18 December 2024, Imias to Baracoa, 15km (plus transport)
Casa Yoco & Mima $25 (R458)

We travelled the same 15km stretch between Imias and Cajobabo three times this morning: once by bicycle, once standing up in the back of an open camion, and once in relative comfort in a 1952 Mercury.
--
Originally, when scoping our route, I had planned to begin our ride around 350km east of Havana in Santa Clara and end it in Santiago de Cuba. This would in theory have placed us in easy terrain for the first two or three weeks, saving the more mountainous east for the end of our ride.
Then my brother suggested joining us for our last ten days or so. It made no sense to have him meet us in the east, a very long bus ride there and back, so we opted, happily, to switch the start and end points.
Either way, we knew there were several sections we would be unable to cycle and that therefore this would be a hybrid trip. We assumed that, for any uncycleable distances, as in other third-world countries, we could cadge a lift in some sort of vehicle for a reasonable fee.
--
Today's ride up and over the mountains that cluster at Cuba's eastern end, we knew would be beyond us to cycle, including as it does over 1000m in elevation gain. We planned therefore to ride the relatively flat 15km to Cajobabo, then hitch a ride to Baracoa.
When we shared our plans with our Imias host, he told us that the camions (trucks) stop at the streetlight. This seemed a random and cryptic comment until we hit the outskirts of Cajobabo to find a single streetlight under which stood a man with a daypack awaiting a ride to Guantanamo.
There is zero connectivity under the streetlight, so the poor man found it quite frustrating trying to explain to us in sign language (as opposed to Google Translate) that an electric pylon had collapsed on the pass and that the road to Baracoa was closed to traffic.
We sat around for ages trying to determine what it was best to do and decided to take whatever public transport we could back via Imias and Guantanamo the very long alternative route to Baracoa.
We hopped a ride in an open camion, a truck without a roof, with a railing around the bed onto which passengers hold, completing their journey standing upright.
In went the bikes with assistance from the daypack man and the passengers already in the bed. And then I was shown where to place my feet to gain access: one foot on the wheelnuts, then one on the wheel, then one on the narrow bed edge beyond the railing, then one through the railing, body bent to follow suit - QED.
On the outskirts of Imias, our casa host spotted us headed in the wrong direction, waved down the camion to enquire what was up, made a call, and determined that the pass had just been re-opened.
And so we accepted his offer to drive us and the bikes to Baracoa on the north coast in his 1952 Mercury.
The road between Guantanamo and Baracoa was built by Castro, linking the two towns for the first time. We have read that until then, Baracoa was reachable by boat only. We are not sure if this is entirely accurate as a less complex road reaches Baracoa along the north coast...
--
We were dropped outside our charming casa, slept for what remained of the afternoon, then walked to Un restaurant for dinner.
There was a blackout when we arrived in town at around 1400, the power only being restored at 2000.
We hoped someone in town had some sort of backup system enabling food production despite the the lack of power. Several restaurants were closed, or serving beer only, but Un was open!
We had a little trouble locating it, however. The restaurant is in a ground floor flat in a small block. Only its location on Google Maps and some coloured fairy lights on the balcony gave any clue to its existence. A passerby took pity on our confusion, directed us into the lobby and to an unmarked door, which opened onto a pleasant, well-lit space.
We ate a set menu comprising soup, salad, rice, a main and dessert, sharing one meal between us. The main we chose is a local speciality: fish in a coconut sauce. Yum.