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Slow Train to Guantanamo
In this rambling odyssey set in the later days of the Castro regime, Peter Millar jumps on board the Cuban railway system, once the pride of Latin America. Starting in the ramshackle but romantic capital of Havana, he travels with ordinary Cubans, sharing anecdotes, life stories, and political opinions. Millar may not have all the answers but he asks a lot of the right questions on an anarchic, entertaining, and often comic adventure. A journey everyone will want to read about but nobody in their right mind would want to emulate! "[A] charming, witty, but sometimes sad memoir that offers a portrait of a nation on the cusp of enormous change. . . An enjoyable, informative glimpse at a Cuba seldom seen by Americans."--Booklist Sept. 15, 2013
- GenresTravelNonfiction
262 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
About the author
Peter Millar
62 books9 followersPeter Millar is an award-winning British journalist, author and translator, and has been a correspondent for Reuters, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph. He was named Foreign Correspondent of the Year for his reporting on the dying stages of the Cold War, his account of which – 1989: The Berlin Wall, My Part in its Downfall – was named ‘best read’ by The Economist. An inveterate wanderer since his youth, Peter Millar grew up in Northern Ireland and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. Before and during his university years, he hitchhiked and travelled by train throughout most of Europe, including behind the Iron Curtain to Moscow and Leningrad, as well as hitchhiking barefoot from Dubrovnik to Belfast after being robbed in the former Yugoslavia. He has had his eyelashes frozen in the coldest inhabited place on Earth - Oymyakon, eastern Siberia, where temperatures reach minus 71ºC, was fried at 48ºC in Turkmenistan, dipped his toes in the Mississippi, the Mekong and the Nile, the Dniepr and the Danube, the Rhine and the Rhone, the Seine and the Spree. He crisscrossed the USA by rail for his book All Gone To Look for America and rattled down the spine of Cuba for Slow Train to Guantanamo. He has lived and worked in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw and Moscow, attended the funerals of two Soviet leaders, been blessed six times by Pope John Paul II (which would have his staunch Protestant ancestors spinning in their graves), and he has survived multiple visits to the Munich Oktoberfest and the enduring agony of supporting Charlton Athletic. Peter speaks French, German, Russian and Spanish, and is married with two grown-up sons. He splits his time between Oxfordshire and London, and anywhere else that will have him.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 27, 2015
It really distresses me that I was so disappointed in this book. I am fascinated by Cuba and Cubans and would really love to visit. But you might say that Millar found no love for the place. I'm not sure if it was just the edition I read (the LP one), but this was an extremely poor editing job. I would be incensed if my publisher butchered my work as badly, if the publisher even used a proofreader. Repeatedly sentences made no sense. Also, it seems the author didn't do a whole lot of rewrites either. How many times do you have to point out the same things or relate the same information? There was a lot of good material, and I liked the idea, and certainly there is much to criticize, but Millar never seemed to have fun and then delivered his findings poorly, surprisingly for someone with a good reputation. I felt as if he were a put-upon business traveler, which I know he wasn't, but the book felt nearly joyless. The discussion of CUCs just went on and on, yeah, we get it. I even got tired of the use of "bloke." Although I fear some of the negative impacts of the future for the country once the embargo is ended, I kind of want it shut down immediately. I'm glad I read the book, but I hope the next one is better.
October 29, 2020
This Caribbean sun-soaked island is one of two full Communist states that are left in the world today. The other is North Korea. Unlike that closed state, Cuba is open to tourists who want to visit, though most rarely venture out of their holiday resorts to see how life is like there. I have never been but would like to visit one day. I have seen lots of photos of the place, the iconic images of the slight tired baroque architecture with 1950s American cars are quite evocative and the music as we discovered from the Bueno Vista Social Club Is quite exquisite.
Cuba has had a difficult relationship with its neighbour, America, who really didn’t like the fact that they had a full-blown communist state in its immediate vicinity. Their blockade of the island had been going on for decades and has meant that the standards of living have been driven down. The railway there was once the pride of Latin America, but now it is run down, but somehow, just still working. For little more than the price of a can of beer, a Cuban resident can travel the entire 1200 km length from Havana to Guantanamo. It is this railway that Peter Millar wants to travel along and discover the real Cuba.
