Cuba - Lonely Planet [311]
VideCuba (General García No 225; 8am-10pm) This outlet should meet your photographic requirements.
Getting There & Away
AIR
Bayamo’s Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Airport (airport code BYM; 42-75-14) is about 4km northeast of town, on the road to Holguín. Cubana ( 42-75-07; Martí No 52) flies to Bayamo from Havana twice a week (CUC$103 one way, two hours). There are no international flights to or from Bayamo.
BUS & TRUCK
The provincial bus station (cnr Carretera Central & Av Jesús Rabí) has Víazul (www.viazul.com) buses to several destinations.
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VÍAZUL DEPARTURES
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The service to Havana also stops at Holguín (CUC$6, two hours 10 minutes), Las Tunas (CUC$6, 2½ hours), Camagüey (CUC$11, 5½ hours), Ciego de Ávila (CUC$17, seven hours 20 minutes), Sancti Spíritus (CUC$21, 9½ hours) and Santa Clara (CUC$26, 10¾ hours).
Passenger trucks leave from an adjacent terminal for Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Manzanillo and Pilón. You can get a truck to Bartolomé Masó, as close as you can get on public transport to the Sierra Maestra trailhead. Ask which line is waiting for the truck you want, then join. The trucks leave when full and you pay as you board.
The intermunicipal bus station (cnr Saco & Línea), opposite the train station, receives mostly local buses of little use to travelers. However, trucks to Las Tunas and Guisa leave from here.
State taxis can be procured for hard-to-reach destinations such as Manzanillo (CUC$30), Pilón (CUC$70) and Niquero (CUC$65). Prices are estimates and will depend on the current price of gas. Nonetheless, at the time of writing it was cheaper to reach all these places by taxi than by hired car.
TRAIN
The train station ( 42-49-55; cnr Saco & Línea) is 1km east of the center. There are three local trains a day to Manzanillo (via Yara). Other daily trains serve Santiago and Camagüey. The long-distance Havana–Manzanillo train passes through Bayamo every other day (CUC$28).
Getting Around
Cubataxi ( 42-43-13) can supply a taxi to Bayamo airport for CUC$3, or to Aeropuerto Frank País in Holguín for CUC$25. A taxi to Villa Santo Domingo (setting-off point for the Alto del Naranjo trailhead for Sierra Maestra hikes) or Comandancia La Plata will cost approximately CUC$35 one way. There’s a taxi stand in the south of town near Museo Ñico López.
Havanautos ( 42-73-75) is adjacent to the Servi-Cupet, while Cubacar ( 42-79-70; Carretera Central) is at the Hotel Sierra Maestra.
The Servi-Cupet gas station (Carretera Central) is between Hotel Sierra Maestra and the bus terminal as you arrive from Santiago de Cuba.
The main horse-cart route (one peso) runs between the train station and the hospital, via the bus station. Bici-taxis (a few pesos a ride) are also useful for getting around town. There’s a stand near the train station.
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AROUND BAYAMO
For a floral appreciation of Bayamo’s evergreen hinterland, head to the Jardín Botánico de Cupaynicu (Carretera de Guisa Km 10; admission with/without guide CUC$2/1), about 16km outside the city off the Guisa road. It’s on very few itineraries, so you can have the 104 hectares of the tranquil botanic gardens to yourself. There are 74 types of palms, scores of cacti, blooming orchids and sections for endangered and medicinal plants. The guided tour (Spanish only) gains you access to greenhouses, notable for the showy ornamentals.
To get here, take the road to Santiago de Cuba for 6km and turn left at the signposted junction for Guisa. After 10km you’ll see the botanic gardens sign on the right. Trucks in this direction leave from the intermunicipal bus station in front of the train station.
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DOS RÍOS & AROUND
At Dos Ríos, 52km northeast of Bayamo, almost in Holguín, a white obelisk overlooking the Río Cauto marks the spot where José Martí was shot and killed on May 19, 1895. In contrast to other Martí memorials, it’s surprisingly simple and low-key. Go 22km northeast of Jiguaní on the road to San Germán and take the unmarked road to