Originally Posted by beckoa

...Its a ratio of 1 USD to 1 CUP, but with a 10% penalty and 3% commission. I ended up with 86.30 CUP from my $100 USD. We rejoined our driver outside who was waiting anxiously, and walked the 5 minutes to where he was parked. Our ride comprised of a yellow Fiat made in Poland, and we squeezed into the car. Our driver was concerned about us fitting, but was no problem. The lack of headroom was my main issue, needing about 2" more. It was about a 30 minute ride to our casa, and it was interesting to see everything along the way.

Our driver pointed out many of the sights as we passed, the library, hospital, and revolution plaza. This was a 30 CUP ride, tipping 2 CUP. We met Tania our host, and she welcomed us, and showed us our accommodations. We had a single and double bed, fridge/freezer, 23" widescreen TV and our own bathroom, plus AC. After getting settled, she explained were a few options for dinner were and general locations of tourist locations. We walked the 20 minutes down San Miguel to Old Havana and ate dinner at a restaurant adjacent to Central Park.

I ended up with 12 Pesos worth of ribs and barbecue sauce (3 fatty ribs with sweetened ketchup). This was a small portion for the price, but enough for tonight. However being a sucker for "street food" I ended up with some fried chicken from a window. Tasty with salsa, it had a big line and ended up with 3 large pieces for a little over 2 CUC. I ended up with change in both CUC and CUP too . Fried plantains in the bottom of the tray were a tasty bonus. Walked back to the room, watched some T.V. with both Spanish and Japanese subtitles, and went to sleep.

Originally Posted by beckoa

Thanks for reading my narrative. Overall HAV is an exciting place to visit, and I'd be interested in returning some day. Alaska has some great contract agents in Havana. However be flexible with your return, as it looks like the 3/14 AS287 was cancelled yet again. But I'd like to get out of town and see a bit more of the country in the future. And somehow get a hold of more CUP's as that's where the real value is.

Originally Posted by SFO777

OK, I've seen enough of the hell hole that is Cuba to satisfy my curiosity. Check.
Interesting report and quite an adventure. Thanks for taking one for the team.

Originally Posted by ANC RED-EYE

Interesting report. Glad you had a good time.

I believe you may have confused and interchanged CUP and CUC at various places throughout the report...additionally, many readers may not be familiar with the (relatively confusing) currency situation in Cuba.

This Tripadvisor article should help.

Briefly:

• CUC is a tourist currency; used at tourist stores/restaurants/hotels. Things sold there are more expensive by a lot.
• CUP is the local currency; not intended to be used by tourists. Used in local business/restaurants/street food. Things are much, much cheaper that are charged in CUP.
• One can avoid the 10% surcharge for exchanging USD by bringing EUR or any other number of currencies which are exchanged with only the 3% exchange fee and not the 10% surcharge