We've never had trouble getting our laundry done in any of the countries where we've lived. Cuba, however, presents challenges for nomads who prefer clean clothing.

As far as I can tell, there's no such thing as a laundry service, laundromat, dry cleaners or any other business that exists for the cleaning of clothes.

So by the time we reached Viñales, we really needed our laundry done. We rented a room there, and ask the owner of the house if she knew of where we could have our clothes cleaned. She said she could do it (and by "she," she meant her 12-year-old servant). We asked how much. She was vague. At some point, we handed over our bag of dirty clothes. Later that day, we saw them on the line in front of the house.

Today, when we were about to leave, we got our laundry back and she presented us with her price for one load of laundry: $25. (Note that $25 is roughly the average Cuban's monthly salary.)

Amira laughed at this incredible figure, and told the woman that had she known the price in advance she wouldn't have accepted it. So the woman graciously reduced the price to $20, and that's what we paid.

She really took us to the cleaners. (Sorry.)