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有没有人打算四五月份去古巴玩?

古巴对中国人和加拿大人一视同仁, 都不用签证, 拿着护照就可去.

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应比墨西哥安全多了.  我们四年以前去过一次. Resort 里很安全, 外面很像中国80年代.

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玩的住的 , 各个resort应不尽相同: 没有污染的无尽海滩, 小船舢板,. 阳光灿烂, 椰树叶沙沙, ... resort 外面除了哈瓦那老城外, 都很旧破, 但人情不错, 很像中国80年代初 (连resort 里的工作人员每天开会也很像中国当年的天天雷打不动的政治学习).
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吃的, 古巴穷,没钱买农药和改良种子, 所以食物是自然的有机, 再加上气候使古巴有三样世界第一的东西: 咖啡,  rum-坩蔗做的烈酒, 还有雪茄, 都是食饮吸物.
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, U% e. ]2 [. x8 G本人不喝烈酒也不吸烟, 没资铬评烟论酒.  但古巴的咖啡是真香, 咖啡好resort做的也好.
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这三样都可在resort或外边买到带回, 各种等级和价钱都有(rum和雪茄比在古巴外买便宜50%以上).   但据说最好的咖啡不零售, 只出口去日本换古巴最需要的外汇.1 i9 `! T9 f. y9 l; \
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我们玩完回来后写了一份游记.  比较详细, 但是英文的, .当时有几个同事看了后也去了古巴.  如有兴趣看就贴上.

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我们2006年的古巴游记 (一)

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very
; s8 x9 N9 p* @4 p. ~$ [" V# Ainteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
' g6 W/ y( k' v( g8 wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.: ~7 D/ Y  ~% w" n9 c

2 [4 \% d3 q  p" o( G. [It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,( E/ h$ I' e" a1 q: T; m2 C+ J
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
' J0 [% c4 {1 k- T: ma very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
0 i6 a5 r4 Q7 X' {0 ^possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort3 p. O8 ~" A( Q# i7 i! T" Y4 \
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ a8 g$ e# ^1 K# f4 j0 t/ P
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the9 k7 D3 H" p$ A. E% E. u
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
2 ?' @! l7 ^  b! n5 Z8 N1 ^with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
3 [) o; R2 k! j7 \ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( D. C+ u7 p7 q
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not3 V4 t9 k" W3 d: R9 N
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our: s: |) J5 r6 x" {+ ^
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through, m& S0 |2 c( s6 N
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.9 y3 \- d* ~4 g  U* w  [  d

) e8 J& O& Y0 I, N8 T5 D  s2 J- `The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
- O8 d* L; \$ v3 Olow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool9 v: d4 i! w! l% R
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top9 n; ~1 m+ M- ?$ Q( L5 \1 A+ Y
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
0 d4 Z+ Q& s% r3 {8 c9 ustars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
; j) k9 Y; D. x( _# V49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes0 K5 j" H3 ^- T0 c: I2 @
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
  L3 ?: J1 h7 E& c. |: y2 ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.2 G8 R& L/ o7 C( k! U) G
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are# Q$ F' o5 n3 U
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made6 f. q2 F. b* v/ C" d1 I' s5 J, T6 ^
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
: C5 H% e5 f7 l9 ctourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having/ V8 G' T1 O- u$ _
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China. A6 w! `0 H5 i0 [, c. d! E
daily political studies.

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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  [# K7 B# g2 p0 Z5 }
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went$ W7 @" E4 `3 k# z1 k
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,1 G" X! t$ w# S0 _, y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 H5 h0 A' x, Eanswers to our pointed questions.2 F" ^: ^' a, \, \. T# H
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 N. C" T9 a1 O( b" q. M5 _" ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 [/ m8 z& Z: L% q, \7 i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
% @3 P( J; U0 r% j5 ~6 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ V! s& J) S6 D  X8 Q" P
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: q- g9 z& k* _
medical schools.9 R2 k$ X, L/ B: [0 _
1 j3 b! k: U4 i# I' }
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 Q8 R6 d0 g$ ~% J& E7 F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 v  t, V# k8 N( ]( W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years  U# Q! s1 d4 l; A  x+ T
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
8 r( [$ ~  A3 E7 i! |9 w* |; |5 A  eis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 i/ |3 ^. ?* }4 @( ^/ d$ wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There5 q+ r' M, Z3 d3 a  [7 `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. w- z" A$ B! Q6 u1 @. O
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
  C, X& S4 ~* M7 o$ r: J5 }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ u1 {4 m5 `$ g9 O4 o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ Y! h2 }, j' ~