He begins his journey in the capital, Havana, but first, he has to find the station. Wandering through the city, he finds the parts of it that haven’t received UNESCO money for renovation and have pretty much crumbled into rubble. It is the same with the Cadillac’s, there are less driving around now, but many more on bricks succumbing to rust. He was expecting it, but it is still a bit of a shock nonetheless. Locating the station he heads in to buy a ticket and finds that the train to Santiago leaves at eight. He asks about trains to Matanzas but is told that there is only one train and it leaves at eight. He is also informed that to get a train on a particular day he would need to buy the ticket a few days before. This is going to be much more complicated than he thought.
Seeing the train is a bit of a shock though, he has not seen that much rust on anything moving ever. It is not exactly reassuring, but he pays his fare using a CUCs, a special tourist rate that is much more than the locals have to pay. He climbs aboard and it is not long before they are moving with a worrying series of clanks and creeks. Ten seconds later they stop. This sequence repeats itself a few times and eventually, they are moving at the heady speed of 20 miles an hour. Millar is sure that it can’t safely go any faster than that. When the train stops at the platforms, people climb aboard to try and sell the passengers food, drink and anything else that they think they might need.
Waiting to be given the opportunity to buy a ticket for a train that hasn’t arrived but should have been and gone hours ago.
It is the beginning of scenarios that repeat themself as he heads across the island. Late trains, barely palatable food and night spent in bars drinking the tourist approved rum whilst talking to the locals. However, he gets a feel for the island and the people and how they are managing under a communist state. The people there are literate and educated and enjoy free healthcare, but they are restricted in many ways and very tightly controlled economic freedoms. These have been loosened a little under Raúl Castro, but people are ingenious and find ways around the system.
I liked this book, Millar shows that there is much more to the island to discover if you are prepared to get out from the all-inclusive resorts. The better parts of the book are his interactions with the people and they are sometimes really funny as he gets frustrated with a system that cannot and will not bend to the demands of an individual. Whilst I think that he has to a certain extent got under the skin of the island, there were a couple of things that did grate a little with me. One of which was constantly comparing the country to his time living behind the Iron curtain and the other was his obsession with the short-skirted girls. They are only minor gripes, it did make me want to still visit the island, especially before the American’s arrive in force. Not quite a good as Cuba Diaries by Isadora Tattlin, but still worth reading though.
Cuba has had a difficult relationship with its neighbour, America, who really didn’t like the fact that they had a full-blown communist state in its immediate vicinity. Their blockade of the island had been going on for decades and has meant that the standards of living have been driven down. The railway there was once the pride of Latin America, but now it is run down, but somehow, just still working. For little more than the price of a can of beer, a Cuban resident can travel the entire 1200 km length from Havana to Guantanamo. It is this railway that Peter Millar wants to travel along and discover the real Cuba.
He begins his journey in the capital, Havana, but first, he has to find the station. Wandering through the city, he finds the parts of it that haven’t received UNESCO money for renovation and have pretty much crumbled into rubble. It is the same with the Cadillac’s, there are less driving around now, but many more on bricks succumbing to rust. He was expecting it, but it is still a bit of a shock nonetheless. Locating the station he heads in to buy a ticket and finds that the train to Santiago leaves at eight. He asks about trains to Matanzas but is told that there is only one train and it leaves at eight. He is also informed that to get a train on a particular day he would need to buy the ticket a few days before. This is going to be much more complicated than he thought.
Seeing the train is a bit of a shock though, he has not seen that much rust on anything moving ever. It is not exactly reassuring, but he pays his fare using a CUCs, a special tourist rate that is much more than the locals have to pay. He climbs aboard and it is not long before they are moving with a worrying series of clanks and creeks. Ten seconds later they stop. This sequence repeats itself a few times and eventually, they are moving at the heady speed of 20 miles an hour. Millar is sure that it can’t safely go any faster than that. When the train stops at the platforms, people climb aboard to try and sell the passengers food, drink and anything else that they think they might need.
Waiting to be given the opportunity to buy a ticket for a train that hasn’t arrived but should have been and gone hours ago.
It is the beginning of scenarios that repeat themself as he heads across the island. Late trains, barely palatable food and night spent in bars drinking the tourist approved rum whilst talking to the locals. However, he gets a feel for the island and the people and how they are managing under a communist state. The people there are literate and educated and enjoy free healthcare, but they are restricted in many ways and very tightly controlled economic freedoms. These have been loosened a little under Raúl Castro, but people are ingenious and find ways around the system.
