We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # I* }$ u% U5 f1 e: D# qinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we3 e. ]6 d" v! `/ X2 Z
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. & ~6 ?7 Q) d, F+ G7 X; R& V- [) M! N9 }6 { ~# y9 B+ [) b+ C& i
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ j' u& N% P- P) W
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 T7 {, f, C7 I2 C% wa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# X `; _ C! y5 S; l. k
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort2 T+ M: a9 l: o& J9 m o
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep. d2 Y* b0 b4 d2 u2 N5 k) Z. Z
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the( s6 I0 Q( e/ l+ `$ \( e
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, : u5 k/ m, z [' Qwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. * \: }0 f- }8 e People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 6 m8 H0 F* @ U: ^, Y( n( J; }) inames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 9 B) M/ ?- O/ J. a" x( Vexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" g) ^% \# ~# {6 Y& o% y- B- E( k
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 i Q# U9 v# W! r' S1 t
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. . Y' p6 |) A/ ?9 a5 Q6 d2 O& {" a: u$ R- q
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,# p2 q+ V2 w" M# n! e, z6 u. ~! E
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool& ^( l) e% f+ N- Z+ h. _6 m" P
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top* j K U5 F2 g5 L0 F% X
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the F3 w: Y& T& J8 p4 ~9 F' ?% ?stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ; C4 l0 k3 p! F49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 U! H7 K, w( H4 d! @
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 4 V8 h* Q/ u1 d; O4 E2 G- n3 Sfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ \0 T" s! {: h* i% o* w
, J2 m' Q! e" @, gThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are+ B* Z2 d; Y/ d. s6 g5 x
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made L9 O1 Z/ j. y0 t% B
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ; \) O5 J4 Z5 n# X+ V( jtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 0 u& W3 N- U( X/ s0 Ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - h- U5 {8 a8 h1 c+ Z! ydaily political studies. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:28 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living 1 l: P8 f# c& G' Y0 Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ M3 a% K' g" y0 A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," T% t7 A' U- F! }1 F3 f- N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ' S- i6 k. J; `# u( Nanswers to our pointed questions. Q& ?- T! s$ W+ k6 Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 [' l+ F, x9 c3 N/ _4 R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ) V6 E0 z k$ Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is N6 d7 h0 G3 q* y7 z, Z! }3 |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 k) E0 R; N+ y" U: P4 X/ W; S$ v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are . O" ^# C: v, P8 hmedical schools.* Z0 d" Q: b1 @& x/ ]9 ^9 p9 O) ^6 R
