Most people traveling to Cuba choose popular destinations such as
Varadero or Havana. They stay in 5 star hotels, they go on some city
tours and drink mojitos all day long. Cuba is not exactly a backpacker
paradise, and that’s why I knew that backpacking Cuba on a budget, from
end to end of the island, would be a great experience.

If you are a tourist, you’re not allowed to take local buses to travel
between cities. Instead, you are supposed to take the tourist-oriented,
AC, super expensive buses. However, there is another option: you can
also travel around the country by truck (this means 100% guaranteed
adventure).

These Cubans took hundreds of old trucks and turned them into something
similar to buses. Sometimes there are no seats but metallic bars to sit
on, also there might be standing passengers, potato sacs, chickens and
other animals. I remember once, the back entrance was open and one of
the passengers dropped his goat over the road! Of course he didn’t do it
on purpose, but his goat was still alive, laying on the road. The bus
driver had to stop in the middle of the highway, and wait for the guy to
pick up his goat and get back in the truck. These kinds of crazy things
can only happen in Cuba.

For more information, check out Backpacking Cuba on a budget