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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).$ N0 B1 d6 y8 [) T/ R' ^9 V% j

+ n$ A7 O+ }- B% h" t+ s, e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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5 ~$ S. ?/ c( l3 ~; q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.5 E: W# a6 @8 u, X! v
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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.
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* g- x5 T( O4 I7 ]2 \% z8 n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 very5 Q4 ?5 R& i: K. ^' Y5 l0 ~
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
1 V! u: d+ K3 B( N# m# K+ ewanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
' F. o7 q+ A- `" |  \* F4 ]7 c) E+ L7 ]  }6 K0 c; W4 d$ J
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
" w2 D) s( K" F0 V  P7 U! Q30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
: T4 W" s( I1 s2 W4 [a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
7 X0 k. g! f( \5 wpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" Q* h7 b" L! d$ _
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ X% h  P# H6 z$ b5 ?7 T* ~4 O1 C
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
9 ^, H9 r& n* o$ Z/ K- n! R6 ?lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
. \6 Q5 B4 ~( z1 {7 Zwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.  i/ x! w2 @6 D/ R* A
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but; B' u! l3 u0 r2 [1 h- L# |
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
7 F3 L0 @7 l8 _. T) l) E# jexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our4 b0 [  e' k) l
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 v4 i, I7 U9 c. r# ~3 K' `3 s
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
3 j* n5 z6 \9 V7 c& Flow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool& c9 b% L7 P. n5 D1 @
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 i, M7 C/ S- z# V1 N4 k) c
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the% s/ a+ ?- ]3 E7 l; z+ B5 C
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* z; h4 f0 u- N6 i$ W
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes3 Q/ r; B0 u! Q7 U) O
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, \9 R' u2 k( [! X' J
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.; j- \( i8 K! j: h% O

( @& X. i- P) _; |8 v+ [The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
/ f& |6 \/ k* y' Q# S# C: Xjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
8 l# y; _% ]0 Z! F3 X# D' rfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
# w, J' P6 E  \6 l9 x6 dtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
- l" R3 b6 {) p) s5 P! ?0 Da staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China( M3 h% r8 s" P
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
0 s& |8 C/ n/ r4 ?3 ]2 B: rstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
' Z/ q3 _  V& o6 V/ L( \9 N5 |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,! Q/ @$ W) H/ _( h: t0 d! h5 B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 H- }  f) _  d0 R: E% F1 w0 N. k+ l3 g
answers to our pointed questions.! c! q6 @) H! `

: I# B, ~1 m" nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 K( h# m' r' x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ S, i! X1 Q& U+ pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is0 r' \. Q6 M6 r7 r: l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 P/ H) @% }) j) Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 k! q' ]( [4 U7 B7 i) R! gmedical schools.
7 c/ E. D$ @) I4 f8 {$ i* Z1 F; \) a7 Q7 ^8 m! Q! \8 T
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% ]" f( P8 R1 l7 Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. h+ R" p; g/ x: h" Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% [% C4 W, S5 N' \
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
& F% P+ F3 Y0 u8 h' T" J7 Z- tis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ n3 Y0 e$ C: s; q; B: Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There3 X" C/ H. |* T% R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, m& T% r4 {# e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 f3 X0 {9 x# }- z" V( ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! h- W; @- Q& s" P& Z3 F" c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 L$ O3 h6 l" l& l+ K( r

" Y8 [+ G  {! N9 o2 a& GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no$ p4 @. `* |2 F# {& b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' f8 Z1 V, p- H! Z( ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. v: ?2 N1 e9 \# ?: e# uhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good6 L0 b/ R3 b0 d4 |; i  Z0 a; r2 l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. Q: N- N* ]; c3 B4 [  z5 K9 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' n* {, c9 A( y* @1 k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* L& v# d8 m: e% aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
  w' U; Z" K/ p0 u! C4 za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* G: b) \. w9 E+ o: W1 O* R/ i
charge the fee defined by the state., d: Z0 k+ t* G3 A/ g& z. G
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 I5 r0 G0 t8 Q3 L0 ?+ ~5 [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 F) G9 ]4 H% e3 B7 pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' {1 P. |" E, W& J# Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel+ h1 G4 E/ m! M/ _/ T+ X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; j. K0 v3 R% ^( e3 w' V$ `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ O# W: q9 p8 V
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* m9 \: s$ t9 V  Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
/ N; l1 t% S" Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 N9 N. m/ p$ @! d! `8 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) g. _5 q( A  |& t" ?  [, d  o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 k0 p7 a- f$ \# @8 }6 T0 Eto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or% a0 [0 c, O* o; F) R! N6 c* N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 K8 [3 I7 L8 w9 Dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi  z! j) P: G; Z) b% I( r3 q' l
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* C4 M4 I3 x; P* L( y$ g* v9 Q
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ t7 `+ s7 N6 _' W7 |! v& N$ _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 W9 E) f3 S$ u3 S$ `' }3 _3 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 g. q9 [2 Y9 E: Y' b% F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
! j$ ~! E3 ]- m6 knice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
5 u/ R4 U' E, ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' J% ^3 K+ E6 x1 {% J8 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! V" G$ A; [3 {8 M6 o) | 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
3 V  F, ]) P6 w- E1 g% F3 u3 P/ gspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
3 K- r- ^0 A7 j# i# X; ]0 S' Xthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
0 A7 h; Y3 Q0 H+ R5 F& n$ ^limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
2 c9 p2 O0 L; `0 ?recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
' U7 @9 h3 `  t$ D9 q( O" i% o( Nsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
1 G6 m* C, V4 O1 }+ ethem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. c( a- }2 b6 R
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" J: U; m: E, ^9 Q* s- s
tourist area., J" N$ x4 ?- p
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
+ q7 h, N4 T6 @" a7 {, Q# G  ]  Apictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
3 U! U; n6 ~0 r1 {6 ^7 Z, ^( R6 {Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
! M' j& w5 l  M9 Zeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 O( X# r# Y, W+ V1 y& t# |
less leader-religious.( O* E% E0 M+ H  ?

8 u) h, ^+ n. h0 h8 x9 uAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
/ p: Q. T3 R7 {government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
8 f, g; w9 ^9 ^  D' B; k& F, ]' hblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US; M. E* a/ v9 M- q" [; h& I
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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: \3 E* E% B& `4 B5 I9 a% uWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
; v8 m, L! F5 G$ j% Nparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not+ z3 ^, }# x* @% s6 O$ I6 l# g* i
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $18 ^& U9 _! `5 L6 |, B: Q" b
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
. K" {) f: G7 Pforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars' t# s& H6 C% d
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
7 G) v9 D1 F* c6 E! l0 d$ {probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
5 A0 x# {) G& f. L$ P8 D" Dreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
3 a; Y- c" S! d. B$ \/ q' NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
! G6 W& q9 U. lor visitors.
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--  The End --

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