Havana

Havana is dead -- I just returned after a 10 day stay in early August.

P4P is only available in the Discos with the girls (professionals) asking 60 to 100 Cuc.

Most of the girls start arriving at the clubs around 12 am so if your not a late night person forget it.

There are no more part timers on the streets and many of the police are dressed in civilian / plainclothes so girls are now more on edge.

I don't know anything about the chica scene in the provinces only the Havana. Miramar area.

Its becoming very Americanized with "sports bars" and Burger joints opening up. The currency conversion rate for dollars is terrible - $100 American gets you 87 cuc.

Its a shame because the place used to really rock.

[QUOTE=Adinga;1923946]Havana is dead -- I just returned after a 10 day stay in early August.

P4P is only available in the Discos with the girls (professionals) asking 60 to 100 Cuc.

Most of the girls start arriving at the clubs around 12 am so if your not a late night person forget it.

There are no more part timers on the streets and many of the police are dressed in civilian / plainclothes so girls are now more on edge.

I don't know anything about the chica scene in the provinces only the Havana. Miramar area.

Its becoming very Americanized with "sports bars" and Burger joints opening up. The currency conversion rate for dollars is terrible - $100 American gets you 87 cuc.

Its a shame because the place used to really rock.[/QUOTE]I love posts like this. Keeps the Yankees away! .

Free.

I'm a US citizen and the only reason I traveled to Cuba so much over the years was to avoid the Americans.

The Americans fuck up everything. I'm done with Cuba let the Americans have it.

Imagine college kids going to Cuba for spring break, hotels serving bagels and Budweiser beer being drunk along the Malecon. That's really ugly.

[QUOTE=Adinga;1924647]Free.

I'm a US citizen and the only reason I traveled to Cuba so much over the years was to avoid the Americans.

The Americans fuck up everything. I'm done with Cuba let the Americans have it.

Imagine college kids going to Cuba for spring break, hotels serving bagels and Budweiser beer being drunk along the Malecon. That's really ugly.[/QUOTE]Hold your horses, yes agree that when the gates are open to US for travel it will become a mess BUT let me tell you the truth, the Europeans, the Israelis, the Italians, the Dutch, the Brits, the Russians, the Spaniards have, in terms of casting Cuba as the sex mongering place in the world, took that prize long ago.

TTM.

[QUOTE=TheTallMan;1925001]Hold your horses, yes agree that when the gates are open to US for travel it will become a mess BUT let me tell you the truth, the Europeans, the Israelis, the Italians, the Dutch, the Brits, the Russians, the Spaniards have, in terms of casting Cuba as the sex mongering place in the world, took that prize long ago.

TTM.[/QUOTE]Agreed. People have gone way overboard with this notion of mass numbers of US tourists fucking up Cuba. The Canadians and Europeans have plundered the beaches and chicas of Cuba for years (not to mention all the Americans that have gone illegally over the last 25 years). If you want to get away from the tourists, go to smaller towns. Or areas of Havana that aren't touristy. If you hang around Vieja or Vedado, yes it's spoiled. But there's much more to Havana and Cuba.

Its more about the American mentality and how ugly it is.

We all love Cuban pussy regardless of what country we are from and the amount of time our forefathers spent mongering.

Granted most Cubanas can not be trusted as far as you could throw them but these girls realize that sex is natural and should be enjoyed.

Its not something that should be marketed and learned from the TV, billboards, and magazines being promoted by Fortune 500 companies.

I agree with Mr Combos assessment. The Castros will not open the flood gates and allow a free fall. Havana will be the spot spoiled and used as "Tourist central". The rest of the island should remain as it has always been.

Fidel just had his 90th birthday and celebrated by ripping Obama, the man that worked harder than any US president to normalize Cuba. Trump or Hillary won't be as accommodating and might even make a stand which could lead to friction. BTW, why hasn't Cuba dropped the 10 percent fee imposed on exchanging US dollars as they agreed to do in April? Don't be fooled, China is stepping up with investments in Cuba along with France. Cuba and America have a storied history of fucking each other, and I don't think they have grown past that. Cuba was built on revolution, Cuba was built standing against the imperialists, Cuba has always stood alone, it's something they live by and are proud of.

I agree with Mr Combos assessment. The Castros will not open the flood gates and allow a free fall. Havana will be the spot spoiled and used as "Tourist central". The rest of the island should remain as it has always been.

(BTW, why hasn't Cuba dropped the 10 percent fee imposed on exchanging US dollars as they agreed to do in April?

Hey Mr Gogo.

I too wondered back in the day why Cuba imposes a 10% gravamen on USD exchanges only and no other currency suffers this.

BTW, I think I explained this before on one of the threads here, can't remember where I posted but again I'll explain this to you and all mongers here.

As I explained before the so call embargo called bloqueo on the island prohibits the Cuban government to use USD "anywhere in the world".

So, If you deal with Cuba (any country in the western world) and in such transaction USD are involved you get fined. This costs the Cuban government quite a bit to exchange dollars into different currencies to be able to buy / trade with western countries and in the end we mongers & tourists end up paying for it.

