Trinidad: Trains and Trinkets

The two days we spent in Trinidad were both very different and very enjoyable. The first day we spent in the town itself and the second day we ventured out on a train tour of the old sugar plantations from colonial times. This was recommended to us by some other travellers and also gets our full endorsement.

The town of Trinidad is a UNESCO world heritage site which is very small and packed with tourists. It was certainly the most touristy place we went (aside from the resort) in Cuba. On the positive side, it was well maintained and quite picturesque with beautifully painted buildings and a pedestrian-only centre. It only takes an hour or so to walk around the centre.

There are a few museums on various topics that are open to tourists. We went to the municipal museum which was in a large old colonial house. This museum had information on the history of the area, the rise and fall of the sugar industry and the rise of communism. However, the main attraction of this museum is the lookout. Part of the museum is an old lookout tower, and after you have climbed several flights of twisty, rickety stairs you are rewarded with a beautiful view. From here you can see the whole town, the mountains and the coast!

Because there are so many bus tours that do day trips here and tourists in general there are also a lot of places that sell (tacky) souvenirs. Near the main square there is a collection of outdoor stalls selling just about everything from magnets to wooden handicraft to jewellery. If you do in fact want some souvenirs this is probably the best place on the island to get it. First of all there is lots of choice. Secondly, you can get the best prices here as bargaining is allowed. We got a metal necklace, bracelet, earrings and two bead necklaces all for 10CUC down from 10CUC just for the metal necklace.

If you are a bigger spender, Trinidad is also a great place to buy art. There are tons of little shops selling all kinds and sizes of paintings at reasonable prices (shipping often included). While we weren’t in the market for any big canvases, just visiting some of the galleries was cool and felt like being in an open-air art museum!

At night there are several options – the easiest and most touristy is the live outdoor concert (and sort of cabaret) near the main square. Make sure you get there early to get a seat at one of the tables -  otherwise you will be drinking your mojitos on the cement steps. The music wasn’t bad, but it was geared more to tourists. We were also recommended this club in a cave on the hill– but we never quite made it there!

The second day was dedicated to our train trip into the country. We walked down to this old train station and waited for our steam train to arrive. This is definitely the coolest way to travel in Cuba! The open air carriages were great for taking photos and enjoying the breeze. After about an hour on the train we had our first stop to fill up the water tank from a water pump on the tracks. It was pretty cool to watch! Shortly thereafter we had our first official stop in Iznaga. A small town from the colonial times, whose only real claim to fame is a huge tower that was used by the colonial guards to watch the slaves in the sugar plantations. There was also a governor’s house that had been turned into a restaurant.

After spending about an hour there we got back on the train and headed for our lunch stop. The landscape in this part of Cuba is very similar to Alberta with both prairies and mountains. Apparently this is also the cowboy country of Cuba as we saw lots of livestock and cowboy hats from the train. When we got off the train this dude name Umberto was offering horse rides. We decided we could spare a few bucks to take a horse ride around the area.

We spent most of the ride just walking and sometimes trotting. Nothing too difficult, but I’m glad I wasn’t a complete beginner as Umberto pretty much just told us to jump on and go! We went through some palm trees, crossed a river or two and through a before getting back to the lunch stop about an hour later.

We had some time to quickly have some homemade lemonade before getting back on the train and heading back to Trinidad. The ride back was along the same way we came, so the only thing that caused excitement was the downpour of rain we experienced just before pulling into Trinidad. The excursion takes most of the day, but is quite reasonably priced and is something unique.

I would definitely recommend visiting Trinidad, it’s very small and quaint and can be seen in two or three days. Just keep in mind that most of Trinidad is geared towards tourists and that it is nothing like the ‘real Cuba’ we had seen in Havana and Santiago.

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