A friend and I recently traveled to Cuba. True to form, we made as few plans as possible and decided to go wherever the trip took us. Very zen style travel. There was one exception: a fellow acupuncturist mentioned a secret Chinese-Cuban medicine society. WHAT? I’m already fascinated by Chinese Medicine, but if you tell me there is a secret society of any genre I am going to want to find out more. Armed with only an email address, and too much curiosity, we set out to uncover this mystery.
Turns out, it’s not so secret. Chinese Medicine is legal in Cuba, but has a tenuous history due to social and political issues too complex for my brain. Although, more information can be found HERE:
What we found was the loveliest woman conducting research on the Chinese-Cuban history who brought us through a nondescript door into a beautiful traditional Chinese herbal pharmacy. There was beautiful containers, sculptures, and signs. It’s unclear how accessible these herbal formulas are and we didn’t see any patients utilizing the various treatment rooms for acupuncture and tuina (need a reminder on what tuina is? Click HERE), but it was incredible to be in the space. There was a stained glass taiji symbol (what most of us in America call the yinyang symbol) in the ceiling letting in healing natural light. There were posters (oddly in English) outlining various tuina maneuvers. I was mesmerized and, also, overwhelmed trying to understand as much of the rapid fire Spanish explanations as possible.
My general take aways were: Chinese medicine is mostly accepted in Cuban culture (at least in Havana), but is mostly utilized by Chinese-Cubans. Maybe the locals know how to find the pharmacy, but it would have been impossible to locate if we didn’t have our pseudo guide. Don’t bank on getting an acupuncture session when your in Cuba unless you know people who know people. But, do plan on visiting the China Town in Cuba and experiencing this random merging of cultures.
Also, here are some random Cuba travel tidbits to take the secret out of a successful trip:
Make sure you have the required health insurance to enter Cuba (usually included in airfare).
Know that you’ll need to get a travel ticket (similar to a visa) to enter the country and determine a ‘reason for travel” - usually “Support of the Cuban people.”
Don’t bring American Dollars as you’ll be taxed an extra 10%. Euros seem to be the best bet, but leave 48 hours for your bank here to get the desired currency. Also, we found out that the airport in Havana did not accept the Cuban currency -only certain foreign currency. Which was weird, but be sure to save some extra money for airport snacks. Well, there was no food available except beer and yogurt. The employees for the currency office also hadn’t shown up that day, so we are now stuck with the Cuban currency (good reason to go back!).
There are TWO Cuban currencies: one is for the locals, one is for the tourists. Be sure to ask what the price is listed in and use your common sense. We ate at a small stand, it initially looked like it was $12 for a roll, but it was like .20 cents in the local currency. You have to ask the bank to give you a mixture of both.
Your American credit cards and debit cards won’t work. Bring as much cash as you think you’ll need and download the western union app just in case.
WIFI is available at the nice hotels but you have to buy the internet access cards from the staff there and they only work at that location. Be sure to sign out of the internet/wifi or the card time will keep running even if you aren’t using it.
The yellow taxis are so much more expensive. We used a mixture of random cars and the classic cars. Some were sketchy and run down, most were fine. we got where we needed to go. BUT, always ask the price (negotiable) AND if they have change. Otherwise, you’ll end up over paying. One driver said he didn’t have change, but when we pushed back he suddenly had change available. . .
We felt safe the whole time. But, there is a strong hustle to make money. This shows up as lots of taxi drivers approaching you to give rides, people selling show tickets, and people saying they have access to cheaper Cuban cigars and rum. Do what you want with this. We respected the hustle, probably got scammed a few times, laughed a lot and didn’t take anything personally.
Bring your favorite digestive support because you won’t be able to find it there. Also, take your own bandaids, small medical kit because there aren’t CVS/Walgreens on every corner. I was super grateful for the protein bars, instant coffee, digestive meds, and tissues that I brought.
Most bathrooms don’t have toilet paper or toilet seats. Expect to squat (this is my theory on why all the Cuban women have such great butts!) and byo-toilet paper.
Have fun. Slow down. Don’t expect amenities. Observe. Sit on lots of benches. Feel the aliveness of this fascinating country. Let me know how it goes and if you learn any new secrets.
