Customer Reviews

Moon Handbooks: Cuba (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've recently returned from a month-long working trip in Cuba. I read this book before going, while there and once again upon my return. Not only was the travel information accurate and thorough, I was well prepared for understanding the people and the culture. I am writing an article about my experiences there and find myself returning to the book for details that need reconfirming. It is much more than a travel guide....

This was a terrific orientation to Cuba. Christopher Baker gave a thorough overview of the political and historical climate of the country, and his descriptions of the people and culture were always on target. He really demystified the labyrinth of getting into, around, and out of Cuba. We read the book as intently on our last day as we did before we arrived, always finding some new insight on every page. After looking at all of the other Cuba guidebooks, this is clearly the only one anyone could need.

This is the best travelbook for Cuba, we have been there in feb '99 and even compared this book with The Lonely Planet. All (experienced) travellers agreed this book from Moon was much better than the Lonely Planet!!

Baker's "Cuba Handbook" is unbelievably detailed and comprehensive. And those attributes are at the root of what makes the book wonderful and a pain in the butt. For example, the first 200 to 300 pages of this book (in other words, the entire length of a typical guidebook) is devoted to geography, flora, fauna, and a very good primer on the history of Cuba -- information that is good for pre-travel reading, but not particularly useful when one is there.

The city of Havana takes up another 200 pages or so. Every detail of Havana is covered, from the most exhaulted buildings and museums, to the most trivial and mundane aspects of the city. But organization is sorely lacking. This is a book that is a daunting challenge in any respect to carry around with you (at 600+ pages, the book alone might tip the scales at airport check-in).

One thing we were unprepared for during the trip is the sheer volume of attractions compacted in Old Havana. While Baker cannot be faulted for devoting a good amount of space in the book to these dazzling places and describing their unique details, they are unbelievably difficult to find in the book because they are not organized in the same fashion typical of many guidebooks (i.e., numbered and cross-referenced on a map). Instead, Baker uses the bizarre tactic of organizing Old Havana attractions by street in a straight linear pattern, making it daunting to find his comments on a particular building or museum if one decides to just wonder around. In other words, Baker expects that even if you are staying in the middle of Obispo street, as we were, you should walk blindly through to where the street originates so that then, and only then, you can follow along with his narrative. In fact, he offers no help whatsover in suggested walking tours anywhere in the country. Imagine a guidebook for New York being written so as to describe all of the attractions on Broadway, from lower Manhattan to the upper west side, then immediately continuing by describing the attractions on Greenwich back in lower Manhattan, and you get a good idea of what passes for "organization" in this book. Apparantly, the author and publisher expect you to travel a street in A to Z fashion, then continue on a parallel street back at A, with no numerical cross-references on a map to boot.

I referenced the book while traveling in the area of the Bay of Pigs two weeks ago. First of all, there is not much to see or do in the Bay of Pigs other than to go to the beach (and there are much better beaches), despite Baker's claims and long passages about this area. The museum, which Baker raves about ("superb," he calls it), I found terribly amatuerish (guns...lots of guns...and very poor quality photos and captions). If you have seen one Revolutionary museum in Cuba (and there are much better ones in Havana), then you have seen them all. It is a long detour to go to the Bay of Pigs only to find that there is not much to see once there, unless one is going to go through the nature preserve of Zapata. Buried in the book is a very useful detail that, once leaving the Bay of Pigs, make sure and take the first fork, because the second fork is a road that is unmaintained. Unfortunately, this valuable detail was so carefully hidden amidst other lengthy prose that I did not see it until being well into the bad road.

Further complicating matters, is that Cuba is in a state of massive remodeling. Old Havana's and Trinidad's museums are in a state of massive restoration or adaptive reuse (for example, Casa Brunet in Trinidad is closed for a year of remodeling), and that makes some of Baker's descriptions moot. There are two massive art museums under construction right now. By the way, the architecure museum in Trinidad (and the wonderful guide there) is one of the best museums we saw in the country and gets only scant mention in this book. Also, I disagreed with many of Baker's beach recommendations -- the most astounding beach I witnessed, 23 kilometers of perfect and untouristed sand and water, was near Remedios (Cayo de Las Brujas/Cayo de Santa Maria), virtually ignored by Baker but given a strong recommendation in Fodor's.