I liked this book, Millar shows that there is much more to the island to discover if you are prepared to get out from the all-inclusive resorts. The better parts of the book are his interactions with the people and they are sometimes really funny as he gets frustrated with a system that cannot and will not bend to the demands of an individual. Whilst I think that he has to a certain extent got under the skin of the island, there were a couple of things that did grate a little with me. One of which was constantly comparing the country to his time living behind the Iron curtain and the other was his obsession with the short-skirted girls. They are only minor gripes, it did make me want to still visit the island, especially before the American’s arrive in force. Not quite a good as Cuba Diaries by Isadora Tattlin, but still worth reading though.
November 6, 2013
Cuba by Train and the Missing Consonants
Above rusty nails sparks fly,
crimson flowers fade.
When will my train come (train-inspired Haiku penned by the author)
Ever dreamt of going to Cuba? Well, with the help of Peter Millar and Slow Train to Guantanamo you can! You can enjoy a travelogue via train right from the North to the South, with colourful stops along the way. This is a train line that stretches 1,200km and the average Cuban can travel the full length for the price of can of beer - it might take days in the decrepit carriages brought together from East Germany and Russia, but it is certainly value for money.
Cuba is by no means an easy country to navigate. Don't even think of trying Castilian Spanish. This is truly the land of dropped consonants. Cua e' Cua... Cuba is Cuba (the refrain when things don't go according to plan, which is, well, most of the time). Want to use the local currency, the Peso Nacional? No, as a foreigner to Cuba CUCs are what you need.
This is a wonderfully vivid evocation of a hot, in parts tropical country, where the infrastructure is teetering on its last legs. This doesn't stop the locals shimmying along in alluring attire, where women officials wear micro minis with fishnet stockings and the men burst through their T shirts with well-honed muscles. Yet, there is so much in everyday life that proves to be a real struggle, both for the locals; and for the traveller, who wants to explore something other than the gated hotel complexes, where most foreigners hole up. This is a country which once had a proud national railway, sugar cane plantations that seemed to feed the world (and mainly supplied their pals the Russians when Communism was flourishing) and a health care system that is free to everyone - but oftentimes the medication you might need simply isn't available. Mango juice and cigars galore; but fancy a bit more than the staple of Arroz Moros Y Cristianos (Black Beans with Rice)? Then, well, you either have to fork out (pardon the pun) and trade in CUCs, or black market your way to something a bit more scintillating. 'Meals in Cuba are seen as a necessity...' writes the author and he seems to spend his time careening between undercooked pork and overcooked fish and beef, with, of course the ubiquitous black beans and rice. "Cuba's gastronomic culture remains that of America circa 1959 when convenience food was considered the height of new age sophistication".
The hospitable locals all seem to take the rickety economy and lifestyle in their stride, indeed with great aplomb in the face of adversity it would seem, although always on the look-out to garner some CUCs or share a beer that is only available to foreigners. Cuba has a truly aspirational culture! And of course, the thread of music permeates the journey, a genre that has assimilated strands from many different cultures to make it what it is today.
Peter sees many parallels between his stint as a correspondent in Eastern Europe (pre 1989), the Balkan Wars and what he observes now: "There are whole swathes of central Cuba that more than anything resemble the aftermath of war, the general state of disrepair worn down and denigrated by the tropical climate". He captures the crumbling infrastructure depressingly well.
The book is so well written and peppered with interesting facts, which can only serve to enhance the reader's appreciation of this exhilarating, yet extremely frustrating journey. Explore Daiquiri (yes, it's a place as well as a cocktail) and observe the enclave that is Guanatamo at the southern tip of the island, whilst humming the melodic tune of Guantanamera (yes, that is originally a Cuban tune). Learn that 98% of the population can read (which beats many Western countries!) but understand that the Cubans are not free to read literature of their choice. Find out how Che got his name and discover more about the Hershey (chocolate) village, which mirrored what Bourneville was doing in the UK.
The cover (I cannot not mention it) absolutely reflects the content of the book, perfect choice from publishers Arcadia, with colour, vibrance, a hulking train, a balanced composition and of course, Che crowning the title.
