Cuba - Lonely Planet [153]
Revolutionary Terraces Visit Las Terrazas, Cuba’s primary eco-village where formerly denuded forest slopes have been replanted with trees, orchids, painters and poets (see boxed text,)
TELEPHONE CODE: 048
POPULATION: 730,626
AREA: 10,924 SQ KM
* * *
History
The pre-Columbian history of western Cuba is synonymous with the Guanahatabeys, a group of nomadic Indians who lived in caves and procured most of their livelihood from the sea. Less advanced than the other indigenous natives who lived on the island, the Guanahatabeys were a peaceful and passive race whose culture had developed, more or less independently of the Taíno and Siboney cultures further east. Extinct by the time the Spanish arrived in 1492, little firsthand documentation remains on how the archaic Guanahatabey society was structured and organized although some archaeological sites have been found on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula.
Post-Columbus the Spanish left rugged Pinar del Río largely to its own devices, and the area developed lackadaisically only after Canary Islanders began arriving in the late 1500s. Originally called Nueva Filipina (New Philippines), the region was renamed Pinar del Río in 1778, supposedly for the pine forests crowded along the Río Guamá. Tobacco plantations and cattle ranches soon sprang up in the rich soil and open grazing land that typifies Pinar, and the fastidious farmers who made a living from the delicate and well-tended crops were colloquially christened guajiros, a native word that means – literally – ‘one of us.’ By the mid-1800s, Europeans were hooked on the fragrant weed and the region flourished. Sea routes opened up and the railway was extended to facilitate the shipping of the perishable product.
These days, tobacco, along with tourism, keep Pinar del Río both profitable and popular. Quiet and laid-back compared with the car-crazy capital 160km or so to the east, the relaxed Pinareños – despite the countless guajiro jokes – are some of the friendliest, most ingratiating people you’ll meet on the island.
In 2008, Pinar was slammed by two catastrophic hurricanes within a fortnight causing serious damage to local infrastructure (see boxed text,).
Parks & Reserves
Pinar del Río boasts more protected land than any other Cuban province, including one Unesco World Heritage Site (the Valle de Viñales) as well as two Unesco Biosphere Reserves – the Sierra del Rosario and the Guanahacabibes. Two of these areas – Guanahacabibes and Viñales – are also national parks. The Área Protegida Mil Cumbres is another expansive reserve that encompasses the mountainous terrain in and around the Hacienda Cortina in the Cordillera de Guaniguanico.
Getting There & Around
Both Pinar del Río and Viñales are well served by twice-daily Víazul buses. Las Terrazas (but not Soroa) was also recently added to this route. An alternative is to hop on one of the many tour buses that head out from Havana to Viñales on a daily basis. The prices often work out the same as Víazul’s. Beyond the main hubs, transport can be scant. The train line runs out through the city of Pinar del Río as far as Guane in the west. Beyond this you’re off the grid. There are sporadic transfer buses from Havana and Viñales to María la Gorda; if you want more flexibility, hire a taxi or car.
Return to beginning of chapter
PINAR DEL RÍO AREA
PINAR DEL RÍO
pop 148,295
Pinar del Río is Cuba’s tobacco central – it fairly smells of the stuff. Plunked in the middle of the Vuelta Abajo, the capital of Cuba’s second-largest province is a sleepy, unprepossessing settlement that feels more like an oversized town than a frenetic city. Not surprisingly, the place boasts its own tobacco factory (open for visits) plus a friendly population of leather-faced cigar-smoking locals. Unfortunately, this affable group is matched by a noticeably less affable contingent of jineteros (tourist touts) who have, for some reason, made otherwise tranquil Pinar their unofficial base of operations. Get used to saying no me moleste, por favor and watch out for