Tuesday 6th November - around Cienfuegos (60km)

We had a decent buffet style breakfast. The omelettes here were good (complete, of course with spam)! We then set off on the 27km ride into Cienfuegos.

It was a pleasant cycle into town even though the terrain was quite hilly and it was very hot. We all re-grouped on the outskirts of Cienfuegos opposite the Tomas Acea cemetery to fill up with water and re-apply sun cream, overtaking lots of horse and carts on our way.

We all cycled into the city in single file and cycled through the city streets for around half an hour before stopping in the plaza mayor. We had 15 minutes to get a drink and wander around, then Alex gave us a talk about the city in the square.

We then had 20 minutes before getting back on our bikes. During this time, Alex took those of us who were interested to a local market. On the way we saw a baker's where people could pick up their bread rations. The local market was very vibrant and had paintings of Che Guevara on the walls. I took a photograph of a pig's head hanging on a hook and the butcher posed with his arm round the pig's head for me!

We then met everyone else back in the square and got back on our bikes and followed Alfredo through the streets of the city, before cycling along the seafront for a while, passing some majestic houses which were built for the wealthy in the 1920's. Some of these were crumbling, but some had been restored to their original splendour.

We left the city and cycled the 27km's back to the hotel at our own pace. We all set off pretty fast so that we could have a late lunch at the hotel and spend the afternoon relaxing. The ride back was much harder than the morning's cycle due to the intense afternoon heat. I ran out of water after about 20km's and felt really weak. Luckily Clare came along with one of her famous snack bars and some water and we stopped in the shade for a few minutes. I felt much better after this snack and we cycled the remining few kilometres back to the hotel together.

A few of us had pizza for lunch by the pool bar. It was delicious (complete with onions, peppers, cheese and NO spam) - very tasty. I went back to my room to rest for a couple of hours as I felt a bit sunburned (even after applying copious amounts of sun-tan cream all day).


I met up with everyone on the beach at around 4 o'clock and had my first swim in the Caribbean sea. We all stayed there to watch the sun go down at around 6pm. It was really beautiful. Had dinner and briefing before going to bed.