+ a# [: S' \$ o) J+ CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no& s7 w% F$ E& b* P+ ?0 m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! R8 _& j: s5 {1 ~8 \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: I6 Z6 s# i. ^$ m
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good" U" W/ J; P, q, \, @. @3 I/ q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' ]2 d$ T2 s  \8 z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 \. L4 ~6 w# ~( P( v/ J  [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ L6 L3 g4 u3 `+ ~5 LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
. V: @- q2 U3 Q6 ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& T5 u) g' I5 A+ d, i5 Qcharge the fee defined by the state.+ c. A. A& Z2 P( ]$ I
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. ], y3 v' J: F6 {# Q) o
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 Z: G2 d  g$ m% e6 p3 T- Mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ t3 A& q! B4 e" jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
& ^; ?# L% I: z) r+ Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 Z  W3 V3 e- k  r& l* nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( S1 k" X, t# ~1 u- Z" Y
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% {: {4 ^3 \8 J+ M+ K& h, }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people6 [. Z- V3 {$ u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 m7 c3 D% z2 I9 t  xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 ^  d+ D: n' ]6 ]( p
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' j" y$ L1 n. M' R8 R' f& f
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 x. M' S. T* n' J5 [$ x! J" r
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 z; E1 W; k& c8 j5 r0 K+ c
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( p* n  O& z* G4 w+ Z4 cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; l! D, e! J6 ], o2 l/ Y* Qown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ m5 y5 n4 H/ h8 ?40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 x" N: D/ u  i5 _. W7 ]% y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 D1 {3 j% Y7 ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
$ Y( Z* m* A8 g: snice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of+ M' u8 @* ]6 ?8 \. i& k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: a# d8 K8 J4 g, o1 G9 U7 y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 p& V& B+ i$ E' v2 o' S" ?: L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

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我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful( y0 H% g0 C* F& B$ C7 B9 X
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all* R3 {; [$ b2 Z. o
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very# I9 A" n. v8 N. L% h$ g) F
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# z+ y5 C0 b1 w" \1 b+ {% [
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
/ h/ X* @$ [- p; k/ F3 _) Ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
& @5 t; @1 A6 c4 }1 H4 kthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms3 v2 o( F1 r0 O; P$ F5 C- K
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the- B8 _" y* N  o% F, F" ]
tourist area.
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2 u: @* j1 K  g4 m2 D8 _+ [3 sOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 ~2 S. `' c1 ^% M
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).3 T, N; e3 J8 f/ I5 k
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
. h3 o4 B! N6 A3 a6 _  Beverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
' d5 ?" @) j3 zless leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba% J) Y, I7 ?; `) g* D2 u
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big5 A" X3 @+ x1 l) W8 l* F; B" L
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
- \- o; m" w+ ^* x+ x5 D8 Sembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
$ x8 k* B0 F3 E" s, k( m' m+ Q0 h/ u& g  w
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
' R  h+ x  f4 P( Y7 lparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not9 b- I4 `0 w- P9 T- Q4 E
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
3 a- j# _0 z, _( c/ x( Econvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
# g2 K% k5 y1 n* @3 ]foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
$ z1 n5 C0 Q, h: e: Q(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% n6 a. [* H1 G, n$ _
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the& W* N" \2 s1 n, s4 N2 L
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going./ ]( N: G% O* R5 {+ j7 `
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
# m" n0 _+ u, D# z* a. D( oor visitors.! z" A* v' m$ M, T( Z

! \& M8 U+ @9 A* e--  The End --

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