Despite its shortcomings, I found much useful information. With better organization, this book would easily be the essential guide to Cuba. Unfortunately, I could never figure out how to retain all of Baker's good details in a valuable way for my journey. This book needed a hard-nosed editor with a whip and a strong sense of organization. I bought virtually all of the guidebooks for Cuba, and a better guide for pratical travel purposes is Fodor's (I am usually not a fan of their books, but their Cuba guide is excellent in all respects).

Well written, informative and entertaining. The best travel book I've read. Far and above any LP Guide I've purchased. Covers Cuba today and a provides valuable historical information in an unbiased manner. I highly recommend this book.

This book is now 3 years old. The info is getting more outdated by the day. Casa particulares sites are easy to find. You pay an extra 10$ per day but you can make reservations on line with little trouble. The CPs are now taxed and regulated and easy to find by virtue of the blue and white triangles the display. His book on Havana isn't much better even though it is a new edition. Unless you're a technophobe, stick with the internet and print out what you need. The best part of both books are the maps for getting oneself oriented. I find out in two months how much updating they need as far as points of reference.

I have been to Cuba many, many times. This is, without a doubt, the ultimate source on this wonderful land. It is honest about Cuba, its people and history, and avoids the smug "know it all" political correctness of the Lonely Planet guide. It is also far more detailed and insightful.

Cuba is challenging place to know and understand. There are multiple levels to it. This book allows the beginner and experienced Cuba traveler alike to dig deep in its enigmatic ways.

While traveling in Cuba, I had more than one traveler spot my book and then ask to borrow it. Chris Baker obviously knows Cuba quite well. Lonely Planet and Roughguide do not even come close to the thoroughness that he offers in the Cuba Handbook (our group was carrying a copy of each of these as well.) When the worst struck and all of my travel partner's belongings were stolen, the book was INVALUABLE - it contains a complete listing of all of the help services out there and ways to negotiate the Cuban police system and government offices.

A few critiques: in reality prices tended to be lower than reported in the book (a nice change!), the book did not address the "low income" traveler as much as I would have liked, the maps of Havana are not detailed enough. Guess I should have gotten the Havana Handbook too!

Chris Baker knows Cuba intimately. This guidebook is hands down better than the others (in fact, forget Lonely Planet on Cuba - trust me). It contains a brief history of culture and politics (the two entwined in this country) as well as in-depth coverage of the sites you want to see.

Cuba is not a country where information is readily obtained. This writer shows he's knows his stuff, and has done years of homework. Read it closely.

What you will need to supplement this guide are three things:

1. A list of "casa particulars" or private rooms in private homes. The ones listed in Moon are already too popular and nearly impossible to get a reservation. (There are websites that will help you with this, or just ask a cab driver in Cuba to show you a few homes.)

2. Restaurants. Moon does not include many of the the newer, better, private restaurants. No one goes to Cuba for the food, but nothing is worse than overpaying for a mediocre meal. Ask around for the good places, or do a search on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree web postings.

3. Clubs and bars. Some of the ones listed are institutions, but in Cuba the nightlife venues changes constantly. Ask locals, don't waste your money at some of the tourist traps mentioned in Moon.

Have a good time!

Reading Christopher Baker's book was one of the healthiest things I did before going to Cuba. The historical perspective Mr.Baker injects is not always objective but nonetheless very helpful. The maps were very accurate and helped me to discover some of the best out of the way places to enjoy music and good food such as the notorious 'paladares'. I would recommend this book to anyone that is contemplating a visit to this magnificent island. The book added a dimension of adventure I would not have completely experienced had I not read it.