Why Hitchhiking Is Huge in Cuba: ‘The Transportation System Is Screwed’
The air in Havana was more liquid than gas after several days of sudden rainstorms, but the oppressive humidity didn’t seem to bother the Cubans standing at the city’s punto amarillo (yellow points), part of the socialist island nation’s countrywide hitchhiking system.
A government worker stands at the punto amarillo, asks where you’re going, takes .25 Cuban pesos, (about 5 cents), and flags down a government vehicle heading that direction. The vehicles are legally required to stop if people are waiting.
“It all began with the Special Period,” Yasmin Tamayo, a 32-year-old cleaning woman at a government building, told VICE News while waiting for a ride to a small village outside of Havana.
Hitchhiking, or ir con la botella (going… Continue Reading (5 minute read)