I loved the sleepy town of Viñales. I especially loved the mornings, sitting at the outdoor dining table facing the morning sun while watching Tatiana from the corners of my right eye preparing breakfast. The sun, I loved the sun. I loved as it lightly caressed my bare face while I wrote in my journal. The sun burnt in the afternoons and I could never go out without covering every inch body with an SPF 50 sunscreen but at 8 am the sun was like a lover's touch, the one that is gentle, reassuring & just a little bit naughty.

Seeing the tourists staying at the Los Jazzmine hotel, one of the few hotels in the town, mostly older people in their 50s to 70s, I am reminded of why I chose to see the world now, to travel deeper, even though I can barely afford it. For later in life, I may have more money to go places but no guarantee I'll have the energy or desire to dance through the night, trek through valleys & deserts or road trip from one end of a country to the other. Although I'm sure at 70 I'll still love sitting on a rooftop watching the sunset with a bottle of rum, or perhaps a bottle of cognac as old as me.

So while we can, we walked the length & breadth of Viñales, drank as many cocktails as possible, watched live bands on starless nights, chatted with locals with hand gestures and our very challenged broken Spanish and slept.

On one of our morning walks, we stumbled upon El Jardin Botanico, an oasis just off the main street. We weren't sure if we were allowed to be there as it was the (very large) back garden of a house that people still lived in. We popped in any way and enjoyed this tranquil garden with doll heads dotted around.

xx