When in Trinidad one needs to visit this valley, the Valle de los Ingenios which was once the most productive area of Cuba....
and was the source of the riches seen in the palacios of Trinidad.......
We were picked up at our Casa Particular in a 41 year old Seat from Argentina, driven by a 41 year old local....
and the car's original engine had been replaced with a Polish one!
We first checked out the view......spectacular. In its hey day these 3 interconnected valleys had 70+ sugar plantations!
Now there are only 2 ! And not much evidence of cultivation!
Obviously the price of sugar has gone down.......but other large sugar companies ( some ex-Cuban) are still making money!
We went to San Isidro de los Destiladeros........ which has very little left of the original plantation house.....but it is being renovated.....
It was interesting to see what has been excavated...... not much! This area was the slave barracks...
These molasses pits, called the Jamaica train, which distilled the molasses into rum.......
made sense....
.....when we saw what the urns looked like at the next plantation.......
This is the only plantation, the Manaca Iznaga,which still has its watch tower intact as well as the plantation house...... now a restaurant for tourists. We had seen that the Iznaga palace in Trinidad is being turned into a 5* hotel but nothing was left of its former glory except the facade!
We actually would have been quite happy staying there for lunch, particularly after our uphill walk....
......passing what had been the slave housing......
...the bar actually looked very inviting....mojito time!!
However our driver convinced us that there was a smaller more intimate plantation nearby..... which he said was better.......
As we approached we saw the steam train waiting.......
Apparently the train runs from Trinidad irregularly and obviously stops indefinitely en route!
The train workers like to eat at this place....so the train waits!!
It was very different from the other place..... but it was also an old plantation house.
.......with tables overlooking an area where there lots of animals....
.....chickens roamed around....but they were all out of chicken on the menu!
......and we even had a cat and dog at our feet hoping for a hand out!
The food was not too inspiring!!
and was the source of the riches seen in the palacios of Trinidad.......
We were picked up at our Casa Particular in a 41 year old Seat from Argentina, driven by a 41 year old local....
and the car's original engine had been replaced with a Polish one!
We first checked out the view......spectacular. In its hey day these 3 interconnected valleys had 70+ sugar plantations!
Now there are only 2 ! And not much evidence of cultivation!
Obviously the price of sugar has gone down.......but other large sugar companies ( some ex-Cuban) are still making money!
We went to San Isidro de los Destiladeros........ which has very little left of the original plantation house.....but it is being renovated.....
It was interesting to see what has been excavated...... not much! This area was the slave barracks...
These molasses pits, called the Jamaica train, which distilled the molasses into rum.......
made sense....
.....when we saw what the urns looked like at the next plantation.......
This is the only plantation, the Manaca Iznaga,which still has its watch tower intact as well as the plantation house...... now a restaurant for tourists. We had seen that the Iznaga palace in Trinidad is being turned into a 5* hotel but nothing was left of its former glory except the facade!
We actually would have been quite happy staying there for lunch, particularly after our uphill walk....
......passing what had been the slave housing......
However our driver convinced us that there was a smaller more intimate plantation nearby..... which he said was better.......
As we approached we saw the steam train waiting.......
Apparently the train runs from Trinidad irregularly and obviously stops indefinitely en route!
The train workers like to eat at this place....so the train waits!!
It was very different from the other place..... but it was also an old plantation house.
.....chickens roamed around....but they were all out of chicken on the menu!
......and we even had a cat and dog at our feet hoping for a hand out!
The food was not too inspiring!!
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