My travel in Cuba was on a big ole bus, but that was sure not the case for Cubans whose modes of travel were throwbacks to another era. This was just one more area where I was struck by the differences between neighbors who are only 90 miles apart.
Many people rode bicycles, some with tires so worn and flat I wondered how they rolled at all. Then I remembered that on the flight from Miami to Cuba many people checked bicycle tires. That was now beginning to make sense!
Pedicabs were much used in the towns
as were packed buses, most rusted with age and rumbling along as if on their last legs.
Here and there was a car, again old but not so shiny as in Havana, that appeared to be held together with baling wire and duct tape.
On the highways, it was not uncommon to see a truck loaded with people who had hitched rides. Hitchhiking, we were told, was a much used and safe means for getting around.
Out in the countryside, travel was even more primitive with people traveling in horse pulled wagons
or on horseback.
Again and again I found myself wondering how it would be to live without all the conveniences I have, but my answer was always the same. If that’s all I knew, it wouldn’t seem different, it would just be the way of life.
i so appreciate your visit and the comments you leave behind
Lulu's Musings 
What a great traveling adventure. That homemade chess board and the cars really made me sit back and think. This life in Cuba shows just what I take for granted every day. You got some beautiful photo shots!
So amazing to see, especially the hitchhiking!
That’s amazing, Linda! We sure have it nice where we are! You got some really good action shot, too. 🙂
It’s amazing to see all the different modes of transportation. Thanks for sharing.
This is a real eye opener! My goodness! We would NEVER think of hitchhiking here…let alone allowing our children to go along for the ride! It’s all very civil. Wish it was a safe way to get around here. It would help out an awful lot of people, especially poor college kids on a Ramon noodle budget.
The horse & carriage really threw me for a loop! That might actually be kind of fun, though!
Very interesting!
Once upon a time I hitchhiked through much of Europe. I don’t know that I would be so brave today.
your trip fascinates me, very eye opening~
To be sure, this is a sad, sad post…the pre-Castro Havana, especially, was a beautiful and cosmopolitan city with beautiful architecture and every convenience known in the US–I should know; I was born there and my family escaped in early 1961. You are so right, that the people who live there now for the most part don’t know another way of life. The ones who did are dying off or left when Castro took over the country. We are blessed beyond the modern conveniences–we are blessed with FREEDOM. Though very sad to see (which is what keeps me from going back for a visit), thanks for the update. ~Zuni
Thank you so much, Zuni, for your comment. I wish we could chat as there is so much I would like to know.
Thank you so much for your comment. I was young in Florida when Cubans began to come into the state, but I didn’t comprehend the tragedy that brought them there. I wish I could have seen Havana in its better times.
Your pictures and commentary are very eye opening. We are very blessed.
This so makes you appreciate “home” and all of the conveniences we take for granted…
Very true. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded how lucky we are.
It is sad in one sense that Cuba is still in mid 20th century, but wonderful in other ways. Thanks for sharing, Linda.
How right you are!
Nice post. You are so right, we try to compare where we live and what we have to places where we visit. It is totally a different way of life…we discovered that when we lived in the Dominican Republic.
I want to go! Great post~
Your art self would very much enjoy Cuba.