Keeping it Halal in Cuba!

Who doesn’t crave for adventure? Who doesn’t crave for fun and relaxation? I guess most of us do. In this routine life managing a 9 to 5 job, relationships, and home; sometimes you feel like breaking through all odds to continue on. Vacations do exactly that. Moreover, traveling has become the ‘Hype’ these days. A getaway is the new way to stay happening, something to talk about, plus pics for your Instagram account! For whatever reasons it may be, change does do some good to our so called ‘routine lives’. To break the flow and go against the tide, to come back rejuvenated and rehabbed.

While you may think that getaways are pretty easy (Hey, I’ve got the money, lets get packing!!) Halal vacations are something all on its own. Seriously! The travel vlogs on YouTube get you thinking that literally finance can be the only the barrier for a bucket list trip to somewhere exotic. Well… raise your hands if you are practicing Muslim, beard or hijab, got kids, limited budget, and to spice it up further, you wear Niqab? Then going somewhere exotic, adventurous, fun, and memorable can be quite challenging (Really challenging!)… But not impossible! I think that Halal vacations do feel incredibly hard but that’s what makes it more daring, more memorable, more surreal in the end…and whole lot more fun.

Me and my husband had to face the odds when we planned our first getaway. It was my second anniversary gift from my husband. Our honeymoon was within the GTA as our situation at that time permitted only that. After much contemplation, opinions from others, research and thinking… and thinking… and thinking, finally one night we made our decision and booked our trip to an all inclusive seven day trip to Varadero Cuba. Cuba is a Caribbean island country situated in south of America (just below Florida to be exact). It’s home to many beaches, landscapes, traditional cities and breathtaking views. It is said that going to Cuba is like going back in time as Cuban culture is strongly rooted to old traditions and customs. Only now does technological advancements show its initial influences in the country. There as many cities in Cuba that attract many tourists as tourism is one of their main economical backbones. Based on reviews and actual testimonials from friends and family, we chose to go to Varadero which is a city located in the northern peninsula of Cuba.

There are many reasons we would say Yay or Nay to our whole Cuban experience but we will highlight the main points that we found to be important factors in our experience (for the future!). As always, lets start by looking at the bright side first and go down to the negatives.

1. Its inexpensive: A seven day basic 4.5 star package to Varadero Cuba was somewhere between $700-800 per person. The package includes the airfare, hotels, food and transport. The package varies based on the number of stars and amenities you receive but overall, the base package is a simple way to enjoy yourself and relax without taking a big hit to your wallet ($$$). While you may say that it can be cheaper to travel to any other part of USA (from Canada), that takes us to the second most important point of why we said yes to Varadero Cuba.

2. Political situation: It may sound ridiculous but for us Muslims (and especially me wearing the niqab), the political situations of the country DOES matter. Since Trump being the president of USA and all his resentment towards Muslims in particular, it didn’t sound too great of a destination for us to travel there at the time (though we’d love to go and explore all the great places in the US someday!). On the other hand, in Cuba it was quite the opposite. In recent months, the demise of a rigid yet respected ruler “Fidel Castro” had opened the doors for the political and economic situation in Cuba to fluster over the past few years. The best time to visit Cuba was “Now”. I don’t want to go into the details of politics and all. Trust me… I barely follow the news to give a detail description of whats happening. To some extent, Muslims do understand the concerns of traveling to a country where Muslims are given “the look”. However during our visit, I felt like the Cuban locals hadn’t been exposed to Niqabis often. For instance, when we landed in Cuba and arrived at the airport customs, we had to stay a bit longer for a translator to arrive and say I have to show them the my face for Visa requirements.  No one wanted to listen to me in the first place when I was saying its OK and that I can show my face to the customs officer. Once we were at the resort, I did not feel intimidated or the center of attraction because 80-90% of visitors there were Canadians (we learned the statistics at a magic show there, when the magician asked all the Canadians to raise their hands).

3. The Views and Excursions: Vacations are important to escape the daily grind and to indulge in something unique and new. The beaches, sunrises and sunsets, the culture, and the warmth of Varadero was definitely worth the trip. It IS something to consider though. You may think that seven days in the same place might bore you (I thought the same too), however if you are willing to pay few extra bucks, you can take full or half day excursions out of the resort. We were lucky enough to get ours from our hotel itself. I absolutely loved the “Havanah city tour”. The city is influenced by many architectural eras and different countries it was reigned by. It is said that going to Cuba is like going back in time and we found this to be quite true. We also did other day tours to some farms, caves, snorkeling, and the local cities. Additionally, around Varadero there are ample opportunities for water sports, city tours and others.