This book is a true revelation. And as such one can overlook the proliferation of odd spelling errors that began to appear in our copy from the halfway point (different proofreader perhaps?), where one had to contend with 'or' when it should have been 'of', or where lack of commas made a sentence hard-going; or where (heaven forbid, but it happened in our copy) 'their' was used instead of 'there'. Plus there is an incidence on the train when the author is pee'ed on by a chicken. Er not, chickens can't pee, they can only poo out their pee (if you get my drift) - but the subject of chickens' digestive systems is perhaps for someone else to pick up elsewhere... If you are heading to Cuba this will serve as your guide! (You could even possibly ditch the guidebook! No, I don't mean it but you sure glean some insider information from this great travelogue that you probably wouldn't find in a typical guidebook). Vale! Felices viajes (of course this is bon voyage in Castilian Spanish, it will probably be very different in Cuban!)
Above rusty nails sparks fly,
crimson flowers fade.
When will my train come (train-inspired Haiku penned by the author)
Ever dreamt of going to Cuba? Well, with the help of Peter Millar and Slow Train to Guantanamo you can! You can enjoy a travelogue via train right from the North to the South, with colourful stops along the way. This is a train line that stretches 1,200km and the average Cuban can travel the full length for the price of can of beer - it might take days in the decrepit carriages brought together from East Germany and Russia, but it is certainly value for money.
Cuba is by no means an easy country to navigate. Don't even think of trying Castilian Spanish. This is truly the land of dropped consonants. Cua e' Cua... Cuba is Cuba (the refrain when things don't go according to plan, which is, well, most of the time). Want to use the local currency, the Peso Nacional? No, as a foreigner to Cuba CUCs are what you need.
This is a wonderfully vivid evocation of a hot, in parts tropical country, where the infrastructure is teetering on its last legs. This doesn't stop the locals shimmying along in alluring attire, where women officials wear micro minis with fishnet stockings and the men burst through their T shirts with well-honed muscles. Yet, there is so much in everyday life that proves to be a real struggle, both for the locals; and for the traveller, who wants to explore something other than the gated hotel complexes, where most foreigners hole up. This is a country which once had a proud national railway, sugar cane plantations that seemed to feed the world (and mainly supplied their pals the Russians when Communism was flourishing) and a health care system that is free to everyone - but oftentimes the medication you might need simply isn't available. Mango juice and cigars galore; but fancy a bit more than the staple of Arroz Moros Y Cristianos (Black Beans with Rice)? Then, well, you either have to fork out (pardon the pun) and trade in CUCs, or black market your way to something a bit more scintillating. 'Meals in Cuba are seen as a necessity...' writes the author and he seems to spend his time careening between undercooked pork and overcooked fish and beef, with, of course the ubiquitous black beans and rice. "Cuba's gastronomic culture remains that of America circa 1959 when convenience food was considered the height of new age sophistication".
The hospitable locals all seem to take the rickety economy and lifestyle in their stride, indeed with great aplomb in the face of adversity it would seem, although always on the look-out to garner some CUCs or share a beer that is only available to foreigners. Cuba has a truly aspirational culture! And of course, the thread of music permeates the journey, a genre that has assimilated strands from many different cultures to make it what it is today.
Peter sees many parallels between his stint as a correspondent in Eastern Europe (pre 1989), the Balkan Wars and what he observes now: "There are whole swathes of central Cuba that more than anything resemble the aftermath of war, the general state of disrepair worn down and denigrated by the tropical climate". He captures the crumbling infrastructure depressingly well.
The book is so well written and peppered with interesting facts, which can only serve to enhance the reader's appreciation of this exhilarating, yet extremely frustrating journey. Explore Daiquiri (yes, it's a place as well as a cocktail) and observe the enclave that is Guanatamo at the southern tip of the island, whilst humming the melodic tune of Guantanamera (yes, that is originally a Cuban tune). Learn that 98% of the population can read (which beats many Western countries!) but understand that the Cubans are not free to read literature of their choice. Find out how Che got his name and discover more about the Hershey (chocolate) village, which mirrored what Bourneville was doing in the UK.
The cover (I cannot not mention it) absolutely reflects the content of the book, perfect choice from publishers Arcadia, with colour, vibrance, a hulking train, a balanced composition and of course, Che crowning the title.
