8.30 am bags onto coach... Cloudy skies and rain greet us this morning and we're glad we're not setting off on the bikes. We arrive at Santa Clara for a visit to Che Guevara memorial; torrential rain create a sombre grey feel to the place and matches the sorrowful sense of the loss of the Fidel's charismatic compatriot. Che had been part of the scene since the early days in Mexico, the Granma landing, the overthrow of Batista and played key role in Fidel's new administration.

Treacherously slippery steps require close attention and we see the key moments of Che's story mapped on the surface of the memorial stones. The bronze statue shows the warrior version of the self-proclaimed freedom fighter.

Behind the wide square and statues, descend to the entrance of the memorial. Accepted belief is that Che was killed via a CIA led plot by government troops in Bolivia in 1967 (whilst he was undertaking yet another uprising - it seems he was an insurgent to the end and even foretold that he would most likely have an untimely demise whilst fighting one cause or another). His remains were not discovered until 1982 (in a mass grave with many of the rest of his guerrilla force). It's not clear what happened to his remains in the subsequent 15 years, but in 1997 Fidel opened the memorial to Che and his fellow fallen comrades and lit an eternal flame that flickers in the simple stone circle inside the cave-like interior of the memorial. The wooden floors and ceilings and stone wall with the names of the fallen etched on the side wall (I'm not sure if their remains are interred in the wall behind each simple stone plaque). In keeping with the egalitarian philosophy of their leader, Che's remains are similarly behind a simple stone plaque in the centre of his men. Modest and simple, it seems a fitting tribute to the man they revere.

Unfortunately, because of the rain, we are not allowed to visit the museum, so the time has finally come to say goodbye to our cycle tour companions and transfer to the taxi José has kindly organised for us. We tried to visit the cigar factory (having already been unsuccessful in Havana (closed for repairs) and Pinar Del Rio (it was a Sunday), only to realise that it was Saturday and for a third time we encounter a closed factory.... One starts to believe that some things are just not meant to be. Through pouring rain our taxi driver drives at break neck speed, overtaking every slower moving vehicle he encounters (which is basically everything else on the road), we are soon through the old pirate town of Remedios, have our passports checked by the police checkpoint, then traverse the 35km ocean road that leads us to our 5 star hideaway on Santa Maria.... Truthfully, where we are going is not really Cuba, it could be any luxury Caribbean destination - but for us at this moment, that's exactly the point!