing an internship in Ecuador. She's used the live between the locals over there and expected to find hey way in Cuba
I've seen my cousin (who also speaks fluent Spanish) yesterday on Christmas and he confirmed the enormous change the country made the last 2 years. Especially the west of the country changed. Places like Vinales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Havana have been flooded with tourists. In the east you still can find some of the original atmosphere and cheap prices you mention above.
Ok, seems like there have been massive changes, what a shame..
I went to Vinales for a few days in the end of my trip to Cuba and since the small village almost had more tourists than locals it was impossible to find cheap street food there. But still, the people from the casa where I was staying at were amazing and invited my to the neighborhood dinner.
When I was visiting in 2015, in Havana, Trinidad and the other cities there was a very small touristy core where all the scammers and tourist-priced government places were, just two blocks away from that people were asking me if I was lost haha, it seems like most tourist only ever visit the tourist centre.
Santiago was quite different from the rest of Cuba but it certainly is an amazing place, I had the most amazing lemonade of my life there and visited an ice cream place where I met some great people, but it turned out that they had many different ice cream cups like Tutti Frutti on the menu, but actually the only difference between them were the number of cones and waffles you would get since they only had one kind of ice cream :D
I was so shocked to hear that a hurricane destroyed the small east coast town of Baracoa last year, I have met so many great people there..
Oh I know! So sad about Baracoa! I didn't get to go there, but one of my best friends knows TONS of people there and is just so upset about it. Breaks my heart...Cuba already has it hard enough
@pieter87 I hope you see this. I'm new to Steemit so I'm just now seeing this post, but that's so interesting that you said you feel Cuba is changing.
I haven't been there since 2012, so that makes me VERY curious about in what ways it's changing, because when I was there, I actually made friends with lots of locals!
I'm just like you and your girlfriend...I always try to connect with locals. What a shame you had a hard time in Cuba connecting. I wonder if they're less friendly now because of more American tourists?
I was always afraid of Cuba changing once direct flights from the US were allowed again...which is why I made it one of my goals to go before they were allowed. I was scared the whole time that something bad was going to happen to me for doing it, though haha.
I'm such a rule follower, that's like the one rule I've ever deliberately broken.
I discussed this with my cousin during Christmas. He's been there 2 year ago and again last year.
He said especially the more touristy places like Havana, Trinidad, Vinales,... are changing fast. Locals see lots of tourist coming and going and see that they can make easy money. For many of them, the tourist are walking ATM's. And especially with the Americans coming who have the habbit of giving big tips and don't complain when they get an excessieve restaurant bill.
He said they less touristy East still has the original Cuban vibe he liked during his first visit. The people are less greedy and more honest.