This book is a true revelation. And as such one can overlook the proliferation of odd spelling errors that began to appear in our copy from the halfway point (different proofreader perhaps?), where one had to contend with 'or' when it should have been 'of', or where lack of commas made a sentence hard-going; or where (heaven forbid, but it happened in our copy) 'their' was used instead of 'there'. Plus there is an incidence on the train when the author is pee'ed on by a chicken. Er not, chickens can't pee, they can only poo out their pee (if you get my drift) - but the subject of chickens' digestive systems is perhaps for someone else to pick up elsewhere... If you are heading to Cuba this will serve as your guide! (You could even possibly ditch the guidebook! No, I don't mean it but you sure glean some insider information from this great travelogue that you probably wouldn't find in a typical guidebook). Vale! Felices viajes (of course this is bon voyage in Castilian Spanish, it will probably be very different in Cuban!)
August 29, 2013
An excellent way to learn about present day Cuba. Millar, a British journalist, bravely takes trains through the country with an ultimate goal of arriving in Guantanamo. His visit there is very short and actually anti-climatic, but his experiences on the trains occupy most of the book. These trips are full of interesting people, long delays, hot weather and often demand a day or two of layovers in places one cannot find much of interest. Millar does not inspire the reader to visit Cuba--or certainly not visit the way he did. His writing sometimes is a little too cute and his descriptions of the very bad liquor he encounters makes the point over and over. But one gets a very clear picture of Cuba's history and more importantly, the hardships the average Cuban faces today. Interesting and informative.
September 8, 2017
Snob británico con complejo de “aventurero” despliega su falta de inteligencia emocional mientras viaja como pesado y negativo turista por Cuba.
Este libro me decepcionó profundamente, especialmente porque decidí leerlo mientras visitaba la isla, el autor despliega su peor versión con comentarios que bordean lo xenófobo (al principio pensé que se trataba de cinismo por su parte, pero no, no es más que xenofobia y complejo de superioridad puro y duro).
Dejé el libro tras tres capítulos con gemas como “Sorry Ché, but Santa Clara looks like a shit-hole to me”, sus intentos de reducir a José Martí a un idiota, o su descripción de la avaricia del taxista que le cobró 25CUC por llevarlo a casa desde el aeropuerto (si yo hablase como hace Millar de lo que me cuesta a mi ir de mi casa al aeropuerto de Londres o del desprecio y racismo que desprenden muchos taxistas londinenses tal vez escribiese una trilogía).
El autor solo parece interesado en reducirlo todo al ridículo, incluso para piropear algo tiene que criticar otra cosa; por ejemplo, para decir que vio un buen espectáculo flamenco en La Habana ha de decir que uno que vio en Sevilla fue una mierda para turistas. Esto me hace pensar que el autor es el típico tipo que cae en todas las trampas para turistas, dondequiera que vaya.
Para mayor inri, no sé en qué país estuvo Millar… sus descripciones no tienen ningún fondo y son tremendamente superficiales. En el segundo capítulo (La Habana) hace una descripción digna de alguien que está en casa leyendo Wikipedia o regurgitando cosas que les ha oído decir a sus amigos: “En la Habana, frente al Capitolio, hay un montón de flamantes Chevroletes y Cadillacs, son los pocos que hay y no los verás moverse”. ¿Ha estado el autor realmente en La Habana? Si así es, supongo que es el típico turista patoso vestido de caqui.
Y ese es el quid de la cuestión, lo que más me frustró de este libro, más allá del cinismo estúpido y desmedido y las referencias históricas copiadas de Wikipedia, es la falta de inteligencia emocional del autor: en unos pocos días en Cuba he tenido muchas conversaciones geniales con ciudadanos cubanos (y soy un tipo tímido) mientras que el autor de este “libro” se ofusca en preguntar de manera incisiva una y otra vez preguntas difíciles y estúpidas desplegando cero empatía. Me sorprendió que un libro escrito por alguien que ha visto tanto mundo parezca escrito por un snob altivo, enfadado, ofuscado, cínico y nada empático.
Para colmo el libro está muy mal escrito o pobremente editado, hay párrafos que no tienen ningún sentido y, si hablas español, prepárate para un montón de errores y typos que de seguro harán la experiencia de leer este libro si cabe más horrible.
Si eres cubano o amas la isla no leas este libro. Es un insulto sin sentido a toda la isla y a su gente. Un insulto inmerecido… como me decía un amigo cubano hace unos días : “Si el paraíso estuviese en la tierra… tendría que ser Cuba”.
