Old Havana, Cuba

Although Hotel Raquel is lovely, it's way beyond my budget to stay here, as are most hotels in Havana.

The guidebook lists several 'casa particulares' but the one we pick is full. This doesn't seem to be a problem. The landlady of the 'casa' is soon on the phone to her friends and tells us to wait until someone comes to pick us up. It's a steep learning curve on my first day but I realise everyone in Cuba knows someone who will give you shelter or feed you in their home, at a price. In fact you need to go out of your way to avoid being 'hustled' (more on that later).

After visiting a couple of shabby 'casas' in run down areas of Centro Habana we return defeated to the Raquel to check out. The same hotel porter from last night asks us where we're going and when I say we don't have anywhere to stay yet, he recommends a 'casa particular', which is where local people rent out a room in their house to tourists for between 20-30 CUCs (CUCs roughly translate to US dollars). It's an easy way for local people to make money and the government also profits by levying a tax. Although I had read about the dual currencies of pesos for locals and CUCs for tourists, I hadn't grasped how cash-strapped most Cubans are. With pesos locals often pay much less for the same things.

Thankfully he takes us to a fairly pleasant casa right on Old Havana's main street, Calle Obispo, albeit run by a slightly scary landlady who immediately whisks our passports off to register us. No doubt the porter will receive some sort of commission for his trouble.

(Photo - Calle Obispo)