发新话题
打印

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.

TOP

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.

TOP

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).
% U! k' D' r9 [: l& G0 D  Q* [, J+ \4 T1 z" z9 `/ `
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.
( K% O  }) y- O$ a4 _% V- N7 g# k. {. G# _4 O/ Q0 N2 u7 d
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.
; D. i1 C1 `( w" J( I/ X2 x
, ]6 q. _+ x% \5 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.  ]( e1 H( X7 n* n
0 e! l) D: B- s5 O
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.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (一)

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very: g1 E  _" _; T' `2 W+ v
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
. G# P, e& o* f/ k8 p1 H8 swanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
6 W! D! P* }) w3 {
5 r1 V% m% ^$ }1 {It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
& r6 X3 @2 P% x6 G) k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in* r3 K. {3 {# T( p/ Z( ]" o+ h
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# o% q6 O' _' A, l# x5 i  s
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 N& j2 a( }6 e# x1 m. m* i
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
  u  E3 c4 S4 N0 ]1 d5 W; Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
: C' N7 K: \+ V5 v2 Qlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
% ?, i- o% P; m3 G. d' V3 P, T5 ?with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.$ {: r0 [4 o( Y* V& x2 k) V- r
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
3 C# C% t4 E# `3 ~" w( dnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
; {* r5 P4 R: S0 Qexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
* s0 R" r7 O2 j2 A* j$ Xflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
9 r6 r. Z7 t0 t& q5 s6 |a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
4 R+ ^' d& @5 S, T& ?' p0 Y+ n" p# y4 V1 \
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
. e! |: I3 A3 c0 o- I  `8 _low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool, A# Z  c: L6 C# B
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
. l) W9 V/ X7 f% Gof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the' ^+ _+ e6 s4 G  ]2 ~: u7 c
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ H/ k: U: @; G, ^
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
3 O9 @4 d. o' j2 n# R2 n8 F; SCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 M# h! p- q8 ?7 U. c! Y& |
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
# i+ h) d& x- B+ p, P# H9 [4 L; \. v9 O+ u
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' f) [% [2 q3 k: R. M$ u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 F  X8 f3 b# d. K' b
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
+ @' A3 v0 }. M+ d0 `tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having7 V+ H* s, m6 O0 F
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
; B  W& P6 V) J6 qdaily political studies.

TOP

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. f9 D5 U+ j, f2 F4 B4 i0 q
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
$ I+ J$ F/ F& B! `8 Y: q6 ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
7 n. p6 Y! p6 k8 S+ X  r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 u6 W3 S$ ]/ `8 C5 [8 V) banswers to our pointed questions.
7 \+ _# _) N; b, H
& {* e2 g5 m5 R1 q9 Y$ A  HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% i$ W6 [0 @8 L) k" r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) @" l7 h+ h+ B% n* v; ]: V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is: J9 s( ?4 S. j; G1 ]- N: l4 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! u; H6 f( i" [# Q" Z, g% y$ Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 g# ]4 }  |/ X6 C' Emedical schools.
5 d' }8 s3 _% I) i" w& N" e$ u& c( i' T0 a( p
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ }. P: P( X- A, r# S4 a0 |/ ^' ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( X: I: d6 l/ Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# q; U: y9 B+ q+ d' [assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba. M# N& }( e, ^' e* _# Q
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% x5 C. c: k) V( X) b( bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
2 n* v; b$ E! Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* B: P3 D# l! ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- i0 j) F. {$ P: }# K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ s; n% G4 F- d3 j% I; T# fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
( D' I8 G! ~/ F( P, S( _% A" P4 r2 u$ I8 q% i/ t3 H& D" U
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
1 B/ g2 b% j. L7 i" {! r6 ?" Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, X+ c6 z# z8 E: h" G3 Gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! N( X& z, \9 }8 i5 B
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good7 v/ f1 s; l, F, W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 L1 M6 ^1 ~( B# A4 y$ i( @/ i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 R8 R5 v6 Z- ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 Y0 K+ K6 l5 a5 c# T
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
- U8 A& `4 I* d4 i* \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 t' k! E7 o$ J( L/ Z
charge the fee defined by the state.& K! s. t  O$ J6 g% J+ ]& Q
  j. K& k2 h# \; o  o  C
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. B8 O6 A, R4 j) kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 ?) Z2 Q8 T& K4 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& M% X0 }. e9 ~, ?2 b1 _/ htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
- b) X% \, F2 C) pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 J# I7 ], Y0 Y! T! iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" D. P+ P+ y; j  ~, w
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! \; r: Z- z2 f/ x  S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
# i/ c: u( P* a* d  Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! _, J2 A7 e# g# e$ W1 |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* ~: |% {) I. }+ m! g! i3 e) N% Hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) p# v2 p& d, }4 s2 j$ t5 h7 C! C
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or# [; p% f5 I5 z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 P) A6 {" T/ D) s2 r$ o
are spaces., r5 {: y: Z2 q) T$ E

" i8 q7 F* o2 t+ t: H2 ~, T. CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 z( v; j. s; B( D7 H1 E* Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* x  _& m' t2 Iown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! C% E2 B6 r& Y2 h  q0 j/ w! H/ K* Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 J5 L; p7 s9 b5 o6 I+ k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! I+ ^: h" F$ ^4 e. Q1 N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few/ \- q. @! P2 _% `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
- T' \3 w2 G9 B- s; U7 Z  `; Qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* h( H* ^, f( o. Kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 u9 x6 l+ u% l! }0 O% p4 o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
, a- c) |8 a2 r# s: E1 y0 u, ?spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all7 [- v! I2 H9 N8 P0 E
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very& e8 D: l+ k$ G* a4 q* |
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep$ f" e: J! H6 s3 E, C4 i
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, T* ?9 q) |3 W/ g- X3 x
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ I( p7 x9 V7 ?  L$ Z' f# `
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
" v( P8 M0 c8 g) Dhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the/ Z8 s, u% F, K8 V& ^. W: Z
tourist area.
6 x4 V7 t! w( b4 v2 t4 x+ Z) Y9 L; B) k
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 r4 n; j, V- e! K. T$ T
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).0 }5 O6 U- L! F5 r0 n
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
! F: k& X1 g6 ~& D4 Heverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 2 H4 l$ i1 i, _" C) o
less leader-religious.
( O2 k* h$ m2 u1 A' q, q1 W0 N. O% f/ G8 K& D; W6 x8 w
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 a% G4 v( ]9 @2 T3 `; r/ z8 h" ]; T
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big- c3 j" K# U' ~& F% t) f
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US& R+ ]' D* ]' ~9 k% I+ a* i
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
, o. M7 M2 u, |' `" H! Q: Q8 x! }3 {! D/ v# K. X! m
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the* g9 P2 }3 R5 O3 }( p  h5 @
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 y6 Z3 S: [4 V  q; `: _! K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1# D2 _- O: a% O$ |# K: ~& x+ M7 [3 e
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" v, E6 Y% q  j. I% D3 X2 r, F9 w/ X
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
9 s4 \# E4 K; q) x! @(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we; y4 ], J$ l3 }! t
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
, g' _7 _( y# M& Y& C- |real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.9 t  L: w. c# S: H3 u7 \4 @. b# }* V; e
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
$ [5 B- A' ?. y3 P/ u; _0 w  Wor visitors.
( W! q+ J* [7 h1 F3 m& i) ]
' O$ R8 U. |* k# V& H--  The End --

TOP

发新话题