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 j+ |1 }4 g9 L1 o6 Q: ~* U8 ~. {5 W$ z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 1 e- R; {& l6 r- k0 R! k3 D; |- Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 7 M9 ~ O$ H( Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba - w" J4 S& `9 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 ^+ }2 Q% A# \3 x+ Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There b7 \, h1 D/ r- s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ; t5 ?4 e" o+ i+ U; p8 ]' Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* I' Q( {0 K3 U7 u% ]. L% t# U, {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ( w Z, L& Q/ E8 K* n4 Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ g9 L2 U2 G, U+ E. f
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( P$ D4 Z k& `' @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* J9 X! r$ o9 R) ~% h8 H2 I/ m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 4 e9 z) p1 f' U# \; _0 _have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- z ?- [; _$ A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby `3 ?1 T; k% `% psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high . I, G/ _' c, `( i) Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% k, Q! h; A) A; v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) r* y: X( \0 {- u- G: G% z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, p) f6 i2 e6 j' R% Y# U# h
charge the fee defined by the state. * u+ g- g$ m' B- C 9 [9 t4 i0 u( [% p6 D/ S% [! `3 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% W4 f# }& w# _7 U& f3 [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: i6 R9 N6 \0 f* t2 l8 ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( ], y9 K* @) G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel # i# z% b" ]3 d2 P. qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ o' u; v1 m7 s* D! E: f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 h. k1 y5 `% N; U$ ~. w5 V1 @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 s* y6 N1 A! ^/ O/ a0 dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% F/ K2 q7 X* P& z5 Y# _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 e3 [: m8 w0 B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ K; b' p" K* q$ v$ o6 g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 G/ D& n0 y% p8 r' H* L5 d. H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 D6 h' Q& Z5 f
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ) j" f! Z2 \# ]$ m& L( f: Tare spaces.- [5 ?7 c1 y' T5 \1 ]$ r c
- [: m4 Q5 d2 z6 RThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi / i \3 `! ?# lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 C9 q6 R1 I, X' y* L' a' f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the & J& e' B9 h& N40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 }& I+ d4 C+ f: W, G
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) B0 l8 j' }3 c( l1 I- H6 f8 r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% [5 G3 i2 E( ] A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% ?7 \ Z7 v. d" J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 s% S1 D1 \0 j. F! B
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ | M/ s$ O! L3 y w9 \6 f2 u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:29 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)
Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful / s; ~4 f+ G0 z3 Qspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ( N- u5 h% L# N! F3 |( Zthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very + R. O* a& l6 i3 dlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: R. g. o. l, y" c) h4 \' E
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ; Q: r U9 z2 v/ m- x9 psupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of( N. F' W: r# a3 K) F
