freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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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, ?: j& c% J2 d/ b) c8 g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. 7 _$ m8 r/ a1 ~7 }! Z6 E

8 n% n- Y3 P; J7 _6 d0 X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." ~! J, q5 u7 |$ e2 h* s/ T
! H; a4 y: g/ Z
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.3 K3 ^! Q" x) N/ L" R

6 s9 A/ g0 a6 f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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very$ i  n9 y" V  x
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we1 [) G8 `# ~8 X3 }0 J8 o
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
9 ]! P3 V1 t$ q. J( Y' I- @  r2 q6 }5 G5 V$ _
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,* p# k* |, N3 z* R/ p& `5 x
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
, y* m0 f- P+ l, t) I$ ?. z! X( Ya very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as- [+ F% ]) ]1 C1 m& [8 e5 a
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
3 {, g8 t  j; Z7 I+ y0 |' J/ R- oshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep$ e4 |5 c; D2 I) ^, Z
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
* z4 Z% l- S5 j$ @* flobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,) t/ l1 Q. B/ u
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
: K. G, u. |: l$ b People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
' B7 Z: w9 Y. a7 h! p" k( onames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not4 K; v* e0 j7 ~: |1 _  `/ r4 v
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our% ?9 y" x+ S. |4 x/ T' D% y* U0 m
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
& g0 s, l0 ?% j- h; p( C. Da roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.1 i, r9 x$ C. u+ v, G1 L* K" W

, q/ ^2 K7 h- `8 e5 {1 O$ pThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,( j. ^) H* e. u2 }
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool" D# G) w6 G6 Y0 Z* c" [
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
- [/ l# @4 T7 Gof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
: d5 C0 c, @9 astars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
! b- D, L; a' R2 Q0 u49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
& A9 {5 Z) O: W6 JCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with9 E- L( R* m. f0 Y4 i+ Z
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.* L7 ^) f7 S0 i5 p4 r
; Z( n! J, h2 t, u1 O
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are4 F8 M3 ^9 Y$ K0 F
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
7 ~) a4 a1 W8 _6 rfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" @* g' ]5 D' g' Y9 N: X* _3 R; P
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
% I( @/ k+ L+ H% s2 g  T& Ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China& G5 l' Z4 u) n$ u" C1 v
daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living! L  Q5 J: x8 ~4 D* o( S
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
6 ]4 K. U( y! C$ v2 ?+ h' Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
' u1 ]* P8 U5 J" ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: `2 F* s, F9 Q* k) _answers to our pointed questions.
3 g: e7 G4 `" J1 [5 k
- N7 Y- \3 D) NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' h1 y  w6 T8 h7 H& F; V( f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 m+ i9 p6 m* I8 W  R$ pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
' Q; A/ t* X5 xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
  m3 M$ m) F& }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ z* _% g1 U4 mmedical schools.) W$ c6 T& @# Y2 U  n) Y
0 K+ f6 d$ j  w* a* }; l3 ~
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ W* @" o$ n/ Y) lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 b" y1 F! `, i9 r! ^, Q3 Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ f" U( N) _; \5 i* ?  H1 }8 @
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
9 ^% u2 |6 |/ T% {/ F/ l0 F! p2 xis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 E: C; F7 S0 j5 t5 r" _8 z& ~
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
. [8 j  l5 V% Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& o# i4 N3 r9 y. U8 D* @6 e$ [! L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 s/ u1 ^3 K/ z, L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 K2 Y' Q, G' n  j' q7 G  u  P0 Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 B+ c. A( G' ~9 v* Y0 K) G& g

! f7 \' |) w4 K- IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no7 P. T' w4 a; g: g& [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" q# Y1 b+ ~* h  t
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ l- U- }( F1 R$ X; ]% Uhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good$ H  F4 I; S, c/ L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; K: D6 Q& w. Z- i7 R' y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 T6 N% K- \7 @4 f8 {+ C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; z' B; W4 r, U+ ^# m9 z. u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
0 k+ J3 `8 K% H& V0 Q1 J. R7 fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! |4 T( |/ A4 U* o: ~$ scharge the fee defined by the state.. K  v% w* b* _1 G0 J8 L
) C  y7 i; C1 X; Y: _; s8 ?8 ?; O
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. @4 h" @/ o7 |/ G0 L0 A
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. D: b. j8 x8 l4 ]: S
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% d4 h, V/ ]: g6 }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel( _3 e/ t$ j, H. _- ]) u! K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 j" q; T, b6 U2 \working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 q* S; a0 r1 S7 H/ ]
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ l( X5 S- J1 M" V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
. P) r$ D7 o8 ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 M+ P# _8 Y/ G! w3 Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 R0 j; l+ I" s: s0 O% m! @8 Dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& a# y: D9 r, f+ Bto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( q: K! p# y4 m; B5 A2 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: `+ h9 y3 I) z& n/ F2 lare spaces.
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* Z, k$ [( u# @- ^& A5 P& VThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, c: J& z: s+ l& `8 yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% Y. O7 @$ U# wown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' R6 K7 G0 \. H! q: P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) ?- L" r, C+ Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) @, B, c5 w- I3 e$ f/ `+ d; K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
" w5 R3 e7 ?" M1 X$ w3 V* vnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
- y* K2 r3 |; a- c# m2 Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 \6 n5 L1 D7 Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! u  j. v; R' L" ]+ o" {" g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful1 t( e8 H* u& Z- R' p
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
) T9 }& w$ _5 Z. ]4 Mthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very8 ?, R/ k& g+ C6 B) w
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
( z7 d9 ~& ]8 A% N" B* m$ Srecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& u# p$ a2 E# f2 ^3 ^/ m; @# s
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
5 ~: S, }+ {7 othem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms7 R) J4 T# G/ _3 C/ _
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
" V5 N% O/ E2 u$ s* Ntourist area.8 y- @$ r0 b: t7 o& j$ p1 a
) q" G  e9 H4 N7 I
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's# @- n/ B, V7 d+ x) G
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
, B5 {( M  x( [3 g: x9 X8 PCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were. k. L8 j/ q( @3 O7 C+ f  h
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
8 Z  v2 q, U# |- B: Dless leader-religious.
4 A( c" T' s. }2 C7 B/ J
! t7 d% O) U9 N2 C6 U+ yAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba0 Q3 }4 K2 M4 R0 D, U
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big$ `; Y( y/ q0 O4 p2 [: S. V
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
1 f9 ~$ `: a: @& z" a+ ]" e8 Hembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
+ v, u* O* S" G' ?# O, C7 m% v' `8 A; a( U4 J" H: `
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
/ a& R" Z5 @" |- r( j! k* jparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
. c) v* }: s6 `) cthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
. _) e# V" N- |0 }& P- mconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
1 @( a! i" G1 Z' Rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars$ s. M# z* }2 D: ?
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
0 o" M+ b: t2 _9 s& d9 ]probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
5 F7 T4 a7 n( z0 t6 {. i, lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
/ c, x! i% I3 b- R( F9 |  S2 PAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
( m8 i0 i; L1 O- [  ]or visitors./ y# V+ L0 u8 t- t3 Z" f
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--  The End --