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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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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.& @9 C# E$ d1 }2 R

' L' y$ b- p" S" W5 U8 g4 W# k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.: Z* p% o" [/ B! P+ g1 R4 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
7 I$ Y3 r# l% linteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 G2 H) Y4 a  n8 ?3 n+ g' ]) I
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# e& h" t0 i3 k$ Z
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in' _( H% \2 t' b* o
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as/ b" }7 C+ h8 t* b: k
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort; j( D& f9 o, C
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep! N. z. A' L9 w( C
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
  r# u( a, ?) j! F2 [lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,5 b( [. j: w$ O8 m& j
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.* K9 y% `/ z* M  n
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
: ^! H, \2 g  V* z0 Z  Jnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not. e  u: F8 a0 W) {& b) P2 [
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
; G- L1 T- N4 k/ z! Gflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- N% X, n, W3 p
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.4 R3 t" t' S$ O$ D% p0 H2 ~( s

9 s& b3 e4 y  S9 \- ^The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,2 e; R' M4 m1 y- H, Y
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
' w. W  a' \' ^8 {* S/ K7 H& G5 n( }$ c8 d(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
& e- _8 \9 Y. n- L5 Pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
' n* \! {, U  z# ^& _# g7 n' ?stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from2 J, M: v. B& w2 G) W
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes+ U* y: [" n6 I! d
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with2 A/ f. `- B" U: p$ b/ F
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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& e6 F. k1 m) T) c7 q4 f4 W* `The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are2 I* C* J7 n6 v. k: `4 G% D6 F
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
# P1 b, c( e! Vfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba# W, J: Q2 }8 w+ z1 ^& I) p. T
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having) J8 o# B5 Q1 u. y) j8 c( o
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
. Q) v4 |, h- w* t! y' \" bdaily 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
+ `6 N% C- J' j# P3 T' Istandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went* h& U$ [6 i7 O9 X" A# ^7 S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,: t5 {1 G3 j2 l4 h
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ ?3 }+ b! h1 B8 @, q* q2 xanswers to our pointed questions.2 Q% K! h5 s% d" I1 x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' u6 E4 m4 g, r! K2 B, \1 @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# x+ T% k7 r) N, `/ v0 C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is  m! p$ [" h: s, ], @% R; D1 b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 I3 V) b1 ?7 S3 Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& V9 a9 f: t+ ~3 |9 B4 D6 j7 v
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! n; I+ q* r) w; E$ t9 Z# U+ s9 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 _& r! r3 ?- i5 f" Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ W! [+ G) S, z4 t0 Rassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba0 b' e0 \- P0 Q1 w1 G
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. T* C( ~4 T$ c; }/ lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There. k1 ]3 g$ d. `+ \, T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 {0 z# ^# N8 r; a2 W$ Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* D6 z* K* E7 z7 M, ^$ I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- }1 a2 H, d  g# {4 ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no- `. {& f3 |: n" R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and  \5 {% L, Z' \; @' {8 z) d$ x" p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 |" U4 B3 w2 h; h: ?& zhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
# _  P! B* j$ B( [8 g/ y% q8 Z) xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 r4 ]  {8 K$ Y, p/ c! xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. i* z% I9 C1 {: [* B; O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 @1 Y9 X: A$ Q: X& }; A5 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
/ }8 _% D! i2 D2 q% ^. K0 pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) I& n# e4 L$ J& Q5 X
charge the fee defined by the state./ Y/ y' T; D5 @* N) _

: X" t2 y7 ?* B1 n$ eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 m1 n6 w/ x8 K2 {' q& i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" Q: O! @2 ]* L! r: l( N' P- a: U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* F& s' u$ H- y3 _: t2 v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
$ D& f8 C3 t% O) Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 w' I+ ?7 _& k& N* t+ ^: E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, N/ y! U$ U0 L8 l3 j0 Bschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' D1 |" S4 S& a/ m9 G6 R: A4 v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people2 P$ K3 y* P- M, c+ t6 u+ _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ J( _6 e& y) S& Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% }7 W  p. }# e5 {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 u7 ]) H8 ]; d/ q  Cto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 D' r- o& o; M1 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 y- b+ w" L; g/ E0 q7 B, u( ^are spaces., P8 l# j- |/ X5 t- W
/ O% F6 ]; c$ G4 g
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, i3 Q' j( O+ i) c2 U2 v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 v( l, J9 o. n' w2 N. g+ nown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, f: q* m7 f, ~8 ]; v5 S  S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 D7 i# Y  H" I9 U& uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( F& x( Z% u, {* t$ v8 g9 D$ n! _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few' h9 X: i4 a3 ]- S5 Q- Z; ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
5 X" x: u* `+ X) g& ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ ~" f! E8 O' ]$ Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- k) l$ W4 ]) c* |6 }9 L! z
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/ s- p& y4 ^* ]4 ^8 |- f6 D4 N, d
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all0 U' M+ c  y1 W3 q/ ~& `
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very$ H! a9 ]$ m9 T8 r7 a8 k3 |
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep0 A7 X! ?' l0 E; M2 l8 s6 M% y2 x' ]
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day% b1 J6 V1 f- R3 f' @! D$ G9 n* y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
: O0 ~6 H. u& [4 M& F' n: q/ n; ~them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms' n" e" |* I1 K. g5 h/ r
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
; _" X6 {- x1 J6 ^% Btourist area.
  {2 ]( |3 u5 x# i
% h' X; X' Q3 I- A8 hOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
1 ?4 S4 {0 @3 j% H2 r2 E# zpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).8 p* [; ?- C4 r
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
( }' f; }: m9 ]5 C, t. Peverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + K7 a7 I9 K0 {4 s: {0 g
less leader-religious.3 L% m4 B& t; g- l, Q4 c+ L. u

  O! a3 |& d1 D( ~0 Q3 y; _/ lAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
% M+ U9 q% d3 Q. q& agovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big2 a) {9 `# R, @- t+ s$ m( b3 Y* i
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US3 W; p8 m4 A+ l( Z
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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0 v# @$ m4 S5 w  q! VWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
1 h9 c  F" f- _( C% Iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not  o9 w7 S8 t& V: N: A+ A' V
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
! _0 @8 J! ~( y( F4 jconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for9 x5 k; P) l( b, y5 V& }' ^9 H
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
3 b0 G6 L2 K( n3 [* K* i(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! l9 o; {% G: \! b
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ b9 z$ b& @6 q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
" _* Q4 D6 O  o9 e9 d. VAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' G# F8 d( r9 R6 [8 e1 v1 L
or visitors.
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+ A/ K$ o2 q; w1 b( g; e8 ?--  The End --

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