Cuba - Lonely Planet [232]
Getting There & Around
Thanks to its popularity on the tourist circuit, Trinidad maintains good bus connections with the rest of the island, with Víazul coaches pulling in and out of its well-organized terminal daily. Train travel is a different matter and, since 1992, the city has been cut off from the rest of the island’s rail network by a damaged bridge. Sancti Spíritus has better train connections, though on occasion you’ll have to change in Guayos, 15km to the north. The north of the province is more remote, though a good road runs from Remedios to Morón via Yaguajay. There are no Víazul buses on this route.
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SANCTI SPÍRITUS
pop 105,815
Poor Sancti Spíritus. In any other country this attractive colonial city would be a cultural tour de force. But cocooned inside illustrious Sancti Spíritus province and destined to always play second fiddle to Trinidad, it barely gets a look-in. Of course, for many visitors therein lies the attraction. Sancti Spíritus is Trinidad without the tourist hassle. You can get served in a restaurant here and search for a casa particular without an uninvited assemblage of pushy ‘guides’ telling you that the owner is deceased, on vacation, or living in Miami. You can also get decidedly comfortable sitting on a metal chair in Parque Serafín Sánchez watching the kids play stickball while plaintive boleros (romantic love songs) infiltrate streets that never quite earned a Unesco listing.
Founded in 1514 as one of Diego Velázquez’ seven original ‘villas,’ Sancti Spíritus was moved to its present site on the Río Yayabo in 1522. But the relocation didn’t stop audacious corsairs, who continued to loot the town until well into the 1660s.
While Trinidad gave the world Playa Ancón, filthy-rich sugar barons and jineteros (touts) on bicycles, Sancti Spíritus concocted the dapper guayabera shirt, the guayaba (guava) fruit, and a rather quaint humped-back bridge that wouldn’t look out of place in Yorkshire, England.
Orientation
The bus and train stations are on opposite sides of town. Of the two, the train station is more convenient. It’s an easy five-minute walk to the old Puente Yayabo and then another five minutes to Parque Serafín Sánchez in the heart of the town. The bus station is a couple of kilometers east of the center on Carretera Central (called Bartolomé Masó as it passes through Sancti Spíritus).
Information
BOOKSTORES
Librería Julio Antonio Mella ( 32-74-16; Independencia Sur No 29; 8am-5pm Mon-Sat) Opposite the post office.
INTERNET ACCESS & TELEPHONE
Etecsa Telepunto (Independencia Sur; internet access per hr CUC$6; 8:30am-7:30pm) Spanking new place in the main pedestrian shopping street.
LIBRARIES
Biblioteca Provincial Rubén Martínez Villena ( 32-77-17; Máximo Gómez Norte No 1) On Parque Serafín Sánchez.
MEDIA
Radio Sancti Spíritus CMHT Airing on 1200AM and 97.3FM.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Farmacia Especial ( 32-46-60; Independencia Norte No 123; 24hr) Pharmacy on Parque Maceo.
Hospital Provincial Camilo Cienfuegos ( 32-40-17; Bartolomé Masó) Five hundred meters north of Plaza de la Revolución.
Policlínico Los Olivos ( 32-63-62; Circunvalación Olivos No 1) Near the bus station. Will treat foreigners in an emergency.
MONEY
Banco Financiero Internacional ( 32-75-78; Independencia Sur No 2) On Parque Serafín Sánchez.
Cadeca ( 32-85-35; Independencia Sur No 31; 8am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8am-noon Sun) Lose your youth in this line.
POST
Post office ( 9am-6pm Mon-Sat) There are two branches: one at Independencia Sur No 8; the other at the Etecsa building, Bartolomé Masó No 167.
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Cubatur ( 32-85-18; Máximo Gómez Norte No 7; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat) On Parque Serafín Sánchez.
Havanatur ( 32-83-08; Padre Quintero No 60) Offices in Quinta Santa Elena restaurant.
Sights
Looking like something out of an English country village, the quadruple-arched Puente Yayabo is Sancti Spíritus’ signature sight. Built by the Spanish in 1815, it carries traffic across the Yayabo and is now a national monument.