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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).$ h' a& t, m& P0 C9 J1 T# {5 d
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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. - d# q* `3 K8 x* |

  G2 ^7 j) _% Z' U* v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., Q3 d3 A9 Q6 r) I* j/ D

' ?" D9 n) _; e/ R( i$ ]2 B# }  ~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 {. R) S) C9 p$ H2 Z

$ w/ e6 }5 i( m# i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
5 y3 C# ]! x. q: ^' w6 Z- v' C2 ^interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we* O8 a( F0 J" m/ k, I  L+ `1 t3 U
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.4 P6 {+ y, h: b' T1 ^8 P
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,) e% S/ G* ]4 d! Z9 x
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
4 \1 _, b/ N- @  Q  ua very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
' S0 @" _  D* {3 d; \0 Ipossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
$ T( H3 O2 ^9 [! {" Tshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
4 S5 _& c% G7 |' v& [; L7 cbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
! F# X6 F0 i0 i4 p: _6 Y+ llobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
% j' ^, F& T$ e' p$ n% vwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.- r, s& a3 A9 s
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
6 j" M' P( }4 i* ~- t3 k5 xnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not2 [2 p4 d' ]. W9 C- R
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our8 {4 d7 n1 i# `* N1 x
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
4 Z8 c) o* n1 fa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.3 Q; g9 n# v. x7 ?+ R& w+ T
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* K3 ]* {* }) T+ |) j
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool' w, P9 S" ^2 O0 ?* e) ]; a
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top1 q: b; D6 M+ D6 _' E5 J9 R, N- ^
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the/ n! j" R2 \' v4 z7 F9 R  ^5 [
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from, K" m/ z. l8 {# [4 ?
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
' ~$ G$ O4 i* O) }Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with8 P9 M( ^0 A8 L: [' S- {
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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8 c+ X- n, s7 O- F/ I" z$ ^The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, J- ~  f0 ~' X# v0 @
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
  ?  Y1 V, M& ]* o! C8 o6 \' lfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( U# }! v2 [% `5 \
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having+ l- n" Y- v2 h% y
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
, T- f4 E: z$ T7 M% `: v& mdaily 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/ u6 b* ~9 T4 F) x$ G
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went- o2 g* ?3 Q8 o* z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
$ j* O3 S. y& a6 _"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# U" o  f! ^+ J& e7 E) Oanswers to our pointed questions.
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- A0 U/ |8 I$ I# eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ X2 q# l4 M8 P. @5 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: F& v  s- v# c/ p2 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
6 T7 C' U5 ?; hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 s* [2 D8 {) y/ ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" A0 V% l9 f# Zmedical schools.
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: i* I6 Q, |  Z* Z$ T/ t  \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 F4 ^: x% p" T( H. b. Q# o* Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( x. e8 L# v! Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 N7 {, ]( o% \
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
' c, e- x/ q; mis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! g& d5 \/ U' @: e# [" I  uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
( c2 M7 A) R, w. i) b1 V; Z2 fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 y$ a! K0 `2 A& a3 [& C  hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ Q. Y9 M5 w" L% s  ^) sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 b! S; W) N; T" Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no- K9 M+ P& {! ~+ t- ]7 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* }% y& N' m/ M. U9 h  [. P4 m5 zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 H# p/ x5 K+ O
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
8 l4 I1 N! ?1 u( I3 `5 q! m! U& ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# X- {- ]! q4 h" _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 }$ J, ~! L/ O9 w- _  v$ ~1 k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: t" x) X% z2 p! x! N  B1 Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When) _9 m5 x% z' K/ _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, {' U3 y6 q& Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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. O% E1 g$ y# K& y3 V! H/ NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 g; i2 X, |' @4 ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
  B3 A% ]+ ]* z& p! ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" A; L  d) O# g, t6 I' S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel. A' T. d  Q; S0 @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" H/ S& X7 s5 N5 w' \: E9 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# i4 e, G& i- c4 I9 T9 s. Aschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 e9 C) B' Y1 i5 Lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
( L3 {" ]( p, H' P/ o5 Q3 @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; L" j7 Y& ^+ {! E. B& rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 ~) w) J/ I* M+ ?/ x8 Cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 e9 w3 q" p& m  Z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or  y0 y6 G+ Q" J1 E5 N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 U3 x( k$ b, r" l/ E3 B
are spaces.5 r/ i3 X5 A! s/ C' c
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# X. \2 Q, e% x  F+ i+ e4 xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: _" ?8 L- i" f0 zown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# T2 j" D& y& @) m8 O: `8 d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 P9 ]% M" C  n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. E+ S( X5 n( u- E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few! s" f4 h: |% w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of# p) n2 Z* k9 \. {2 E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% v, U/ I3 s# i# G/ k1 a! Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- X+ `4 H8 N8 e# m
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
, y. I1 h$ Q: Q' P- ^9 R4 cspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all2 H7 |8 @- V9 i
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
# a5 z- u' J$ w/ A; h. Xlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep" }) H3 ^$ X  H! T# K6 I5 R: B/ M
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day+ F" \' t4 H" \3 E( B# Y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
/ H/ v) k' x( d* Jthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms9 h( Y% P$ Y3 o3 p
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# w/ H$ ^7 s8 @! T/ g/ I# W
tourist area.
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( C3 `5 z# j* U8 t8 Y# MOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; R# \: ?1 {3 O' C/ j
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
. ]1 ~# k$ j+ j  {9 JCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
& O7 {: T. G" j# ^8 ~everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps . z. E0 F, }8 ^
less leader-religious.
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% X6 r- L8 c. u, v& s, g' h: T" A! w, uAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba4 d/ Z# L" e1 ^$ w0 D/ O
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big, Y5 d4 P0 y. I# ]0 K4 Y
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
2 R7 V  K( ]: C# _embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." z4 ?% i: w1 `  r7 U

8 H" L9 G" ?: v' vWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the6 h+ \2 O4 u- I- M, R( @
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not# {* f2 B8 e* O
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1, v- @9 p, J" Q+ ^
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for7 p# E- P; J) V! o
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars/ P! W1 X/ V/ y: }
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we& [) H; C% b& q+ Z
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the" U/ Z, Q0 w- R; g
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
# ^! D8 J1 s9 v: W. S) N4 Y: p* q! TAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local  @9 |" \9 [% C0 H4 P8 o5 ]% q
or visitors.2 b" \- i8 K! V% L$ o1 D/ F& I; [% \
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--  The End --

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