Cuba - The real Valle del Silencio

At the casa I met a very nice couple from Slovenia and we had a good talk over dinner.  It turned out that they had discovered the real Valle del Silencio by a fluke the day before.  Like most activities and attractions in the area, there is little information or directions unless you hook up with a guide.  In fact, in the park, you cannot hike independently.  You must hire a guide. But my Slovenian friends, Miha and Vanya agreed to show me the way so, in the morning we rented bikes and headed out the highway to the turnoff to Valle del Silencio where they left me with directions to negotiate the network of roads to the valley.  Right away it was obvious by the numbers of foreign hikers and horseback tours that this was a well traveled tourist route.  Nonetheless, I managed to get off the track and wound up following a series of dirt roads that dead ended at a farmers field.  

Backtracking, I found my way by following a group of hikers.  The way meandered through fields and beautiful countryside, crossed streams and eventually led upwards to a high point where there was a wonderful view of the valley.  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XhlubLcojM

Tour groups ended their excursions there and so the silencio was mitigated by the chatter of languages from all over the globe.  On the way down from the valley, I encountered a beautiful garden belonging to an old man who naturally asked where I was from but didn't try to scam me!  

The next guy I ran into did the stereotypical “where jew fron?” And I knew he was up to something.  Sure enough he had fossils to show me and did I want a cigar or some rum? and he would instruct me on the history of the area.  He was professor Raymundo and an expert.  Sure, maybe tomorrow.
 

 

 Tobacco fields forever

Got back to the casa for a rest and a beer, then headed back in the other direction to a “Prehistoric Mural” by a Cuban artist allegedly influenced by Diego Rivera.  It covered the entire face of a cliff and it supposedly depicted humanity’s evolution.  

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw it.  I thought, this has got to be a joke.  It was really pathetic.  And the tour buses and taxis were lined up.  Put me in mind of PT Barnum.  Step right up folks.  

But as I continued cycling along a back road, the landscape again saved the day.

I came to a mirador (viewpoint) and stopped to admire the landscape and, sure enough, along came a young man with the, “hola, where jew fron?” bit. Time to go home.