“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl”, the words of Barry Manillow's old song “Copacabana” stuck in my head. Outside the window, a gloomy November drizzle increased even more my soul's longing for the sun.
Cuba looked promising, but I couldn't decide whether to go to Havana or straight to a seaside resort. I'm not the type of tourist who likes to go and see “all the nice ruins nearby”. I'd rather spend my days lounging on the beach or by the pool and find some good company for the evening. Simple! But seeing old Havana would be worthwhile too. I searched dozens of hotels online, but some invisible force held me back from clicking the “book now” icon. There were plenty of websites where frequent visitors and one-time tourists wrote about Cuba – all of them glowing reviews. It might be my last chance to see the real socialism version in the Caribbean before it was gone. Then, I saw something on the screen that caught my eye. It was a great hotel, not too big but elegant, with a charming pool, close to the sea, and a promising nightlife. The price was acceptable, and the customer ratings were highly favorable. I was going in January, so I checked the availability of rooms during this period. Bingo! My phone vibrated – the confirmation email had arrived.
Out of curiosity, I decided to check the flight prices offered by some booking sites. I had already made sure the flights on that date were available. I held off with the purchase because experiences taught me that the best prices tend to be a month before departure. But something was wrong. Instead of flights to Cuba, my computer was showing me flights to Phuket – an island in Thailand. As if that wasn't strange enough, it immediately offered me a private taxi transfer at a suspiciously low price. I went back to the hotel reservation and checked the address. That's when I saw it! For some reason, the search engine had misplaced this one hotel in Thailand among all the Cuban hotels. Then I noticed the name: “Chabana Resort”. Chabana – Havana. It sounded similar! In theory, two letters should make a huge difference for Artificial Intelligence, but AI is constantly being refined to be more like the human brain – and consequently, it becomes more and more stupid and makes more and more mistakes.
Houston, we have a problem! This wasn't a tragedy, as it was still in the confirmation stage and everything could easily be cancelled. However, if I wanted to go anywhere, it was time to make a decision, or I would die of longing for sun and warmth! Many important, essential events in my life had happened somehow by chance, as if in the background and without my active participation. To say that I was superstitious would be a gross oversimplification. I was starting to think that AI could be a crazy moron at times, but it showed me this hotel in Thailand for a reason! After comparing flight prices, I made up my mind. Travelling to Thailand was a bit more expensive than to Cuba, being twice as far away from Europe, but it was still within my budget. I chose Qatar Airways. Cuba could wait.
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