There must be more to Cuba than cigars

This time last year I was sitting at Gatwick waiting to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to Havana.

I'd been looking forward to it for months and I was genuinely excited.

As it happens the 'trip of a lifetime' was a bit of a disappointment. From the uncomfortable nine-hour flight to the variable weather and unremarkable food, I returned seven days later a little underwhelmed.

Nevertheless I'll never forget that initial sense of anticipation and I look forward to returning to Cuba when the Americans have moved in and there is a McDonalds on every corner.

Cigar aficionados attending the annual Habanos Festival (which begins today) may not want the country to change but poverty and a totalitarian regime shouldn't be a tourist attraction.

See Your man in Havana: notes from a Caribbean Island.

Comments

[John]

These "poor" Cubans are reputed to be amongst the happiest people on the planet , and they live 10 years longer on average than US citizens.

Electing our dictators doesn't make us a democracy