As our motley group of four representing Japan, Russia, the United States (U.S. citizens require special permission to visit Cuba for educational/cultural travel) and India descended upon Havana, the air was rife with a spirit of adventure and mystique. Whilst we waited in line for immigration, we were hesitant to get our passports tainted with the much dreaded Cuban entry stamp. However, to our surprise and delight, the immigration officer simply evaded that procedure, while we waited silently. We then proceeded to the exchange bureau to decipher the dual currency system in Cuba and were amazed to learn that one dollar yielded .8 CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso). Indeed, Cuba's "tourist" currency was stronger than the US dollar, given the similar purchasing power parity of the CUC for most tourist essentials such as water, food, museum entry fees, car rentals, etc. The local currency, the Cuban national peso converted at 24 to one CUC but its usage was limited to local spo