I had planned a week's trip to Havana, Cuba near the end of May and Matt (MrCurta) had given me plenty of great advice. I also read the Cuba threads to pick out places to visit and things to do. As a photographer I was also hopeful that I could maybe get some good images.

I stayed in a casa particulares - a B&B, in Vedado, about 10 minutes' drive from the old town (La Habana vieja) and which seemed more lush with lots of greenery and quieter roads. These casas are great places to stay - miles cheaper than hotels and you can normally book into a large room with it's own bathroom. It's also a chance to meet with the hosts, and it really helps if they speak English (more on that later).

Vedado was certainly a 'nicer' area to stay - I remember walking back one night from La Abadia, a restaurant on the Malecón - it took me 45 minutes...in many other cities this would have been a crazy thing to do but here I felt safe. Would I stay in Vedado again? Possibly not. You see, I had to flag down a taxi every time I wanted to go to the old town and back again, which not only cost between £4-£10 per journey, but sometimes I had to wait up to 20 minutes in Vedado as it was becoming more common now that taxis would not stop for tourists (the owner of the B&B told me this). Taxis came is all shapes, sizes and colours. You had the yellow ones belonging to the government and also private ones which were the 1950s classic chevrolets, pontiacs, Fords, etc plus the old Russian cars that were tiny and falling apart. So, I would recommend someone to actually stay in the old town if possible and if they were planning on going to the famous attractions (Floridita, Obispo street, terrace bar at La Manzana, etc).

One reoccurring theme was the terrible state of the pavements - I would advise extreme caution walking anywhere and especially in the dark - you really do need to use the torch of your phone to avoid a nasty injury.

Food and drinks were fairly inexpensive and not being a big drinker I soon discovered that a Cuban mojito was about 5-6 times stronger than an English equivalent! The price? Even at a 5* hotel you wouldn't pay more than about £4. Water - you probably already know this but always buy bottled water and make sure the seal is not broken.

The temperature was extremely hot with humidity nearing 70%. This made it really tough walking during the day. I'm fairly fit but it just wasn't possible to walk endlessly between 11am and 5pm. I would avoid the months of May onwards and stick to the cooler months from October to March/April.

Jineteros are the street hustlers and I was approached with offers of cigars, to see inside someone's house, to go to a cafe, and to buy some weed. I found people generally friendly but definitely cautious of tourists, especially in the side streets. It was a real eye-opener to see how people live, and try to make the best out of it.

So three quarters of the way into the holiday and I became ill. It could have been anything really that caused it, but it was certainly a rough experience. I had to go to a local 'tourist' hospital and luckily, the owner of the B&B, who spoke English, came with me. Despite being a tourist hospital, no one there actually spoke English. I dread to think what would happen if people are admitted with life threatening illnesses. So one consultation (in Spanish) and two injections later I was back at the B&B and spent the next day lying in bed. I flew back the day after and have been recovering since. My advice is to be very careful what you eat and drink and take rehydration tablets with you. I think the language barrier is another fairly big obstacle - very few people I came across actually speak English to a good level.

I've included a few pics below. For anyone into photography thinking of going - I would try to go as minimalistic as possible. I cannot stress how beneficial to your spine and stamina it is to carry the lightest amount possible. You won't need to bring a range of lenses and I found 24mm - 35mm just about right.

If anyone has any questions on Havana or Vedado please ask away.