How to get to Cienfuegos?

Today, after a quick breakfast at Casa, I'm hitting the road. I decided to go to the easter part of the island, and my first destination will be Cienfuegos. Apparently a corro (taxi collectivo) costs 20 CUC, but I don't really know where to find it. The young boy working at Casa isnot very helpful either, so I have to find a way on how to get there. I'm going then for my last walk in Havana, hoping that I will learn something more. And indeed I did learn. In some travel agency a young lady informs me that I can get a corro near the Viazul station at the Avenida 26. I catch then a taxi for 5CUC.

At the station I discover that it's not very easy to find this taxi collectivo. Some taxi driver proposes  ride for 40 CUC, what is a very high price given that Cubans pay 10 CUC. Ok, I go inside the station building and I stand in a queue which is not moving forwrd. I come back to the taxi drivers, who are now calling somewhere. In the meantime the price was decreased to 25 CUC, what is acceptable for me. They keep in calling somewhere, but nevertheless it doesn't work. I think I came here too late, and most of the taxi collectivo left earlier on. I return to the station building and inside - behind the first small room, there's another one, where apparently the tickets for viazul can be bought. Apparently because it seems nobody knows anything. All the tourists are totally lost and desoriented,and Cuban staff not very helpful. A (apparent) ticket seller looking like a divaa informs me that she will sell tickets in one hour. I go then to eat something, and return one hour later, just to find out that the station is not full of people queuing to get a ticket. But the queue is not moving forward and the diva is eating, drinking, talking on the phone, but certainly not selling tickets or informing people what is happening. I feel like I moved in time to the communist Poland...

In the queue I'm meeting a nice couple from Poland, and two German girls - Chiara and Jana. Both are medicine students and did their stage in a hospital in Havana. Apparently Cuban medical services have a great reputation, but they told me not to believe it. The hospital where they worked was very old one, with old equipment and medical staff not being very hygienic. The one-use gloves and one-use syringes were used several times, and the staff does not wash their hands...

Finally, we all manage to get our tickets to Viazul, and with a half an hour delay we depart to Cienfuegos. Unfortunately our happiness doesn't last long, as after one hour our bus stops in the middle of nowhere. It's broken. The driver and some other men try to fix it with some old equipment and stones (!). It didn't work out, so we have to go out. Luckily there was some bar nearby, which had prices in CUP, so we can eat a cheap meal and chat with the rest of the bus. I talk to Chiara and Jana, who tell me more stories from the Cuban hospitals and Cuban life. I learn that since allthe cows belong to the state, killing them might mean 8 years in prison...

In the end, after a few hurs, another bus is arriving and it brings us to Cienfuegos. I join the German girls, and together we look for a Casa. A few minutes walk from the bus stop we found one - run by Alicia. I pay 20 CUC for my single room, and the girls pay 25 for the double.

We spend a very nice evening with our host. She is very talkative and tells us how great the medical service in Cuba is...