Indra and Rani have been globe trotting as usual. Their latest travel destinations were Canada, Cuba and Mexico. As he has already shown with his recent contributions to the blog, Indra is now quite an accomplished photographer. See below:
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| Buchart Gardens, Victoria, Vancouver island, CANADA. A UNESCO world Heritage Site |
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| Buchart, Victoria, Vancouver island, Canada |
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| Plaque in Buchart Gardens |
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Branff, Canada. View from the hotel
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Lake Louise from the hotel, Canadian Rockies. Hard to beat for location. The hotel is at the top overlooking this beautiful one of a kind spot. The walking trail is on the left.
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| Here are vintage American cars lined up in the morning near the Capitol building |
The Capitol building is in the background. Looks much like the one in Washington DC.
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| The passengers in the pink car are Indra and Rani |
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Vintage American cars in Havana, Cuba
Lareef and Nabila are also in this group photo.
From the Fuster Gallery |
PS: Please re-read "Cuba Libre" by Nihal D. Amerasekera posted on 21 June, 2015.
Indra
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. I loved Cuba that gave me a taste of the 1960's. Cuba Libre never tasted better in the warm sunshine.
Lovely photos. Never been to Cuba. May be this is a good time to go before it loses its charm under US influence
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your trip to USA
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ReplyDeleteIndra Ana comments....
I have read with interest the comments by Mahendra & Nihal on Cuba. Having travelled to the island, what happened with the revolution was a necessity forced upon them by circumstances. A dictatorship running the country and social ills. Since then, they have succeeded in at least providing good education, nutrition (not much variety though) & a great
health care system. But they are now left stranded not knowing how to switch gears & go forward taking development to the next level.
1. The farms have no tractors. They are plowed the old fashioned way.
2. The internet system is still not islandwide in coverage to say the least.
3. One cannot use charge cards. One does not realize how convenient the charge cards are to use, until you go to a place where you cannot use them & have to carry pockets full of cash.
4. Are people free to discuss politics, the answer is a no.
They are all guarded in what they say .
5. There are apartments & large charming older homes in lovely residential areas. Many are occupied by Embassies. But there are also some very large properties, some heavily guarded, one always wonders who lives there.
6. The Castros to their credit do not show off with large photographs or bill boards.
7. Are people starving or poorly dressed? Hard to find anything close to what we see often in south Asia & some other countries.
8. Everything is owned eventually by the state.
9. This leads to its own inbuilt inefficiencies which are quite noticeable when you start to deal businesswise.
It all reminds of an experiment that was hoisted on Sri Lanka by politicians in the past. A time when we had bread lines, people went to bed by 8 pm.There was a ban on most imported items, including onions and potatoes.
There is no perfect political system that man can create. They all have their deficiencies, some have MORE than others.
FUSTER GALLERY- he is quite well known ( even abroad) for his work on tiles & was out for town when we dropped by. His studio is also his home in Havana.
ReplyDeleteIndra A
Indra,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the gorgeous photos and for the write up.
Enjoy your travels!-Rohini
Many thanks for a wonderful trip with photos and added verbal pictures by Lucky. I have never been there and unlikely to get a chance to go there and I really appreciate what you have all given me.
ReplyDeleteZita
Though a person with 'Commie' Principles at heart and in practice, I too do think that I would NOT be able to visit that great country of Castros & Che Guevara. I was delighted & rejoiced at the 'Bay of Pigs' fiasco & at the red face of President John Kennedy. Now I am sure,thanks to 'Comrade' Obama, those resilient people will progress and come & join us in the 21 st. Century..... sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope & pray ( ironical for a 'Commie').
'RED' Raz aka Razaque.
Razzaque,
ReplyDeleteThe average monthly salary in Cuba is $ 20-25. They have subsidy coupons. The visitors use convertible currency called CUC's. the local have their own currency that is non convertible.
Staple food items are rice & beans with chicken, beef or fish, not much variety.
Bay of pigs invasion was intimated by angry Cuban exiles that forced the hand of the then President. Stupid mistake to send a fighting force of 1500 .
IA
Why are there so many VINTAGE AMERICAN CARS, you may wonder from the photographs. Cuba, is only 90 miles from the tip of Florida.So was very much influenced by its giant neighbor like the shadow that India casts on Sri Lanka. Most of the cars were those American cars that one used to see in the older American movies. After the Cuban missile crises US imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba. This naturally affected auto spare parts. Cuba also did not have the money to import newer cars from elsewhere.So they let their ingenuity take over, repairing cars, scavenging parts from other vehicles etc.,to keep what they had running. So Cuba now has more older American cars than any other nation. These come in beautiful colors & the Cubans are very proud of these older vehicles which apparently can be sold for 40 to 60 thousand dollars each.
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