Viñales, a Cuban Musician with an “Estonian Girlfriend,” and New Friends

We leave Havana behind and take a four-hour bus ride to Viñales, a small town located in the famous valley known for its tobacco fields and distinctive rounded limestone hills.

At the bus stop we are greeted by the elderly lady who runs the accommodation arranged for us by our Havana hostess. When we arrive at her house, we are welcomed with a glass of fresh mango juice.

For dinner we go to a restaurant she recommended. As in nearly every respectable dining place in Cuba, there is a live band playing in the evening.

Later one of the musicians approaches us and asks the standard question:“Where are you from?”

When we answer “Estonia,” he suddenly becomes animated. He explains that two years earlier he had worked as a musician on a Tallink ferry between Estonia and Sweden, and that during that time he even had what he calls an “Estonian girlfriend” — one among many, apparently — with whom he stayed in touch for a while afterwards.

An unexpected connection to home.

In the evening we head to a garden near the main square, where every night there is a show and salsa dancing for an entrance fee of 1 CUC. Both locals and tourists gather there.

Although it’s only Wednesday night, every table is already taken. We ask a pair of young travelers if we can join them.

They turn out to be Sonja (29) and Tina (30) from Germany. They have rented a Chinese-made car and are traveling around Cuba for three weeks — just like us.

We spend a long time talking and eventually agree to meet the next morning to take a trip together to a beach about 60 kilometers away.