Still slightly bitter from the shirt-stealing-Jewish-Chilean-Mexican experience, I arrived in Trinidad, where even the arrival is an experience. In most towns that you visit in Cuba, there´s a mass panic as you get off the bus, as the locals try to entice you in to their casa. Trinidad is no exception but is made worse by the fact that you´re first paraded through the streets in the coach as the next wave of presumably money-laden tourists. Fortunately, I was booked in advance so I was able to avoid the main throng of the action, but it´s nevertheless a slightly unpleasant experience. Trinidad is described as one of the best kept / restored towns in Cuba, resplendent with its cobbled streets and architecture. However, it is significantly more touristy than Cienfuegos and seems to be a popular haunt for the coach-package visitors. There´s plenty to do and see, but by this point I had begun to get a feeling of “seen one plaza de la revolucion, seen ´em all”. With that in mind, I checked out some of the excursions with the local tour operators.

It didn´t take long for the scenery to change dramatically. On the bus leaving Havana, you´re no more than 5 miles from the city boundaries when the vista changes from the derelict built environment of Havana to the rolling countryside of rural Cuba. It´s a stunning and beautiful change, not to mention a very welcome one. Instantly you are presented with a different culture - farming and agriculture, usually sugar or plantain, are very much the focus. It´s a simple existence, more akin to some of the places I saw in Africa. People live in basic houses, with mud or clay walls and a straw roof. The roads are dirt tracks and people get around by either horse or bicycle. The country was extremely green, although this might be a positive side effect of the rain that would have been brought by Hurricane Noel. The coach system in Cuba is very good, but to the uninitiated can be a little confusing. There are two operators - Astro and Viazul - with Astro, like most other things in Cuba, being the one that only locals can use. Viazul is the tourist equivalent, and they operate a fleet of big air conditioned buses. They stick to the time schedule well, but in most of the bus stations it´s not obvious from where they depart, since (if they exist) the screens will only tell you about the departures of the Astro buses. Tickets are cheap, though, with most places accesible for between 5CUC and 15CUC. The bus to Cienfuegos takes you through the Zapatos Peninsula, and enormous area of swamp and trees, where you´ll see an assortment of fauna, and even the odd crocodile.

With a slight (and when I say slight, I mean massive) sense of trepidation, I was on a flight to Havana. Cuba has such a reputation, which is, in reality, an undeserved reputation, but nevertheless, a reputation that it’s not such a straight-forward place to visit. Touching down, I was expecting to receive the Spanish inquisition as to my motives for visiting, several intensive (and intrusive) strip searches not to mention a free lesson in Communism and why it’s so great. Well, I got none of it, and as I meandered through customs, so began my adventure in Cuba (where I quickly learnt the first of many important lessons.) I’ll say it straight away - everyone should visit Cuba, it is a truly remarkable place, but be prepared for a massive culture shock if you’re at all used to a Western way of life. For starters, don’t take US Dollars with you as your currency. It seems obvious, considering the well documented ‘issues’ between Cuba and the US, but even if you’re coming from the US (or anywhere that uses USD) try and prepare yourself with either Canadian dollars, Euros or Sterling. The USD has even less value in Cuba than most other places in the world (which is really saying something.) Cuban currency can be pretty complicated - there are two currencies, one the ‘Cuban peso’, which is the moneda nacional and can only be used by residents of Cuba, and the ‘Cuban Convertible Peso’ (CUC) which is no less than 24 times less valuable than the regular peso. It can also only be used in certain shops and restaurants and was introduced as a way of increasing the flow of tourist money in to the country*. With CUC in hand, it was time for a taxi to my casa particulares in the area of Havana called Cerro.

Final thoughts on Eleuthera? Awesome. Such a beautiful island, great weather, incredibly friendly people and an altogether pleasant experience. Not to mention some of the best surf I’ve seen and ridden. Surfer’s Beach is a good spot, although James Point further up the coast is even better. If you’re looking for a surfari, then consider Eleuthera. And I’m sure the Surfer’s Haven would be willing to accomodate you. You’ll meet some fantastic people (my Facebook contacts are growing at a rapid rate!), you’ll inevitably sup some rum (beware the Bacardi 151) and have a very chilled out time.

