You passport will be stamped. Period. Cuba is now stamping everybody on entry and exit.
My understanding of Cuba at the moment is that it is somewhat stuck in time, and all the cars and technology is quite old. As the embargo decreases and is eventually lifted, I think Cuba will modernize quite quickly ...
Yes, it's charming as heck for us to see a country stuck in a timewarp. But it's a struggle and a grind for Cubans, who have to make do with shortages of consumer goods and technology that doesn't work. Of course they'd like to modernize. As far as I'm concerned, that trumps our need to be "charmed."
It's not like there's no tourism in Cuba. The country gets 3 million visitors annually. It's just that Americans are way down the list in numbers. The majority of visitors heads to Havana or the beach resorts, like Varadero or Cayo Coco. When the Americans start arriving in greater numbers, I think that's where they'll go too. The Cuba that I enjoyed on this recent trip was the smaller places, such as Trinidad, Camaguey, Cienfuegos, and Santiago. I don't look for those places to change as fast, because they're not going to see the huge increase in numbers of visitors.
Cuba will still be Cuba, even if you don't get there three weeks from now.
