What I brought home from Cuba

[travisbickle34]

Kerr-ching!


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[alec_brickie]

nice very jealous

[PoohBore]

Very nice but we need prices for the spreadsheet ! What's the current exchange rate ?

[M1F2R3]

Oh man! That looks so good! How did you find Cuba ?

[travisbickle34]

Oh man! That looks so good! How did you find Cuba ?

Great place. Nothing unexpected from our perspective (although the number and variety of scams is unbelievable). Beautiful country but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who didn't understand what they're in for. You need to be ready for awful roads, abundant mosquitoes, shitty food, non-existent customer service etc. I've travelled a large part of Africa so I'm in a decent position to make these judgements

Very nice but we need prices for the spreadsheet ! What's the current exchange rate ?

The Punch were 225 CUC, The Behike were 180.50, The Magicos were 133, The RyJ were 131.25, the Bolivar were 130. Exchange rate \i'm not certain on - that 800 CUc was about 520 quid though.

[PoohBore]

Thanks for posting the prices, particularly the Behikes- which ones are they ?

Looks as though the exchange rate was 1.53 cuc to the ?

Sorry for the questions but I'm preparing my shopping list for later this year !

[Simon Bolivar]

Hi Travis,
I am guessing you made Pinar del Rio & the Club Havana Factory, as I see you have a bottle of their local brew, la Occidental Guayabuta. Did you try it there? They were making a batch when we arrived, verying interesting flavour. Our bottle is sitting in the drinks cabient waiting for a suitable occasion.
I know what you mean about the food (outside of major hotels & resturants) but we didn't have a problem with customer service, everyone very helpful, even in the sticks of the Pinar de Rio region.

[Jacobwaits]

Very nice...What time can i come round?

[M1F2R3]

Great place. Nothing unexpected from our perspective (although the number and variety of scams is unbelievable). Beautiful country but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who didn't understand what they're in for. You need to be ready for awful roads, abundant mosquitoes, shitty food, non-existent customer service etc. I've travelled a large part of Africa so I'm in a decent position to make these judgements

Awesome, you get scams everywhere in the world where there is a market for unique items, I suppose. Not a fan of mosquitoes or shit food, haha. Glad you enjoyed yourself though!

[whisky77]

Nice collection of both cigars and drinks to wash the cigars down with.

Let me know if you are having a party any time soon.

[jebus]

the BHK's seem like the best thing to buy up in Cuba in terms of price differential with Swiss and Canary Island prices. Did you find them hard to source? I'm looking to buy about 5 boxes of 54's ideally, and then just have one every year pretty much

[Bigboned]

That monster of a humi you have still won't be full tho lol

[travisbickle34]

Thanks for posting the prices, particularly the Behikes- which ones are they ?

I got the 52s. The look so pretty I'm afraid to smoke them though!

Hi Travis,
I am guessing you made Pinar del Rio & the Club Havana Factory, as I see you have a bottle of their local brew, la Occidental Guayabuta. Did you try it there? They were making a batch when we arrived, verying interesting flavour. Our bottle is sitting in the drinks cabient waiting for a suitable occasion.
I know what you mean about the food (outside of major hotels & resturants) but we didn't have a problem with customer service, everyone very helpful, even in the sticks of the Pinar de Rio region.

I made it to Pinar del Rio. One of the locals gifted me a bottle of the local brew when I paid him a few CUC for showing us the way to a small local farm. Harvesting had already happened for the year so I didn't see the need to travel to any massive plantation and look at empty fields! I think the further you get from places like Havana/Varadero, the nicer the people become. Didn't make the Havana Club factory though. Bought some cigars at the Partgas factory but the tours weren't operating when I was there so I had to do a cigar tour at a little factory in Pinar del Rio instead. I recommned hiring a car and driving from place to place - it really is a good way to get a true feeling for the country...

the BHK's seem like the best thing to buy up in Cuba in terms of price differential with Swiss and Canary Island prices. Did you find them hard to source?

Agreed - they definitely are the most economical ones to buy. I got mine in a Casa del Habanos in Varadero. The best option is just to stop in every one you find during the trip as they vary quite a lot in terms of what stock they hold.

That monster of a humi you have still won't be full tho lol

This is true. I'm not sure it ever will be

[jebus]

I was just thinking, due to the difficulty in finding BHKs when you're out there, if you come across one in a shop can you purchase them but leave them there and pick them up before you fly back out?

I just think I'd rather have them store it at optimal conditions than it sit in my stuffy hotel room for a week or two before I fly out; and I wouldn't want to just leave buying them till the last couple of days in case I didn't have any luck...

I guess one way is just to take an empty preseasoned humi with you...

[PoohBore]

There is a habanos app available which has a shop map with email addresses for each shop. You could always try to get some reserved for collection during your holiday