Las Tunas?

[ihanitte]

Hi! We're bunch of finnish guys going to Cuba feb'08. We will have merely a week in Las Salinas (fly-fishing), but before some suggested us Las Tunas?.. No info by Google?...Anybody heard? We are grateful of any info, if it's new, is it worth exploring, option is otherwise Las Brujas.

[Prospero]

My wife comes from a small town near Las Tunas. IMO the main town is worth visiting, but depends on what you are looking for. A few years ago there used to be a great buzz there on Saturdays, when the place would come alive for a weekly street party attended by about 20000 people. They would close off the four main roads and all the restaurants would put tables out on the streets. There would be people roasting and carving pigs on the sidewalks, all manner of stalls and at least three or four bands playing live.

Since then it has calmed down a bit - apparently the new chief doesn't like too much activity in the centre, but there is now a designated performance area to the left of the town hall with an open stage where a couple of bands play at the weekend. The is another party area called El Hoyo near the Viazul bus station where a lot of younger people go to listen to reggaeton and get drunk.

In the past the town had a lot of jineteras and consequently a lot of a certain type of tourist, but the police have cracked down on this a lot. Still, there are quite a number of foreigners who have settled in Las Tunas with their Cuban ladies, and there is still quite a lively scene in the small triangular park in the centre. The new policy seems to be one of trying to move the place upmarket a bit, and they have spent a lot of money on renovation, especially in one street near the centre where there are a lot of new shops. It's not a big place, but there are about a dozen bars and reasonably decent restaurants, and usually a few cultural events every week.

It doesn't have the vibrant buzz of a bigger city like Santiago, but I like the pace of things there and it's a good place to hang out and chill. Don't know about the fishing though! I can dig out some photos if you like and post them here. Let me know if there is anything else you want to know. In fact, we should be there in February too, so happy to show you guys around if we manage to hook up.