I walked to the bus station and went to the Viazul ticket office. When I told him what bus I wanted, he asked if I was on the list. WTF!! Yesterday when I arrived and the office was closed for lunch, the woman told me to come back 30 minutes before my departure. So today I was there one hour before and they tell me this! The man told me to have a seat until the bus arrived. Started standing right by the door 10 minutes before departure. At departure time, he told me the bus is full, and so is the next one, did I want to put my name on the list?

I walked out to the street and found a colectivo leaving soon at only a bit more than the bus charges. While looking for a bathroom in the bus station I found an Etecsa office without a line, and they had wi-if cards. It was an agonizingly slow transaction while she had to enter my passport number! into the computer and the codes of each of the two cards I was buying.

The colectivo soon got underway, and it was 1.5 hours to Trinidad. My main concern for the delay was knowing that the casa owner was going to be waiting for me in the bus station. Fortunately the timing worked out, and she found me before I even had a chance to enter the station.

Matilda guided me through the cobblestone streets up the hill to her house--good exercise. I had a choice of two rooms, so I took the larger suite upstairs so as to have the terrace directly outside my room. It is a large airy room with great ventilation, and there was a nice strong breeze. The shaded terrace is extremely pleasant, and I was served coffee here, so ended up taking my siesta here. Also, there is a rooftop terrace with a small shaded area with a couple of chairs and a hammock in which I had a nice little nap.