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms # x% g, N, P" r9 }4 m4 s# S1 khave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the' i$ [5 \5 p& ~- f, _+ D& r
tourist area. , {. r8 Q3 U5 q! X; g G 3 b N. b* w% a% M+ YOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 8 P; ~0 t# n6 D# q8 ~9 X- Fpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). + H0 ]0 A$ X1 `: q- S7 c6 C" ^: bCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 9 B/ W! k' H/ }% _. ^% k9 A7 [# jeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 R* S. ?+ @) hless leader-religious.* ?& z9 r. d' i7 u. f
6 t, X! l% P" }4 W/ K
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ) l/ l/ R* r2 Z; u% n& X1 Fgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big % o9 c! |0 g7 I, i5 Oblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US& s( L+ f$ r5 p) G( o4 C
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).6 _4 B2 N, i3 Y) V
/ O0 E2 P- Z; A8 I* c2 L# `: UWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 q2 {2 G5 v( _! i
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not % ?3 ?* I; L) q; F" r0 vthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ! m) c" o1 U0 [6 B8 J% ]convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" _* Z7 g1 n: k
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars5 d: E& @- }, K/ Z7 F$ m2 M
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 y. `/ V4 s4 h. I
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 3 v5 P5 G6 x Y( a7 [7 rreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ _9 x7 A5 z2 }3 j. W' [4 o6 z( I) M2 e
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- K8 D" x3 @ P O4 b: }2 i2 ^6 W" ~
or visitors. ; u' d( _3 U% }+ T8 G- Y! r; O % I0 g) K' n4 Q3 }# ?9 N7 |-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 + v M% ]2 j% k" J& K+ Z
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快乐的古巴之旅早就计划在圣诞前，呼朋唤友，携妻将子，到加勒比海的古巴去放松一下。一周前终于成行了。从冰天雪地的多伦多飞到赤道附近的古巴仅用了四个小时左右。值得一提的是我们乘坐的SUNWING公司的飞机，虽然是小公司却比加航的服务要好很多。根据以往乘加航的经验，以为飞机上除了水以外其他食物是需要预订和花钱买的，就在上飞机前为小孩准备了一些食物。谁知飞机刚一飞平稳，服务员就从红酒和香槟开始上，一路下来就没有停，饮料，正餐，零食， 边看电影边吃，都没时间睡觉。飞机上的乘客都是去度假的，气氛轻松，俨然快乐的旅程已经开始了。出了机场已经有旅游大巴在门口等了。到了酒店办理入住手续，每个人的手腕上被套上一个黄色的圈儿，标致着从此以后的七天之内可以在酒店范围内吃喝玩乐过着猪一样的生活。办完所有手续已经接近午夜，但大堂仍然灯火辉煌，吧台前仍然人影攒动。女人和孩子休息了，男人们却等不及第二天立刻奔向吧台开始狂欢。 酒店里有三个吧台，分别在大堂，海边和游泳池旁。大堂的吧台24小时提供啤酒，鸡尾酒，果汁饮料，咖啡。同行的朋友说古巴RUM是非常有名的，而且价格不菲。第二天到海边。所谓海边就是在酒店的后院。天气非常好，碧海蓝天，绿树白沙，俨然置身于天堂。我们所到的VARADERO 据说拥有加勒比海岸最美的沙滩，果然名不虚传。沙子洁白细腻，海岸绵延曲折。孩子们先是冲到海里同海浪嬉戏，追逐着一波一波的浪花，惊喜的发现各种贝壳，海螺。累了就在海边堆沙，挖洞，忙得不亦乐乎。还有脚踏船，独木舟，香蕉船都玩个遍。远处白帆点点， 近处海浪轻轻拍岸，不由得心旷神怡。 酒店在岸边也设置了吧台和餐厅，可以随时取饮料和食物而无需更衣。年轻俊美的古巴男女身着绚丽的民族服装在岸边和游泳池边载歌载舞，时而挑逗着躺在沙滩椅上懒散观赏的游客，甚至拉起一两个人同舞。整个海岸就是一个大大的欢乐场。入夜后，每天晚上都有精美的歌舞表演， 动物表演，水上芭蕾，天气好时就在露天舞台，遇到大风大雨的天气狂欢就移到室内。虽然没有室外的空间大，但人们的情绪却丝毫不受影响。时间在快乐和兴奋中总是过得很快。 不觉中一天，两天就这样过去了。 我们不愿呆在海边了，乘船出海。油轮的船长和导游是个英俊的黑人小伙子，身材健美，言语幽默。游船在白云下碧海中遨游，前方浪花翻滚，后面海鸟追逐，船上飘荡着欢快的音乐，俊男靓女们在阳光下裸露着健美的身材享受阳光。在这一刻忘记了烦恼，忧愁和紧张的工作，只是全身心的投入到自然中，拥抱大海，蓝天， 尽情的享受美景。在快节奏的生活压力之下的紧张得神经和疲惫的身体放松了下来，每个人都微笑着，快乐和轻松由心而生。这一刻真的很享受。 孩子们最兴奋的是同海豚的近距离接触。油轮抵达一个深海处的小岛，那里有几只海豚，非常的友善和聪慧。在主人的口令下，时而亲吻每个人，时而偎依在人们的怀里，有胆大的跳到海里同海豚嬉戏。海豚时而发出婴儿般的叫声似乎在同人们交谈。 另有一片海域可以在水下看到五彩缤纷的鱼群。各式各样的鱼就在身边游弋，举手可触。我们还参加了一个吉普车队在向导的带领下穿行几百里，深入到乡村小镇，一路上坐船骑马，品尝龙虾，在一个25米深的岩洞里游泳。 来到古巴，哈瓦那是必去的。哈瓦那古城到处遗留着几百年来殖民地历史的痕迹。虽然不太繁华但干净，古朴，人民朴实热情，治安良好。 意犹未尽之中假期就结束了。古巴确实值得一游甚至再游。我们在飞机上碰到很多加拿大人多次到古巴或加勒比沿岸度假。还未到家我们已经在计划着何日再来了。 圣诞和新年就要到了。仅以此文 同一直关注和支持我的朋友们分享我的快乐，希望有一天我们相约同去。如果有朋友对古巴感兴趣需要知道一些细节，可以联系我，非常愿意与朋友们分享各种信息。祝大家节日快乐，新年万事如意。 / x; P1 G% A) ?2 N, D Z; h
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