Este libro me decepcionó profundamente, especialmente porque decidí leerlo mientras visitaba la isla, el autor despliega su peor versión con comentarios que bordean lo xenófobo (al principio pensé que se trataba de cinismo por su parte, pero no, no es más que xenofobia y complejo de superioridad puro y duro).
Dejé el libro tras tres capítulos con gemas como “Sorry Ché, but Santa Clara looks like a shit-hole to me”, sus intentos de reducir a José Martí a un idiota, o su descripción de la avaricia del taxista que le cobró 25CUC por llevarlo a casa desde el aeropuerto (si yo hablase como hace Millar de lo que me cuesta a mi ir de mi casa al aeropuerto de Londres o del desprecio y racismo que desprenden muchos taxistas londinenses tal vez escribiese una trilogía).
El autor solo parece interesado en reducirlo todo al ridículo, incluso para piropear algo tiene que criticar otra cosa; por ejemplo, para decir que vio un buen espectáculo flamenco en La Habana ha de decir que uno que vio en Sevilla fue una mierda para turistas. Esto me hace pensar que el autor es el típico tipo que cae en todas las trampas para turistas, dondequiera que vaya.
Para mayor inri, no sé en qué país estuvo Millar… sus descripciones no tienen ningún fondo y son tremendamente superficiales. En el segundo capítulo (La Habana) hace una descripción digna de alguien que está en casa leyendo Wikipedia o regurgitando cosas que les ha oído decir a sus amigos: “En la Habana, frente al Capitolio, hay un montón de flamantes Chevroletes y Cadillacs, son los pocos que hay y no los verás moverse”. ¿Ha estado el autor realmente en La Habana? Si así es, supongo que es el típico turista patoso vestido de caqui.
Y ese es el quid de la cuestión, lo que más me frustró de este libro, más allá del cinismo estúpido y desmedido y las referencias históricas copiadas de Wikipedia, es la falta de inteligencia emocional del autor: en unos pocos días en Cuba he tenido muchas conversaciones geniales con ciudadanos cubanos (y soy un tipo tímido) mientras que el autor de este “libro” se ofusca en preguntar de manera incisiva una y otra vez preguntas difíciles y estúpidas desplegando cero empatía. Me sorprendió que un libro escrito por alguien que ha visto tanto mundo parezca escrito por un snob altivo, enfadado, ofuscado, cínico y nada empático.
Para colmo el libro está muy mal escrito o pobremente editado, hay párrafos que no tienen ningún sentido y, si hablas español, prepárate para un montón de errores y typos que de seguro harán la experiencia de leer este libro si cabe más horrible.
Si eres cubano o amas la isla no leas este libro. Es un insulto sin sentido a toda la isla y a su gente. Un insulto inmerecido… como me decía un amigo cubano hace unos días : “Si el paraíso estuviese en la tierra… tendría que ser Cuba”.
February 2, 2019
Peter Millar makes many interesting points but most are summed up as: the train service is crap, the food is worse and most Cubans are very poor. He also constantly compares Cuba with East Germany and Russia where he has lived. As has been said elsewhere, the book is littered with typos and words which are wrong or missing. It’s remarkable that no proofreader has been used.
May 28, 2017
Real cuba
A great way to see the real country. Good, enjoyable and factual book. Well written with funny observations seeing places most don't.
A great way to see the real country. Good, enjoyable and factual book. Well written with funny observations seeing places most don't.
July 28, 2017
A little bit patronizing but a decent travel book
April 29, 2023
Really interesting and enjoyable book that reminded me of my travels in Cuba
June 25, 2026
Dreadful grammatical errors all over the place. Repeats himself constantly about the currency, the low quality of the food, the accent and how bored he is. A very cynical travel log
October 30, 2014
'The US regularly, repeatedly, systematically accuses the Havana government of lack of respect for Human rights, yet the continued existence of Guantanamo symbolises its willingness to suspend those rights makes all else farcical.'
The author makes this succinct observation while looking across the fence from the Cuban side.
It seems that the poor fare much better in communist countries as compared to the poor of Africa and India. The author presents a captivating and palpable view of the ordinary Cuban on this train journey from Havana to the infamous Guantanamo boundary. The people seem to be generally happy and expressive of their reality even though money is in short commodity. In many ways Che Guevara's dream has come to fruition with a few caveats mainly in the form of the aging Castro brothers still at the helm of its affairs.
