October 12

Today we're visiting one of Cuba's most beautiful areas, the green Viñales Valley, which is also a UNESCO-protected region renowned for its limestone formations known as "Mogotes." Our hotel offers a magnificent view of the entire valley. If you're not staying here, you can enjoy the same breathtaking scenery from the viewpoint at Los Jazmines hotel. Just follow the tourist buses.

We start our day at the Cueva del Indio. Here you can walk about 200 meters through the cave without a guide, then take a short boat tour along the underground river with a guide. The boatman shines his flashlight on various rock formations that resemble different shapes — everything from an Elvis profile to other imaginative figures. The cave is beautiful, but at 5 CUC per person plus parking fees, it's quite pricey. We were lucky — the tourist buses hadn't arrived yet, but locals told us it can get very crowded. So try to get there as early as possible.

We continue to Valle Ancon. There's supposed to be a waterfall here that you can reach on foot (with a guide) or on horseback. When the paved road into the valley ends, someone will "automatically" approach you and offer their services. If you want to ride, just ask for a "Cavallo" and negotiate the price upfront. We did the horseback tour — it's partly adventurous, muddy, and wet, but absolutely worth it. The round trip takes about one hour plus swimming time at the actually quite small waterfall, where we even had the place entirely to ourselves. Back at the starting point, we were treated to a sensationally good freshly squeezed mango juice and a coffee from Osmani Gabrera Garcia (Valle Ancon Viñales Pinar del Rio). We paid 20 CUC for 2 hours for 2 people, including tips and drinks.

Back on the road, we make a few more photo stops, visit the town of Viñales — which basically consists of a single street with houses on both sides — and take a coffee break along with a visit to the bank, which takes up quite a bit of time. The lady at the counter writes down all the serial numbers of our € bills that we want to exchange for CUC on an endlessly long list.

Our next short detour takes us to the Mural de la Prehistoria, a monumental... well, let's just say it's a cliff face painted by contemporary artists with prehistoric motifs — but fair warning: don't expect too much. We just view the kitschy painting from outside and skip the entrance fee. Further along the road, about 10 minutes west of Viñales, we find a newly opened canopy (zipline) course with 4 lines. Unfortunately, since it's raining, we can't try it out.
After another photo stop, we head back to the hotel, relax by the pool, and wind down the evening with mojitos and beer.

Other activities we didn't get to in Viñales include the Gran Caverna de Santo Tomas (one of the largest cave systems in the Caribbean — you can take a 2-hour hike through the cave system here, but note: this tour must be booked in advance — best to ask at your hotel!). We also didn't visit the Cueva de Viñales, also known as San Miguel, which is converted into a cave disco in the evenings where concerts sometimes take place.

If you're interested, you can also visit local farmers who share insights about their work and tobacco farming.