发新话题
打印

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.

TOP

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.

TOP

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).
+ ^3 B7 E3 k; F& o2 X) j7 a- n  W7 T& u5 B
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. ( p- M# c( e7 M
( B4 M/ [7 a! M/ X$ H# j
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./ p6 R; P$ h) K1 ?+ I/ ?2 _) J( d

" u; w+ E4 x5 X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.
6 o; o' o3 }" y8 c0 n, |- h' W. C* M0 s" @0 J
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.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (一)

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) C1 l0 y# R# A' ^% {! m) U
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
5 k* d- \( i( X6 g, J) j9 dwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.! y# a  [5 B0 e+ Z- [
' I( l5 A$ x4 W- W2 o; T, R
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,1 m  |' r+ _( w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in6 p' v8 G: W% n( j- x
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as" E- w4 |- e, T+ S& I
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
$ P2 ?3 w* B& N$ P5 f" `5 bshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: y+ S: E! n' ~2 V
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the1 w0 u/ j7 M: M) Z
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
+ O6 I5 f9 ?4 U% q2 ?7 }. cwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.1 Z! l0 C# `* X. @  _  a2 @
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but$ b5 l/ |3 Q" ]# d
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
( e# V+ S9 ^2 u' F0 [- Pexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our3 B4 }. W" M* K$ k0 z7 p
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
: ^' Z6 \, m8 D" |% ~4 n  }0 fa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.$ ^8 [0 S1 H1 |) P2 v/ }
! j( f: i+ a2 g, \
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,9 \; o, Z" [# V* B/ M; _1 o
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool7 Q$ U- H  o' [+ B. x
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top+ C3 O1 M) H( l- g
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
* J( o& E3 R! e2 P8 _& C& o- `8 Xstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
' w* i! b3 c5 M, k49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
, V' G2 k5 {4 ^4 XCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with1 n/ u: }2 [8 n/ ]  ]) U
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.  q% X3 ~* ?2 K) X

+ T( I9 K2 N4 ?6 ]9 G- M  o4 BThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are; P9 X% E! ]) P4 _8 |
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
* z/ P. H6 j) V; bfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba$ U) z% V# ]; B! T* Y% o
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
/ x( _$ F: Y4 l+ u  S+ {. Y5 ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China8 p" T" c, M7 W, D: o  |0 L' D
daily political studies.

TOP

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
& Y3 w0 W6 U$ R1 _; @8 ustandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
2 N* i3 _+ H7 _2 P, Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
! W1 C7 J4 c! \& w7 T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; U  B+ X# X' S5 t1 z3 lanswers to our pointed questions.
. M; D0 r, l; L8 ^" J5 L5 Q
6 |% u) ?; l1 Z1 v5 I  HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," ~/ {7 H6 O& t  V( z2 N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) D. Q- }/ w8 i5 s" {* r: U& ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is  e8 M2 P7 ^/ F2 x' ?+ ]; w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; G8 F  V- @" s. M1 A: N9 Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# D* o9 I0 {( C0 |5 U# g% U7 Y1 Emedical schools.6 g% s6 q& c/ ~3 E
3 m8 L: Y. X% V
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 G# C9 E7 D9 T# N9 Z) ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* f* A) Z4 Q" R+ X& ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" s) K9 v) ~3 _2 B6 w
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba" n0 C0 e. E9 M& B: N
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( g; y/ a. C: p" u
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
, V# v, I" G0 P' b- cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ a' G" O; o) L- m( C$ g+ K0 t) l5 J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 W1 N* `: k5 L0 N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' a% U1 f8 m1 Q& {1 o. D. Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 Q+ N. c. _. a2 l

( R# R' `$ B, j1 c0 j( jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no/ a( e/ W  y8 u& `0 F1 o
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- `- x  n. j$ F; t) y4 |supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ W% `. B2 l$ s4 i+ m
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good9 H# I9 b' v) o- I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& U* f; q1 @/ dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' d% D& z1 g  h4 F% Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' d& @3 T2 w8 O  Q" o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When! @) e9 L$ N' \$ ^/ S* V( T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: t9 o2 x( E7 p% pcharge the fee defined by the state./ \; B* S, u! c- \
6 y- h) Y0 l3 l1 p
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! N$ G/ l6 N& G! |% C7 z( l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- K1 ^2 t. R1 e5 m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% @( i+ _! Z, ?0 wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel7 x  \/ M& k; K* Z* L# ?
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! d9 d5 ?5 L3 P$ m8 h2 K2 }8 {5 ^
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* [8 C6 U, T% _% q7 l
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ c/ r- t4 f( V. \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people1 |5 x* D9 x9 D
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 m9 f; I) q3 nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! C( |& Q1 j+ l1 Cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% V; f/ u/ ]+ k1 q' T) n
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ p) K0 Z4 v$ Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! S9 O& [! Q/ B% e* f! \
are spaces." b. g6 @- v+ A* o6 T/ ]2 p
8 D* o. X3 u) W
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 `' e# P) V( t% J3 Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. @6 E8 `& W7 |8 B
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 [3 ?4 E7 F9 l7 ~8 f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 J% m/ M4 @$ S% s5 _, a( `4 q0 n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 |  q6 P" D. c2 o0 s( X3 z! K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
5 g! f& B" w1 A. o' o: Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
5 z2 ~" S, _+ j/ f2 v. _car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 m' k1 A$ x6 {6 M) P# O( U; S& f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 V4 {  w1 _. P1 Y* z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
# ]. V1 |% F  e) Nspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
+ P4 _/ \3 G9 ]* N8 z: ~the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very2 T: W6 o' S& n' x- Q0 a7 L' E0 g
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep* X; X; X" V- {) V
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" Z( t/ _3 U$ L/ z" Y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of0 M5 P5 v- L- \8 j7 A6 m7 h
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms$ R% Q6 k" L: S0 F4 i
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
" R' k' e, s1 t/ ?5 }+ E7 k1 y- i* Rtourist area., `1 y+ C6 n9 @8 Y
2 m! b3 a% W* F! e2 p* ~
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's  E& B$ p* O* @; G- _- `. n# v
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. }. w4 d! |- F. t0 ~
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
9 r! H7 R  Y/ T3 I- m5 k7 `* k8 |everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
) T( V# f" S- W  ]. N( Iless leader-religious.
! ~. P0 L& d" w* |6 C" u
9 r- K3 F$ ]1 D9 DAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
. ?; t, H: l; J+ s8 Y6 ~9 qgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
) C" Q; ?' h7 u7 r; [1 G6 J# Oblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
9 w4 C. c) j' f$ C$ j1 z% Lembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
$ Z, c6 v, R! Z. K5 |1 p
2 ~' V0 @8 O( y* G+ L4 a3 k1 _1 sWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
; K. O5 o9 p1 W+ q0 c- v& U' zparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
" a7 |6 V2 B6 i5 G- p; C7 u: T# fthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1& J$ n  y$ H9 k. s( b
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 P3 D( u' v6 y4 j4 W1 v$ I2 r
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
2 x, F+ `! T% t9 Q/ r(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% M$ h+ ?/ F/ n
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the1 T6 Q# M% Q* z# Z
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
' h. O0 y( \0 C  Q% }- T( G! GAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local% e4 J) f# @5 h6 U8 P4 Q
or visitors.& p+ C# ]+ z# s! G/ x

( X0 X) r( l9 c+ g--  The End --

TOP

发新话题