Clearly some hard economic decisions have to be taken to improve the Cuban lifestyle, exactly what method is employed remains to be seen.
I wish them well.
The author makes this succinct observation while looking across the fence from the Cuban side.
It seems that the poor fare much better in communist countries as compared to the poor of Africa and India. The author presents a captivating and palpable view of the ordinary Cuban on this train journey from Havana to the infamous Guantanamo boundary. The people seem to be generally happy and expressive of their reality even though money is in short commodity. In many ways Che Guevara's dream has come to fruition with a few caveats mainly in the form of the aging Castro brothers still at the helm of its affairs.
Clearly some hard economic decisions have to be taken to improve the Cuban lifestyle, exactly what method is employed remains to be seen.
I wish them well.
December 17, 2016
Pros:
Entertaining and informative about a Cuba most tourists never see as they stick to the luxury hotels and closed off beaches. I learned a lot, in a random, haphazard fashion, about both Cuban history and the current (as of 2013) state of affairs.
Cons:
-There is very little about Guantanamo. The book would have been more accurately named Slow Train Through Cuba. But that wouldn't have been as catchy of course.
-I think Millar has bumped up the entertainment value by giving the reader a "lost in translation" experience. Everything is strangely different in Cuba, and he keeps comparing it to Eastern Europe in the 80s, just to point out that the comparison is inadequate.
-The book is poorly proofread with typos and editing errors scattered around. Towards the end I even lost the thread of events until I realised that a paragraph almost half a page long properly belonged after the following paragraph.
Entertaining and informative about a Cuba most tourists never see as they stick to the luxury hotels and closed off beaches. I learned a lot, in a random, haphazard fashion, about both Cuban history and the current (as of 2013) state of affairs.
Cons:
-There is very little about Guantanamo. The book would have been more accurately named Slow Train Through Cuba. But that wouldn't have been as catchy of course.
-I think Millar has bumped up the entertainment value by giving the reader a "lost in translation" experience. Everything is strangely different in Cuba, and he keeps comparing it to Eastern Europe in the 80s, just to point out that the comparison is inadequate.
-The book is poorly proofread with typos and editing errors scattered around. Towards the end I even lost the thread of events until I realised that a paragraph almost half a page long properly belonged after the following paragraph.
May 24, 2014
This is an exquisite book about traveling in Cuba in our days. The writing style is appealing, making the reading a fully pleasant experience. As I am toying with the idea of visiting Cuba myself, the book was picked as a potential help for the forthcoming project. And it was. It was a help, a source of entertaining and amusement. Page after page I followed the adventures of the author in the land of the Castros. I specially liked that he has the same traveling attitude and style as myself. By other words, writing styles skills apart, it could be me writing this book. Totally recommended.
March 19, 2024
I may have been unfair with this rating - the author writes with great charm and is an intelligent traveler but somehow this book failed to engage or hold me, half way through I could not help asking 'why am I reading this?' the book was as good but no better than many newspaper/magazine articles but it was all unfailingly unsatisfying. I abandoned the book because I had learnt and experienced nothing.
I repeat that I may be unfair - I didn't dislike the book but could not understand some of the praise it has garnered - it was just very unexciting.
I repeat that I may be unfair - I didn't dislike the book but could not understand some of the praise it has garnered - it was just very unexciting.
January 4, 2016
Read this to get me in the mood for my second visit to Cuba.
Although I was somewhat familiar (as a tourist) with some parts of the country, Peter Millar's experiences on his journey were interesting, informative and entertaining. His attempt to travel as a Cuban citizen enabled me to be thankful (in spite of several hours waiting around for delayed internal flights) that I hadn't taken the road less travelled.
"Cuba es Cuba" was a useful lesson learned!
Although I was somewhat familiar (as a tourist) with some parts of the country, Peter Millar's experiences on his journey were interesting, informative and entertaining. His attempt to travel as a Cuban citizen enabled me to be thankful (in spite of several hours waiting around for delayed internal flights) that I hadn't taken the road less travelled.
"Cuba es Cuba" was a useful lesson learned!
September 9, 2014
Enjoyable and entertaining read - especially if you've been to Cuba (or would like to go).
September 23, 2014
Lots of useful information and insight. Very readable and entertaining writing style. Interesting stuff! This will hopefully prove useful for our forthcoming trip
May 5, 2018
Travel book about Cuba, showing how the country is gradually falling apart
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