I didn't ask him about that, but I'll do it next time I meet him. Here in Russia a regular cost of a "Guantanamera" cigar is about $8..$9.

we have a german saying: the way you shout into the woods it echoes back to you (or something along those lines)

in our group were 5 guys that speak spanish, one of them born on Cuba

we never even once experienced rude or unfriendly people, food was fine and in Caribbean or latin american countries I don't expect in general the same level of cleanliness like in western european countries

so maybe your brother in law should next time go on vacation to Crimea - now that it's yours anyways. :winkwink:

like 1953, but that people are happy I think

I would say the same except say far far far safer.. hehe There are so many things i would love to see in Mexico but it scares the shit out of me and I don't scare easily..

These pics are unique to any other i've seen from there. Nicely done.

Russians always are disappointed and not happy, that's what they are.

I would happily second that.

second part of this sentence yes first part not so much but you did go to one of the shittiest places there basically like going to Puerto Rico and hanging out in Santurce in the capital San Juan not very nice.


http://www.galahotels.com/en/Destina...XBoC_Cjw_wc B

Russians crap is stinky and dangerous, that's what is on my mind.

I didn't say they were rude. According to my brother in law and his wife, they were very importunate. E.g. local women were begging his wife to give them her t-shirt, a hairpin etc. In fact, someone of hotel maids finally stole her jeans :)

As about "cleanliness like in western european countries". Most of them suck a donkey dick comparing to UAE or even Turkey hotels. I mean even a 5 star hotel in Castelldefels is nothing comparing to a 3-times cheaper 4-star hotel in Kemer or in Dubai :2 cents:

I believe he's been there already as well as he's been in Abkhazia ;) Actually he's been to almost everywhere in the Caribbean area, so Cuba was just a reference point to close it.

Иди похмелись уже, русский уебок.

Of course Cuba is much safer than Mexico as a country (in case if you would want to travel there), but AFAIK Mexico hotels are much better than the Cuban ones. I mean Mexico could be also very safe if you are not going to leave the hotel area.

For a note: I'm not the one who will dare travel through Mexico as a tourist (yes, it's scaring me as a shit) :2 cents:

all they have to do is sell all the old cars -> GDP per capita grows by 95% overnight

Great pics BTW

Why? Because of gang violence which does not affect tourists?

Even tourists paradise such as Dominican republic is more dangerous. Or Jamaica.

Depends on what kind of tourist you are. If you are living in a hotel, you are safe, but traveling through the country can be very dangerous:

http://www.ridus.ru/news/67847/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/interna...ss_grave.shtml
http://ru.tsn.ua/ukrayina/v-meksike-...ty-289115.html
etc...

last box of 25 I bought in June for a relative was $ 300.00 ... comes about to 6 to 7 months of salary .
Going back beginning of October, then end of November ... can`t stand the shitty weather up here. Cheaper to go to Cuba for a week then to my condo in Pompano Beach.

Feb-March is Florida condo

Russian is on a posting spree . . . Krymnash?

You see, something does not add up. Should be way cheaper. Unless there is some mafia type of organization which does not allow real market economy pricing.

Looks interesting thanks for sharing! :thumbsup

If you want to see more about Cuba check out our Cuban-show's trailer :pimp

http://lifeselector.com/game/DisplayPlayer/gameId/85270

Love those cars

Thanks for posting, had a great time in Cuba, great ice cream in Havana.

All those cars from the 50's, early 60's still running and looking great. Amazing.

They are basically running 2 economic systems based on the convertible pesos ( for tourists ) and the peso ( for locals ) .
What is offered to tourist in tourist shops is unaffordable to cubans, but still reasonable for tourists .
I went to a nice ( state owned ) restaurant with a local couple . For 4, we had expressos ( 2 each ) nice orange cake , bottled water and it came in local pesos to about $ 1.60 . If we would have only been the two tourist, we would of paid in convertible pesos, about $ 10.00 for 2 ....

There are talk now to get rid of the convertible pesos and only have one currency ... Curious how they can do that .

True ... but they are of no value to collectionners .... Most parts are not original ( parts from lada, tractors, etc .. ) , bodies are patched up ... , serials & tags no longer match,

They are of value in Cuba as they are a tourist attraction and cost a lot to buy even there .

