Cuba - Lonely Planet [106]
CENTRO HABANA
El Palermo ( 861-9745; cnr San Miguel & Amistad; admission CUC$2; from 11pm Thu-Sun) A hole in the wall with a heavy rap scene. Fun but fuerte (intense).
VEDADO
Cabaret Las Vegas ( 870-7939; Infanta No 104 btwn Calles 25 & 27; admission CUC$5; 10pm-4am) Don’t get duped into thinking this is another Tropicana. On the contrary, Cabaret Las Vegas is a rough and seedy local music dive (with a midnight show) where a little rum and a lot of No moleste, por favor will help you withstand the overzealous entreaties of the hordes of haranguing jineteras.
Salón Chévere (Parque Almendares, cnr Calles 49C & 28A; admission CUC$6-10; from 10pm) One of Havana’s most popular discos, this alfresco place in a lush park setting hosts a good mix of locals and tourists.
Pico Blanco ( 833-3740; Calle O btwn Calles 23 & 25; admission CUC$5-10; 9pm) An insanely popular nightclub, the Pico Blanco is situated on the 14th floor of the Hotel St John’s in Vedado and kicks off nightly at 9pm. The program can be hit or miss. Some nights it’s karaoke and cheesy boleros, another it’s jamming with some rather famous Cuban musicians.
Café Cantante ( 879-0710; cnr Paseo & Calle 39; admission CUC$10; 9pm-5am Tue-Sat) Below the Teatro Nacional de Cuba (side entrance), this place is a hip disco that offers live salsa music and dancing, as well as bar snacks and food. The clientele is mainly ‘yummies’ (young urban Marxist managers) and ageing sugar-daddy tourists with their youthful Cuban girlfriends. And the Café tends to get feistier than the adjacent Piano Bar Delirio Habanero. Musically, there are regular appearances from big-name singers such as Haila María Mompie. No shorts, T-shirts or hats may be worn, and no under-18-year-olds are allowed.
Vedado has a few mixed peso-Convertible discos that are great fun (especially if your budget has blown out), including Club La Red ( 832-5415; cnr Calles 19 & L; admission CUC$3-5) and the ferociously caliente Karachi Club ( 832-3485; cnr Calles 17 & K; admission CUC$3-5; 10pm-5am). To the west are Discoteca Amanecer ( 832-9075; Calle 15 No 12 btwn Calles N & O; admission CUC$3-5; 10pm-4am) and Club Tropical ( 832-7361; cnr Línea & Calle F; 9pm-2am). As with all clubs, late-night Friday and Saturday are best.
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GAY HAVANA
The Revolution had a rather ambiguous attitude toward homosexuality in its early days. While the Stonewall riots were engulfing New York City, Cuban homosexuals were still being sent to re-education camps by a government that was dominated by macho, bearded ex-guerillas dressed in military fatigues.
But, since the 1990s, the tide has been turning, spearheaded somewhat ironically by Fidel’s combative niece Mariela (the daughter of current president, Raúl Castro), the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana.
An important door was opened in 1993 with the release of the Oscar-nominated film Fresa y Chocolate, a tale of homosexual love between a young communist student and a skeptical Havana artist. A decade later, gay characters hit the headlines again in a popular government-sponsored Cuban soap opera called La Cara Oculta de la Luna (The Dark Side of the Moon).
The unprecedented happened in June 2008 when the Cuban government passed a law permitting free sex-change operations to qualifying citizens courtesy of the country’s famously far-sighted health system.
Though Cuba still has no ‘official’ gay clubs, there are plenty of places where a ‘gay scene’ has taken root. Havana is the obvious nexus, with the busy junction of Calles 23 and L in Vedado outside the Cine Yara serving as the main nighttime cruising spot. Other meeting places include the Malecón below the Hotel Nacional and the beach at Boca Ciega in Playas del Este.
Hang around at these places in the evening to get word of spontaneous gay parties in private houses, or bigger shindigs in venues such as Parque Lenin. You can now also enjoy gay film nights at the Icaic headquarters (Centro Cultural Cinematográfico; see boxed text,) on the corner of Calles 23 and 12.
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