Dec 7th: Our first full day in Havana

Antonio and his 1957 Chevy awaited, our tour beginning 9am sharp. We would tour Havana Viejo, old town.

The taxi drivers like Antonio are in the most economically viable professions in Cuba. In a country where the average salary is $20/month, taxi driver's are in a unique position to tap into tourist dollars.

The story behind the famous old cars of Cuba is that the government had passed a law where any cars older than 1960 could be bought and sold like private property. This freedom was highly valued and so great efforts were extended to make a car qualify as vintage. Most of these vintage cars are just shells, with industrial strength new diesel engines underneath. For example, this car's engine was a three year old Hyundai diesel engine.