Thanks for sharing seems cool there :)

^^this

most are in horrible condition and run on Lada or Isuzu diesel engines

no one could afford the gas that an old V8 would take

so what about internet connectivity in Cuba?
I am just thinking about going there for a trip....

two words: forget it

no internet on mobile and in one of the tourist hotels i saw $5 for 30 minutes at 64 kbit/s

people with internet at home are very rare and most likely connected to the government - lol

nice pics Madalton :thumbsup

Best thing about Cuba is the weather.

are you serious? there have been news stories all over the place about exactly that happening, even ON THE RESORTS there. I only hear about what happens to canadians for the most part and even that is telling. No way in hell would i go there until they get a grip on what is going on in that country. Even their police force is notorious.

MRW:

http://media.giphy.com/media/Q27et0hLOcdYA/giphy.gif

Hurricane season would strongly disagree with you. :upsidedow

As a musician, I really enjoyed the music there. I'm a big fan of salsa, and I ended up in some back street shit holes watching guys jam who were some of the best musicians I've ever seen in my life, hands down. Just unknown dudes playing for the love of music in a building that was about to fall down in the middle of the day.

Everyone enjoy this dutch/cuban mix (blof and buena vista social club)

Yes, I know all that. My point is that markup on cigars should be 100000000000000000s%, I am joking about the number, of course, but the markup is unbelievable. And another point is that you could easily sell for half that or maybe even 10% of that and turn profit. So that is why I am curious if there are some cartel agreements to keep prices that do not correspond to market prices. Like why isn't there a competitor who would manufacture and sell the same thing for HALF the price and still have huuuuuuuge profit margin.
Those prices are serious overpaying...

Cuban cigars are hand made by craftsmen who have been making them for decades. No competitor can manufacture the same thing. The soil and the climate in the major fields is the best in the world. Only Opus-X in the Dominican Republic had been able to make similar quality consistently. Because there is a limited supply being made every year due to the size of the fields, the number of craftsmen, and the weather, the demand for good Cuban cigars outweighs the ability to make them. No cartel needed lol. Simply by how they must be made there is a limited supply. All Cuban cigars are distributed by La Casa del Habano which is owned by the Cuban Government. They control everything. You cannot legally buy a cigar in Cuba outside of a La Casa del Habano store unless you are a licensed hotel etc that buys them from CDH directly. Prices are set worldwide based on demand. So a $28 Cohiba in London will also be around $28 in Havana. There is no market reason to sell it any cheaper in Cuba as the demand is so high that if no one wants to pay that much in Havana they can just ship the boxes anywhere and they will sell. It is not unlike Scotch in a way. :pimp

This is a matter of taste IMHO. Personally I like the Dominican cigars, but I like the Honduras ones even more (e.g. Don Tomas). We have no embargo towards Cuba here, so their cigars are not a rare thing. These are not bad at all, but they are not my favorite ones :2 cents:

That's not truth because even here in Russia they are much cheaper. Check out the prices: http://www.cohibacigars.ru/cigars.php?cid=109 (one GBP is equal to 60 Russian rubles, so do your math).

Thanks for explaining.
I am curious though - what is so special about craftmenship and soil to grow it? Would you really feel the difference if grown on some other soil? And if you would, how much of a difference? Maybe 99% or at least 95% as good? And for 1/10th of the price that still would be killer profit maker.

It is a matter of taste. Some people love Gallo wine jugs. But as an extremely experienced cigar smoker who also is up on historical cigar info I can tell you that the majority of cigar smokers who have been smoking for more than a year regularly will nine times out of ten prefer the richness and flavor of Cuban grown cigars hands down. :2 cents:


I should explain further that different countries have different tobacco taxes which usually amount to 40-60 percent of the price. SO if you are in a low tax area (like the Cayman Islands where I buy mine) then you can save a lot. The wholesale price remains the same however.

IT is very special. People with millions of dollars have tried for decades to emulate it. It is an open market mineistaken :) If that were the case then it would be happening! There are cigar manufacturers all over the world and it is a cutthroat market. the difference in quality is substantial. BTW the opus-x i mentioned earlier are more expensive generally than Cubans. And harder to get. :thumbsup

Looks to me like a box of Cohiba Esplenditos is 557 GBP then so thats about 23 GBP per stick or about $30 You call that cheap? its about standard :error