Having looked at the positives, these are the factors that might lead one to think twice of going to Cuba.

1. Food: I think food always tops the drawback list of any Muslim vacation except for actual Muslim central travel destinations. Food is also one the reasons that make your vacation more of an experience. Also, having food to eat takes way that never ending worry of ‘what’s there to eat?’ (the womenfolk would know- not being stereotypical here but happens all the time). Food was one daunting experience at our hotel.  We could barely find something safe to eat and had barriers in communicating our needs. The words ‘veganism’ or ‘vegetarian’ were completely out of comprehension for the waiters and chefs on hand. Pork and alcohol run the show and was found abundantly everywhere. They literally put alcohol in everything… even coffee! What was even more annoying was that even the food that was good to eat was cross contaminated by the people at the hotel. If we wanted to eat at the buffet breakfast/lunch/dinners, we had to get to the buffet way earlier before the meat fork lands on the veggies. It wasn’t as if we were missing out on a lot though as the Cuban food is generally considered quite bland (not much salt or spices used in their cuisine). Our experience confirmed it for us. So what did we actually survive on for seven days you ask? Thanks to the 24 hour snack bar with its unlimited supply of plain fries and ketchup, we managed to get by. Fruits, rice, and fish were also were a big bonus. Also, the ‘when in doubt, halal pizza it out’ technique proved as a major lifesaver for this trip! This is an amazing technique we use whenever we travel to some new city or country and are not aware of the halal situation. We always carry a halal pizza stash with us just to be safe. I know… its not ideal, but for situations like this, it was a must-have and it lasted us pretty much our entire trip. Pina Colada was our only happy food memory (alcohol free of course) and we loved it! We thought that maybe we could find a few other snacks or fruits to eat outside of our hotel but after searching the city for almost an entire day, it was nothing less than impossible to find a store with snacks like biscuits, chips or cereal (except for the store in the hotel which sold few biscuits and such for a premium). We had to do with what we had but it wasn’t pleasant.
   

   

2. Hotel: Luxury or comfort is undoubtedly something we desire in a vacation. Unless your vacation is one of those adventurous, sporty and rough outdoorsy types. Hotel standards are  somewhat different in Cuba. Like previously mentioned, going to Cuba really did feel like going back in time. They still have a long way to go. We were told ahead of time that whatever stars the hotels had, subtract two stars from it and that would be the actual ‘north american’ standard for hotels. Five star rated hotels in Cuba were in the range of three stars or so compared to US/Canadian standards. Our hotel was rated 4.5 stars. The actual resort was well managed overall but unfortunately the rooms were somehow excluded from this rating. For entertainment, we had a CRT TV in our room and a broken radio, so you can imagine what the rest of the room would have been like. Simple structure, architecture and furniture but clean. We didn’t get the feeling of staying in a hotel but rather a well kept inn. Yes… that’s the sort of feeling you get there when staying inside your room. We had to compromise with what we had inside our rooms with what was there in the outside resort (which was actually enjoyable).
   

   

3. Segregation: We fellow Muslims know this term in and out but in Cuba, it doesn’t mean segregation with men and women. It’s segregation between the Cubans and the tourists. We rarely saw local people other than the staff and vendors. We took a city bus tour in the hopes of seeing the local hustle &bustle but all we saw was endless souvenir stores with crowds of tourists from start to end. Like.. literally the entire 30 minute public bus ride along one road within the city was all souvenir stalls and stores. It was a street just made for tourists separated from the local market. The reason they do this is beyond me! I consider it a drawback not being able to see the actual ambiance and nature of people in Varadero.

Nevertheless a trip is not trip if not met with challenges along the way. I strongly believe both the ups and downs of an excursion is what makes it more indelible and memorable for travelers. I am also extremely proud of ourselves for taking a step forward to do something out of the ordinary. We did stand out but I hope it was in a good way. To all you Halal travel junkies… do not fear to go out there and Happy Tripping!!!!