Dec 9 - Pinar del Rio

Ruth got up early to enjoy the beautiful landscape. After the breakfast in our hotel, we drove to Pinar del Rio. The cigar factory in the town was unfortunately closed. We walked a bit around, but to be honest there is not that much to look at. So we decided to drive to the tobacco plantation. On our way out of the city we got a flat tire. Local were rushing in to help and we changed the tire in no time. Because of the road conditions we did not dare to drive on without a spare tire, so we started looking for a repair shop. Finally we met Lester, a young man who guided us to a repair shop, where we got our tire repaired (they also found another tire that needed some attention). So two hours later we had both tires fixed. It was about 20 dollars, so that wasn't too bad. It turns out that Lester has an older brother, who then showed us the Tobacco factory. Ronny (Ronaldino) was actually the manager there. Ronny spoke perfect English. He is also a real business man and sold Ruth two packs of cigars. With all the help we received, the private tour we and and the warm welcome we received from Lester and Ronny's family, we did not feel bad about the 'deal' we got (plus, the cigars were really good).