When in Cuba it’s natural to want to explore, staying at the resort is safe and great. However there’s only so much you get to experience, when you stay on the resort grounds. We wanted to explore, so we asked the resort staff what there was to do around. Beside the excursions that the resort offers, they also told us about the two markets in the area. One was referred to as the large market, and the other was called the small market. The transportation to the markets, in Holguin Cuba are centered around tourists.
Besides walking there which would take over an hour, you can take a taxi or the bus. Near our resort they had readily available, old-looking car taxis and horse-drawn carriages. During certain hours, they also had a double-decker bus for transportation.
From my understanding the people running the taxis, and the horse-drawn carriages are able to decide their rate. Unless you get a yellow taxi cab, they are government-run and they’ve got to follow certain regulations. To take a taxi to the large market, it would cost 20 pesos one way. Then it would cost another 20 pesos, to return back to the resort.
We found out for 5 pesos each, we could ride to the market and back on the bus. The round trip cost us 25 pesos, for the five of us. A pretty good rate for transportation to the markets, in Holguin Cuba. This was the first time the kids, and I have ever been on a double-decker bus. So naturally we picked the seats on the top of the bus, a few rows from the front.
The ride was about fifteen to twenty minutes long, and we stopped at several other resorts to pick up other passengers. The weather was hot but nice, we had a ton of shade at our resort so I didn’t think about bringing hats. On the way to the market we got to see some industrial construction, none of them wearing safety helmets. We seen many Cuban homes, which looked run down but loved. Many of the people hang their clothes to dry, the full-grown cows are tiny in comparison to Canadian cows.
The large market wasn’t what I expected, they had maybe 20-30 tables of different people offering similar items. The one table a man showed me a secret box, he joked that if I couldn’t figure out how to open it I’d have to buy him a beer. Once he showed me how to open it, I felt quite foolish it seemed so simple. A lot of the items are beautiful to look at, but not something I necessarily want to buy and bring home.
I was drawn to the paintings, none of the painting were the same. Zaden found a little guitar with a Minion on it, and decided that’s what he wanted. We got Emilee a guitar exactly the same, only hers has Mickey mouse on it. Then we bought Keera a dress, and some bracelets and necklaces.
It wasn’t until we returned a few hours later, from the market on the bus that I realized I had got a sunburn. The sun was shining on the way to the market, but on the way back there was an overcast. I didn’t even think about the possibility of getting a sunburn, but everyone had too much sun. Which lead us back to the room for the kids to have a nap, and to apply some soothing aloe lotion.
Some of the paintings were painted, by a famous Cuban painter. He showed me a book that was published, with all of his art work. Turns out he’s famous, up here in Canada too! Mom and I ended up buying a couple of his paintings, they were beautiful. They roll up nicely, and being rolled up doesn’t ruin the painting. So there was no risk of them getting wrecked, then once we got home we could frame them.
I wish I could have bought, and brought back home most of these hand carved crafts. I loved the turtles, the butterflies, the giraffes, and especially the sunflowers. There just wouldn’t have been enough room in our bags, between the kids guitars and the other extras we bought. Also I didn’t want the chance of them breaking, on the way back home to Canada.
Some more gorgeous blankets, table clothes, and dresses. I love how bright the colors are, and that everything’s unique.
I’m obsessed with this mermaid statue, that was at the resort. We would pass this statue daily, on our way to eat or head down to the pools. It’s right at the top, of a huge set of stairs. We definitely got some cardio from stair climbing, while we were at the resort.
If you’re interested in seeing how our first day in Cuba went Click here to see our first day. Also if you are interested in seeing some of the foods, we ate during our resort stay Click here to see the foods.