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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).: A+ j: _) [9 t) H% }

2 A* J7 b# L' i% c% \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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. e6 B' i% _/ R/ \# U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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  R) v% w$ w5 x; u! d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.' E" p' C* q1 `) W/ l! K
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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
% }. V8 k! D7 n. y4 Qinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
( `/ ~. ]! t. b: f" k7 c8 Kwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
( S; R0 K7 M0 e4 O( {1 B# V
) J( X( \. z/ B9 d2 G3 W  X' FIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 ^3 a* n9 {+ |! ?! g3 `
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
% ^& @2 a4 l; @# _a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
+ [& H- V' T& T1 I: ~# f+ |possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort2 s! E( w1 d' @9 N
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep% h0 ]: x. C4 P0 w2 g- U! p
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the' n6 b) R: H- k! `) a' l
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% |- H* ]6 u. z, S& A) p* h2 c$ \+ P
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." t# W$ g  ?" H; e; i
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
' B0 w) u- D& ?3 W, enames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
& O, f9 }5 a5 y, q7 F$ p6 bexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our# l/ s7 x8 i2 ^5 P4 u7 G9 Y
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through6 g8 P- D1 A  M- D
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
+ k# w8 h- @" N( n1 p' [- d! c
$ r8 H3 l; ^! EThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
9 T1 R( f& S/ ~: ^; t+ m2 Zlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
' T7 {2 X, O+ K9 x(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 t! Q% E7 m( m( S* M% V
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the7 w# T& d! u! n, w3 z. }
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from0 g7 b; O5 r$ y# j0 y
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes  R/ v& k$ t- r  c3 _
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with5 \4 r& C' ]  b) O1 ?
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.4 `6 j0 l- U2 o' e2 |
! U2 ^, e! c( }" T9 S: o/ K/ q
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 N* I0 x: o2 t) G  O. g
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made' W' ^9 q; O; D
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
; k/ L2 _. `- V4 r  m- L& Xtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having% G# U+ R3 V4 A
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
! x( i% |( J  A2 ^% A  Jdaily 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
% \- l; V9 ~4 mstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went3 L) w+ Y) f/ z0 ?# Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
9 c3 H* d! _& s' c6 r; U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 ?: Y( S" M" j7 A+ X
answers to our pointed questions.
3 j) D' R. M3 y" N; ^0 ~' S4 s9 k. z- @; Q3 w/ Q0 s: D, S3 C& l
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 Y) a% @9 p7 P* f5 ]. T, |7 y1 l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" E! S  q& [5 Z' g  C! R) Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is" {3 N3 Y4 g6 s' E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: [# X2 A. y3 g7 W* Q- c; b% ~' gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 Y) L; ?) u  k- a6 w7 p+ Q6 o) y7 imedical schools.
  V4 m' N0 M/ {) c4 o/ o5 \$ o% X$ d3 e, ?
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 r+ o: }2 s& F  Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' |+ O3 k, m  r( a+ A. ~0 d* yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 u5 ^+ i6 {1 l3 z
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
9 x6 m3 o+ m7 Q$ C0 t& j; {is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' o- ?! F- @6 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There8 }6 ?  e8 \/ }' h3 |; P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 U3 [8 b- j9 a$ E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; {) e2 O# ~0 l4 b6 w. yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 P9 h4 `# {2 d5 z' \+ h& e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! q% d8 n' I! Q& T' ?7 X3 F
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no0 D# D4 ~% ]5 \' }6 c( j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& |! S; w1 ^* H8 D6 p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 ?6 w+ _3 m( K
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good3 C  Q' Q; T" N  D( |& k+ J$ `
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ e' P# w8 ]9 m9 Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 Y9 e( R( H/ K1 F. w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ A- g) f" c$ f! V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When8 f* _# x  ~. z/ g; h  m9 Y! r8 h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% N. d: `' a% D% F; g+ dcharge the fee defined by the state.1 w3 l, s5 ~% Q$ I  R# n
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 H! M5 E3 l8 N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 ~. J) F3 {/ D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* M  \8 y" L6 F5 G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel/ s9 ?4 ]2 P5 ~3 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! q2 [% y- v5 Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: @+ q! K1 ^3 `
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! _& b: d& R5 u: x9 c  b/ s( l- Y8 v0 Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people" c1 l" f& M% R$ T" `
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ v; b4 g) J9 w- c. @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 a3 E3 U7 ?: ^, y: Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 w: B& [! A1 }* Q$ s  hto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or. Z4 o7 W  c% \$ Q0 e& z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 g8 V% D- \9 R% C1 z4 G: J4 ]1 S# zare spaces./ r2 O0 ]1 E& s1 F6 Z& X

3 ^, J8 y% Y0 s8 |% t3 r9 IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 G" u, k7 S' ~$ F) L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 b! ]2 |: N  z$ U
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 I7 ~$ d" S* Y7 c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ z& x4 w; Q" @; w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; a' {5 S9 A6 w  O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
! V8 E# @% ~$ z, F' T+ G) ]& fnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
% T* \$ r) i8 Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& v- a* K2 J/ b: G8 O# L6 E$ b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 u2 W# {% j( G
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
. Q* N$ F4 m2 `: t# Y: s+ Xspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
; t. M* J. p5 ^4 [the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very) M" t+ F2 z6 T: V$ h
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep& o/ N5 t/ l$ w
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day6 j6 P3 \/ v8 x+ ~* q( a' l
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
" P% u! B+ h2 j, A! athem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms, s% s# n4 |' C2 S* U% d
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
0 ^6 U2 K& q" P7 N1 b: ptourist area., k" \- l6 b4 G) ?
9 p- T+ l* ^3 T0 r6 u0 X- ]
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
$ b0 I$ B1 X2 z& c' o) x% L2 Epictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).6 x' @! m) ?3 J* a3 j2 {  J2 ~
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were. i) [1 w$ J# `5 r2 W
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 _' Y$ N  r# _& k& `/ l
less leader-religious.) w6 r: F9 f1 n4 f, H; b

! Y$ T/ T; c2 Z* Z3 ^- PAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
/ V0 J9 B0 ]& I5 o$ ogovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
& ^5 y& n' \1 M8 {black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US* Z" S2 u( i) i' U6 d) D
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
% y* \9 K5 f% x; j: X) e, z* D% D! s7 D, O& ~
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
; H/ Y, m. F. L  Iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 _# \! g9 h" A0 X0 k( O
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
5 d/ F! [7 z7 }2 W* m& Yconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
, C, r! H1 a  Gforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
$ ]! }2 D2 A: [(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
. c" w) ?1 c7 r7 b* f1 u% Y/ Cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
% E( U$ i6 z6 s. S5 {$ Lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
. X. z6 t' h( Q8 zAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: j% n* P4 T8 K6 r% x
or visitors./ d. k6 [* W" G
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--  The End --

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