Cienfuegos — the quiet port
Graham Greene's Agent Wormold of described Cienfuegos as "one of the quietest ports in the world". It is also a lovely, relaxing place, typically Cuban with plenty to see, and very few tourists visit the port.
Wormold was visiting Cienfuegos in his clapped-out Hillman in his dual-role of vacuum-cleaner salesman and Her Majesty's secret agent. The city of 125,000 is on Cuba's south coast, about a third of the way along the island from the western tip. It is 253 kms from Havana — around 5 hours by bus and 3-4 by car —. The train from Havana takes at least 7 hours.
Greene's Our Man in Havana was published in 1958, the year Castro's rebellion reached its peak. Cienfuegos played a typically Cuban part in the revolution.
There are some low budget hotels in the city itself, but the main hotel, the Jagua, is a 10-storey block built in the 1950s. It is on the edge of the city in a quiet spot has a swimming pool and has recently been refurbished by a French chain, so the food is good by Cuban standards. Costs are $45-$80 and you should book during peak season.
Cienfuegos also boasts some of Cuba's few natural blondes, the descendants of French planters fleeing slave rebellions in neighbouring Haiti in the late eighteenth century. Among the sights are an 1870 cathedral, a harbour fort, the governor's palace and Teatro Tomas Terry named after a Venuezuelan industrialist. Above all Cienfuegos is a relaxing place to spend a day or two strolling around. It is also reasonably close to Trinidad, and there are great beaches along the coast to Trinidad .—
THIS IS A TOUR AROUND CIENFUEGOS
Cienfuegos, called by their citizen "The perl of the south". The city´s appeal lies partly in the European flavor of its colonial hub, with a wide Parisian-style boulevard and elegant colonades. Cienfuegos is upbeat and lively . It´s Cuba´s third-largest port and shelters a large fishing and shrimping fleet.
Click on the picture to bring it closer or to see another angle
You can choose from a wide range of water sports on Playa Rancho Luna, and scuba diving is available at the Rancho Luna Hotel to take you out to the coral reefs in Las Playitas and Barrera enseñada. At least eight ships lie rotting on the seabed.
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