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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. 7 q8 H' p( u+ Q2 [) A3 D: A

4 m3 F5 N3 H& L, s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.! I) |: k+ N" t1 e  j$ J

( Y- n7 d4 z' @: 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.
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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  @; K8 q, J" e: L- u
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we& u6 {2 e; y' L
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 A' Z8 m+ N1 x5 I7 r
; |& y4 u5 D' T7 b
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
, N' r. k. F5 c( w+ {30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in6 Q( C, {  h+ A8 p7 V1 b6 t& R2 J
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
" e+ M5 `9 ~4 N! U% s8 K  opossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort: P% g' P& ]# {: C
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
& q; p+ S( d, Y- y6 A# Fbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
1 m6 `# V0 I& b- R  S2 f+ n9 qlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
7 S. ^1 E5 \* hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
% X1 Y+ u$ a' }" b% E People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but% t3 t4 O* H/ |- h+ h0 g% J( W
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
6 l- ?2 Q3 B4 ?4 Y2 }9 dexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
6 N6 R5 x1 C1 u' h8 H: N. zflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
" e: ?: @- x& J9 J5 ?1 la roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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1 s* Z& n$ |- X- |9 N) ^5 UThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
" |; ]+ y; i4 _low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! j% i3 r& A  t% m- i
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top# S/ G: F9 B+ ?
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the0 F+ h0 W! {  m
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
3 G/ S# [# N9 }49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
3 d" d' W& f7 K- f8 ]6 B6 `7 Q5 ^Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with& D- g" }  `' D0 r- Y2 z+ k
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
" A* \$ {. q7 L, b' ~4 T9 ]! U& K* X7 K5 L% b7 Q  G
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
% S+ S/ W- O7 n* Wjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made* P% I6 W, s7 n4 z
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba- c/ i7 v; o! c4 Z
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having, N  [! q& ^' j% H1 [5 @; Y" r* ^
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
' _* \7 a' q/ D7 Ydaily 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
9 S! ]) W! g0 V( E1 hstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
) W. L, z  v6 V7 q$ uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,& o# i$ i) B+ q" H( W4 ?) i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, E6 F/ ?* F- j* x& ~: z) v
answers to our pointed questions.( S" p+ f5 F* [% X- s0 {  D! {
1 v1 j) N$ [/ C. G% {
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 V: D8 |! }% z! J: J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% K" d/ {  K8 ?4 R; L1 C8 x% l
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
4 {6 ?) O# n9 j  i2 Y+ u6 P$ Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 U& ^% D# h) l$ R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" S# b* u5 _  V3 [( u
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* v' s! c, y; J% F4 J2 p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; j! Z# \( ?( P0 ~; N( Mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. p" u" q& q7 c2 F" i
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
" s, |9 ^6 v+ K, U2 W$ Jis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% w8 |5 H# K" M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There4 i- B' U  c5 Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: p& d( d; G1 W* Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, f0 d0 g" \- M0 w% `  Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ D4 L0 W5 ~* O; w( m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# D9 a. Y+ f7 R9 b: J# S

- z5 N7 N8 C1 J7 ]$ n4 \; Y- b  X& tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
7 m! V. @& I) W8 f3 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ x0 \( v$ O! c1 Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( n+ @$ T7 q7 l* fhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
" q& B' D- z8 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 O6 F$ F( ?) a: v- esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) S4 m8 g6 f, A# c# i# M  b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; {1 e6 s" `$ K8 m6 v7 s* a: ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
5 b1 N3 m7 l" K6 \8 j1 la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ a, _5 l7 d: ]" i" c0 vcharge the fee defined by the state.' f/ |% i! N5 V7 b. S% e: S

6 }' J& D- F" m: N0 f2 DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, C; u- V1 E0 e* h3 Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 R+ M% M- L# T/ c5 M; @' N8 f* |
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; U2 P  x/ l. V, T9 ]/ xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
  u/ n3 y$ f- `5 Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' j0 M3 N5 c3 g4 C0 Q0 O
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 _6 a# U% X+ D1 R1 d
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; E$ s; s3 X7 ?7 i( V) u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
' l6 v2 R! O8 n8 v& z0 Q& z. jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: }3 p7 F  V* y- C5 }, T/ F4 h& y9 xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ N. U% w8 U2 ]: j1 upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want  S- L4 M! i3 m" [# M' b
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ [+ Q9 J' t9 Q* P  J& m. Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; r% G) n' I! y* {  C  w
are spaces.
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# r6 Z; Y8 e& K6 ]  S2 @7 F- W' cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, q  Z6 l% n! A. s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" B3 _- h& M. P. R
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' H: O3 u9 W) N5 n% r0 H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' F/ D2 ]5 Y8 H# |- k/ L* C
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 f  K) @9 Q, ]; P2 W$ ~) j( n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few" h4 W$ U0 a& J: g  x" G4 h; |9 Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of5 X. j( M) T) c4 _9 m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; v' X% M5 \2 Q* x8 k+ X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ M( F! c4 }$ |2 c
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 beautiful0 F2 p" D% H! D
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
# n5 g5 p% \' A0 }' T1 S- lthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
. ~/ }: }: \  z5 G2 W, ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
0 C2 E& `5 u6 l# brecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
. I, H( @1 {2 V8 c4 J( psupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
; A1 I1 P: y( u) [* athem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms+ D: d/ Z& t* \- n
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
+ b* l( J, {, S& _* Z& I7 e+ ^* ]tourist area.
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/ D, ]2 b( `1 t3 [8 KOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
0 x6 c9 B' ?) n  F2 T  T- Opictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).3 B" S' ~. G9 X+ `+ E
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
( K! u% u; f% F/ z4 z/ f& Jeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
: }5 T7 u( g/ }8 _5 F- }less leader-religious.
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1 Q+ u. M2 b2 LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
. v3 O0 q4 n6 E& x$ Q; Ggovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
$ O: w4 X5 f8 G( w: D( R$ Pblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US0 A7 X  _( A) s  i5 `
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).9 g8 E0 B; h0 ?

5 a0 F/ s) w  _' }) FWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the: f/ h9 k: ]! U
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
  j7 j9 \+ G7 R, K. [the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1' ^. t% d2 _4 H- M
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for4 `+ q) d4 A, n" L
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
8 ?* j: p9 b( f1 o6 M$ |(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
* Y1 @) X/ N+ p1 Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the, }; f% c& S2 L; _& D0 m% O
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
% `: H: i1 p1 g7 [& B$ W+ L9 ^- b8 nAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local6 D9 N' q& b7 o8 Q$ I7 @4 a  K( u9 q
or visitors., ]% K0 y9 B# V8 E8 ^+ A* h

  [0 p, \$ L1 \2 l5 ?( @--  The End --

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