Cuba - Santa Clara

We headed back west again, and to break up the journey we stopped for the night in Santa Clara. This town is the place where Che Guevara took down an ammunition train, and therefore began the control of the Cuban Revolution along with Fidel Castro. Although this happened a good 50 something years ago (in December 1958), it is a hugely important part of Cuba's history, as they continue to be governed by Fidel Castro's brother Raul. The majority of Cuba's population are living on extremely low wages and rely on ration shops for the bulk of their food.

We were able to visit the site of the train derailment and battle, which has been turned into a place marking the uprising of the Cuban Revolution. Next we took a horse and carriage to the other side of town, which is one of the main modes of public transport in Santa Clara. We jumped out around the corner from the Che Guevara Monument and Mausoleum, and we visited the interesting museum which is housed underneath the statue.

We were also in luck when looking for a place for dinner, and got directed around corner and up a few flights of stairs by a friendly foreigner living in Santa Clara. We found ourselves on a small terrace overlooking the town in a restaurant called El Sol, where we had some of the best food we'd had since arriving in Cuba.

After a few days of sunshine we decided to head to coastal town of Varadero to check out the Caribbean coast.