Travel to Cuba

The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade

Format: Paperback
Author: Lynette Chiang
ReleaseDate: June, 2004
Publisher: Small Wheel Press
Rating:

The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade
I felt she gave a real life look at the people more so than another tourist brochure and glossy airconditioning tour company promotions. Lynette allowed me to vicariously enjoy Cuba and the Cuban people. But hey, that is what bike touring is about, Bravo Lynette.

Bittersweet memories
Like Lynette I'm of Chinese descent, but born in Cuba. This book brought a torrent of bittersweet memories. It's very rarely that one bumps into a very original travel account like hers. Least of all, not that many have had the opportunity to see the side of Cuba never shown to ordinary tourists. What I really appreciate is her non-biased approach as she shows the daily hardships ordinary people encounter to survive, without rambling on what's already known about living conditions there under Castro. She brings to life the resilience of the people there rather candidly. This is important - the character of the people, not the ugly politics. Lynette, when is your next bike trip back to Cuba? Please let me know I have several suggestions.

Don't Miss This Insightful Down-To-Earth Look At the Real Cuba!


Lynette provides an intimate and insightful look into the lives of ordinary Cubans as she chronicles her adventures bicycling across the country, making new friends as she goes. The Handsomest Man In Cuba by Linette Chiang is a wonderful book not to be missed, whether you are a hard core bicyclist, casual traveler, or just interested in the world around you. Preferring to live simply among the people and avoid the typical insulated "tourist" experience, she manages to show all sides of Cuba. She misses nothing, describing the tiniest details of the people and places she encounters, and her own adventures along the way. Her perceptive outlook, frank honesty, humor and compassion gives a provocative perspective of this remarkable country, it's people and their culture, and in the process provides some profound reflections on the comparison to our own "Western culture". She reminds us how easy it is for us to forget (or never realize) to appreciate what we have in our lives. . . that perhaps the cost of what we've gained may not always be worth what we've lost.

After reading her book I experienced a tremendous restless urge to just take off on a bike somewhere across the world for a year or so. That may have to wait a bit (being a parent of young children). But it's certainly the next best thing to be able to experience vicariously Lynette's courageous and free adventure by reading this book. It's a remarkable tale written by a remarkable woman, and I have a new appreciation and understanding of Cuba and its people as a result. Highly recommended!

--Ray Arkin
Eugene, Oregon
.

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