That's why USD get the 10% gravamen. Hope this clears it up for you.

Mondo.

[QUOTE=Mondo707;1925672]I agree with Mr Combos assessment. The Castros will not open the flood gates and allow a free fall. Havana will be the spot spoiled and used as "Tourist central". The rest of the island should remain as it has always been.

(BTW, why hasn't Cuba dropped the 10 percent fee imposed on exchanging US dollars as they agreed to do in April?

Hey Mr Gogo.

I too wondered back in the day why Cuba imposes a 10% gravamen on USD exchanges only and no other currency suffers this.

BTW, I think I explained this before on one of the threads here, can't remember where I posted but again I'll explain this to you and all mongers here..[/QUOTE]You are absolute correct Mondo. But I just did my research and Cuba agreed to lift the 10 percent fee on March 17, 2016 in response to Obama easing restrictions. Now Cuba is backing out that deal and not lifting the fee until the full embargo is lifted, which won't happen with the republicans controlling congress. Cuba is fined for doing international transactions with the embargo in place. With the current election going in the US, no one is paying attention and Obama is opening up all the flood gates to prevent the next president from reversing his decisions easily. But rest assured the next president will make this an issue. Stay tuned.

Hey Mr Gogo.

But I just did my research and Cuba agreed to lift the 10 percent fee on March 17,2016 in response to Obama easing restrictions. Now Cuba is backing out that deal and not lifting the fee until the full embargo is lifted, which won't happen with the republicans controlling congress.

Yes, what you say is true, Cuba agreed to drop the 10% gravamen ONCE THE US EASED RESTRICTIONS. Now again, by easing restriction meant was that Cuba would be able to trade using USD in those transactions, what's holding them back to implement this is their inability to use USD in international transactions with the western world.

FYI, they've tried and no one will do business bc of the fear of getting fined by USG for doing business with Cuba. You can find numerous examples of banks outside the US getting fined for handling transaction where Cuba is involved, so until they are able to us their USD in international trade I am afraid the 10% gravamen will stay in place.

My personal take is that even Republicans nowadays are more agreeable to drop the sanctions since their own constituencies don't want to be left out of getting a piece of the pie (business opportunities) and are pushing politicians to drop the embargo. The one thing preventing this so far is the Cuban / American politicians from SoFla & New Jersey standing in the way.

Mondo.

Such is the hypocrisy of the USA Government. Embargo is only a pretense to create a situation for those with friends in high places to do business in Cuba.

Arrest warrants have been issued for foreign nationals that have done business with Cuba. What business is it of the USA That another country does business with Cuba?

And lets not go alllllll the way back to Helms Burton. When discovered that if enacted entirely, it would have allowed United Empire Loyalists to reclaim many now historical landmarks in the former 13 colonies, that specific troubling portion was dropped.

Cuba does what is best for their interests as every other country does. Maybe Cuba didn't do what you thought it was supposed to do because the other party involved did not do what they were supposed to do.

[QUOTE=Combo;1925094]Agreed. People have gone way overboard with this notion of mass numbers of US tourists fucking up Cuba. The Canadians and Europeans have plundered the beaches and chicas of Cuba for years (not to mention all the Americans that have gone illegally over the last 25 years). If you want to get away from the tourists, go to smaller towns. Or areas of Havana that aren't touristy. If you hang around Vieja or Vedado, yes it's spoiled. But there's much more to Havana and Cuba.[/QUOTE]American tourists will go once and find out what a shit hole Cuba can be. All those flights to the beach destinations? Americans will go, they will find how bad the food and service is compared to Mexico, the. Are. Or any other island in the Carribean. If you go to the small towns, there is no infrastructure. Maybe one restaurant or even two. You are shitting into a hole and dumping the tp into a waste basket, that is if you even find tp.

Havana still can be good but so many of the chicas are in Miami / Las Vegas, Mexico, Spain, Britain and even Turkey & Russia.

Ya there are alot of fast food burger type joints opening up. At the end of the meal they hand you a card so that you can rate them on trip advisor.

Last year at this time I did my obligatory, and wrote it off my bucket list of things to do, and stayed 10 days in and around Havana but since then never looked back and off to other places both new and repeated destinations.

One thing I will never forget about my 10 day stay last year in August. Damn it's hot and humid in Cuba in August.

TTM.

A lot of renovations and Americanization.

[QUOTE=TheTallMan;1926073]Last year at this time I did my obligatory, and wrote it off my bucket list of things to do, and stayed 10 days in and around Havana but since then never looked back and off to other places both new and repeated destinations.

One thing I will never forget about my 10 day stay last year in August. Damn it's hot and humid in Cuba in August.

TTM.[/QUOTE]IMO the only place to be in and around Havana in August is the beach. Even the Cubans do nothing but hang at the beach in August as many are given August off as it is too hot to work. The only month worst than August is September when it is also very very humid.