Baracoa, Cuba - What Is Old Is New.

I arrived in Baracoa, Cuba after a 16 hour overnight train ride and a 6 hour overnight bus ride.

I opted to forego the local taxi and I rode my bicycle from the bus station into the center of town along the Malecon. 

In Havana one witnesses beautiful sunsets along the Malecon (boardwalk). In Baracoa one witnesses the sun rising over the horizon along the Malecon. 

My first day I walked the town, sat in on a music concert at the Casa de Cultura, watched a film, listen to some trova music, ate pizza and relaxed. 

I visited an archeology site/museum that was within a cave perched on a hill above Baracoa. There were some artifacts, cave paintings and skeletons from a early indigenous tribe. I couldn't really tell if all the items were authentic, some seemed as if they may have been replicates and placed around the site to justify the $8 entry fee. Yikes!!!

At least there was a nice overlook of the city. 

My second day I ventured out on a little excursion to a place called the Boca del Rio Yumuri (mouth of the Yumuri river). 

I rode my little clown bicycle for the 40+ km round trip, a new personal record for me. There was some sun, heat, rain, uphills and downhills. I biked, walked, pushed and somehow finished. This bicycling touring is tough. 

The next day I took a 10km bicycle trip to a mountain called El Yunque. The ride was all uphill and mostly on dirt. Ever riden a clown bicycle on dirt up a mountain... not easy. 

Supposedly Christopher Colombus spotted this mountain when he first discovered the island of Cuba and thought that it was a mountain with a flat mesa top. 

I hiked 10 km up and down the mountain and along the way came across pineapples...

Cacao (chocolate) plants...

These foot long millipedes...

And some pretty steep and muddy trails. Yep, there actually was a trail in the photo. The mud was more like clay which was a slippery mess to climb up and down. 

I did reach the top and was greeted by a nice overlook of the western countryside and this sculpture of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti. 

After bicycling 40+ km one day, then bicycling 10+ km and hiking 10+ km the next day I was pretty worn out. 

Like Christpher Colombus, pictured in the photo above, I discovered so many new things within my first few days in Cuba. 

New places, food, currency, rules, music, art, natural areas and people. 

The real adventure would begin the next day when I would start riding my bicycle west... Chasing Sunsets.