I escaped the clutches of New York and continued my voyage and now find myself on a beautiful island in the Bahamas - I know, it’s a tough life. The journey here was eventful to.say the least and started early in the morning with a flight out of JFK on JetBlue to Nassau ($45 flying standby - thanks Leo) arriving in around 1030am. I had no intention of staying in Nassau and booked myself on the next BahamasAir flight to Eleuthera ($160 open return) which meant a 7 hour wait in Nassau airport, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Fortunately I found an open wireless access point so I was able to pass the time, albeit slowly. Then the drama began. Thick fog an heavy rain had encircled the airport which meant a 40 minute wait on the runway, fearful that we might not leave. We did and the short flight was fine, except for landing in the northerly airport and getting the news that the flight woild no longer be connecting to the central airport at Govenors Harbour. That was no major problem for me as my hostel was roughly in the middle of the two, but it did mean there was an entire Dash-8’s worth of people fighting over the short supply of taxis, in the wind and rain. Worse still the weather, not to mention the impact of Hurricane Noel which had passed over two weeks previous meant many of the small roads had been obliterated. Anyway, a couple of hours later and I was at my destination - Surfer’s Haven - and met by my hosts Tom (a burly Bahamian) and Diesel (a burly Bahamian pit bull terrier.)

I’m still in New York, about a week longer than I had originally planned. My travel plans have been compounded now twice but I hasten to add that my travel plans are a miniscule consideration compared with what is going on here. Initially, the plan was to make my way to the west coast of the USA, such as Los Angeles or San Diego, and use that as a stepping point into Mexico. Unfortunately, just as I was preparing myself to depart for San Diego, the forest fires hit, displacing some 250,000 people and causing no end of grief for the local residents. Fortunately, the situation there seems to be calming, but it’s unlikely to be the best time for me to pop down there for a quick visit.

New York, New York. The Big Apple. Don’t think I’ve actually seen any apples, but it’s great being here anyway. Strictly speaking, I’m in Connecticut, staying with my brother in his new house in Stamford, but it seems that anyone within about 3 hours of said massive fruit describes themselves as living in New York.

I just need to get this out the way first: we were robbed. Rugby, that is. I don’t care what any of my South African friends say - we were robbed. (OK, maybe not robbed*.) But nevertheless England were the better side and a far-cry from the side that got drubbed 36-0 by the Springboks earlier in the tournament. Our attacking game was strong and that try could have gone either way. From where I was standing - about 12 foot from a widescreen TV in an Irish pub in Stamford, with at least one pair of beer goggles on and about 50 other English, South African, American and Irish people in a similar state - it was a try. Lewis Moody dropped the trophy for us, though, with that outrageous trip tackle - it was totally unnecessary and 6-3 would have been a much easier position from which to recover. But alas, it was not to be, and fair play to the Springboks for 80 minutes of solid defence. But equal amounts of fair play to Brian Ashton and the whole squad - nobody was expecting England to do so well and I’m pleased they were able to flick some V’s at the unbelievers. We can now look forward to regaining the cup in 4 years time.

I haven’t decided if titling these posts with the place I am or have been is the way forward, but I haven’t got anything better just yet so that’ll do for now. I’m writing this from room 3021 of the Sheraton Hotel in Montreal. That’s right - Sheraton Hotel - thanks to my brother and his Sheraton points which scored us a free stay. Needless to say, it’s something of a contrast to the Global Village Backpackers that I was in for the last week. And rightly so - I could have stayed there for a month for the cost of two nights here. Still, I’m not paying - minibar included - so I’m not complaining.

Well. It’s great to be underway. I’d like to point out from the start that I’m writing this on an Archos 605 Wifi. It’s a great device and I’d heartily recommend it to anyone, but it’s not quite the same as having a real keyboard, despite the touchscreen being (iPhone-beating) excellent.

I’m writing this from the bar of Global Village Backpackers hostel, a funky little hostel in downtown Toronto. I got here late last night after my uber-cheap Globespan flight to Hamilton. Good job I had.booked the cheap-as-chips shuttle, considering it’s some 50 miles out of Toronto. I’d also.forgotten how much fun it is.to be.on a.flight with Americans - that cheering when the computer lands the plane still makes me laugh.

How exactly do you fit your life (or what roughly constitutes the stuff you need to live your life) in to one bag? Bearing in mind that you will have to carry this bag, with you, in all kinds of places, for who-knows how long whilst trying to be prepared for most eventualities. Not to mention the fact that I could quite easily set up a mobile pharmacy with all the drug-precautions I’m taking with me or give Annie Liebowicz a run for her money, lens-wise.