Lonely Planet Cuba [ペーパーバック]

Some Background:
My first trip off the continent and to a foreign speaking country was Cuba. I went with my girlfriend of two years plus in December of 2007. While most people on our flight were headed to Veradero on an all inclusive package, we were headed to Havana, Cuba's capital.

The Guide:
On the whole, one can't really go wrong purchasing this guide. It's small enough that it can be taken with you throughout the city, and cheap enough that one can afford to abuse it (or spill water on it, as my girlfriend did).

More specifically, the information presented about restaurants, banks, hotels, historic sites and the Cuban culture are usually spot on. Further, the section on Havana has superb maps that are easily intelligible and clear, and also included are two walking tours of Havana Vieja (Old Havana) and Centro Havana, which meant we could skip the tour companies and actually get our feet wet by exploring on our own. An amazing and valuable experience I will continue to recall many years from now.

Some Criticisms:
The most noteworthy criticism of this book is the lack of specific and concentrated information regarding tourist scams in Cuba. There is mention of it within the book, but it is not rigorous enough to prepare the naive first-time traveler; especially those who will be away from the security laden beaches of Veradero.

There is of course the obvious annoyances of people who offer cheap, but illegal and poor quality, cohibas (cigars), female prostitutes (jineteras, pronounced 'cheen-eteras) and general sellers of questionable wares. All this is, I think, expected by many travelers and poses no great risk to one who is moderately vigilant. The book also covers these points well enough.

What is not covered is the exceptionally profligate Cuban tendency to a) overcharge at restaurants by not giving one a menu, b) offer a service for what seems like a cheap price, but demand payment that is thrice or more what was initially agreed upon once the service has been rendered (bici-taxi's in particular do this) and c) inform tourists that there CUC (tourist currency) is worthless and offer to exchange it at whats seems like very favorable rates for the more "powerful" Peso, which is, in reality, 1/25 the value of the convertible.

One general rule of thumb for Cuba is this: 9 out 10, if not more, Cubans who approach you are probably running a scam. Further, never be afraid to assert yourself and say "No", walk away or refuse to pay for something that seems far too expensive (remember, a typical Cuban makes about 15 CUC a month, so this means that even 1 CUC is good deal of money to them). You may even have to be rude, but that's the name of the game for a tourist in Havana. The scammer intends to use your feelings of guilt against you, but remember, in almost every single case you are not guilty, although you will probably feel you are and the scammer will make every attempt to exploit this. I could go on in great detail about the scams, which can be quite clever and the scammers incredibly cunning. If you have questions about the scams, the best thing to do is a little research on the net (search "Cuba scams").

My other, less significant, criticism is the layout of content within the book. Regions of Havana are not entirely inclusive to each other within the book, i.e. a complete section on Havana Vieja, then a complete section on Centro Havana, etc. Structurally there are sections on sightseeing in Havana Vieja, Centro, and Vedado, then there are sections on sleeping, eating, drinking, etc. in Vieja, Centro, and Vedado that follow the sight seeing sections. Organizationally I would have preferred that Vieja have its own section inclusively (e.g. sight seeing, eating, sleeping, drinking, and the map would all be found in the 10 or so page section of Centro Havana), as well as the others. The constant flipping between pages was a common and avoidable irritation.

Verdict:
Buy the book! You might also be interested in buying "Culture Smart: Cuba: a guide to etiquette and customs"; and if "Let's Go" ever comes out with a guide to Cuba, it would be worth a look too, since traditionally Let's Go guides aim towards college and budget travelers who want the most bang for their buck.

P.S. Elisabeth Smith's "One Day Spanish" is also a wise-choice; since most people DO NOT speak English in Cuba. If you have more time, it would be wise to take a crash-course in Spanish. Elisabeth Smith is good because she caters to tourists and travelers. Her "Instant Spanish", a 6 week lengthened course of "One Day Spanish", is probably also be a safe bet for someone who has more time to prepare, though, to be honest, I have not tried it. I used the One Day Spanish, however, and found that it helped my cause tremendously, focusing only on essential and useful words, phrases, etc.

I generally love the lonely planet series. In Vietnam it was our bible. This lonely planet was most disappointingly outdated, poorly researched and unprofessional. For example, It listed our hotel, the "hotel costa morena" as "very popular with cubans and the odd vacationing Canadian." The place was full of Canadians!

We would have missed one of the most amazing 20 minutes of a lifetime if we heeded it's advice on "Acquario Bacanao" that has "tacky" dolphin shows and "you can swim with the dolphins if you so desire". I've been to several dolphin shows and this one was among the most impressive. There was no cheezy storyline or tacky narration, just one difficult and visually amazing trick after another for about 40 minutes. Swimming with the dolphins is also nothing to take lightly. Not just a cheezy dip with the dolphins that many other north american aquariums charge for. The dolphins actually do a few tricks *with* you, including propelling you across the pool with their noses.

Even if it was up to date, it was embarrasingly unprofessional. It patronizes these "poor people" with condescending language. If you want to visit a country that "at times, seems to have had the life sucked out of it", populated by people who would "would much rather pack some beers, load up the car and drive there" ... "rather than spend all day bushwhacking along a path in order to reach a beautiful waterfall." Yes Cuba has it's quarks and annoyances, but other lonely planet writers have learnt to share these in more respectful, less over-generalizing ways. Perhaps it's time for the editor to commission someone else to write the book.

I spent almost 3 weeks traveling from Havana down to Baracoa via bus and plane. I met a lot of other tourists doing the same itinerary and they found Lonely Planet to be by far most useful, containing practical information on bus schedules, reliable casa recommendations, etc. Needless to say there are inaccuracies in the information and everything needs to be double checked, and many tourists did not agree at all with the recommendation lists of Lonely Planet, but I would not recommend traveling especially backpacking style without this book. All in all it should be noted that Cuba is an expensive country to travel and it is challenging in many ways. It is really not a vacation and one comes to understand after a couple of weeks why there are all inclusive resorts.