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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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7 m% E4 A) u, ^  y* U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.
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; K6 f5 _7 s+ A  L' 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./ v  d! |" N3 `& ]4 R

* T# i# e# M( |# d0 l$ F+ b  ~1 u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. ~6 m/ s$ s  a: @# t$ i( [
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
/ i' B" g* F3 z  g2 M" J; owanted 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,
; q/ d  k1 {7 ^& J8 r3 g30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in% Z# v( O1 y- `% J' V+ f" i
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as$ i. A7 L! O; y" ]- b' d
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
" L( }8 B. f/ c1 r. w0 I: Zshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
" I( {/ k+ @% g  r& N. pbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the9 v5 P; F- {; p$ J3 f% L) g/ ?! }
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
2 K& f" N5 p, P( v4 ^+ Nwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
+ R0 Z* a+ [, @! L5 I0 ?% h  y8 ~ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( p7 {: W% R; f4 ]5 j2 q
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ Y" J# w& t& D! M% N5 s$ D& S
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our( {; [6 F. s% g) r5 D
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) g( h/ p6 v  j1 O/ C. h" K/ C
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.% B7 T6 |( P3 y
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
% S: ~2 V9 _( b  h3 Plow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
$ [% y2 x; Z7 }7 o(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
3 o4 N2 x, }8 O, F; X* X4 `of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
) S( l$ H# j1 O! n8 ~! J( Rstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
8 i7 W2 `7 T5 h0 U  k+ h49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
5 K- N5 C0 e/ _7 S. S2 ?& m& aCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
* L  X& f2 A& m& E0 Ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.5 d% T2 ]7 ]# T7 b- \5 I& ?! z

# r+ M$ r+ {9 A: C- MThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
: p4 q' @; F' o& V2 ^7 tjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
) b" y$ F; L$ @; R1 ^7 Ufor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba% I8 e+ W+ U. x2 |
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having' V" B7 t+ J8 P$ J& }3 \: P  j
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
( E* }9 b$ g0 I- Adaily 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
% z, _9 W- q4 ?5 G+ t7 x4 g  Istandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went) F2 ?) J* W) s+ j% m# L8 p
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,* x  T* `+ K' P* z" Q  F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 F& r6 Y* c. ?2 W/ Panswers to our pointed questions.; R  W* s: r3 t& F
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," W' U1 Q1 u) j3 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: o' n# N! o# Z; r
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is8 f0 F) c0 l$ @+ }' Y; X6 ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& C* |" }  r  ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) c# r4 I3 l" l, i' {* j' G0 `! Y. G
medical schools.
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3 O5 r: X/ ~  ^8 r1 _5 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* ~3 d0 b8 M0 q! Y+ sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 E, R- v/ r7 Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 w. t7 v1 B, ]7 M
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
/ \" o3 F# Y+ X! |+ y: \is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( w4 A( n6 v: R0 E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
" @3 T! u9 Q3 nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' o. V  b  F. S8 I7 O! Z  H3 |: f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( R' o  m( b8 n# ^4 ^. g5 H0 l! R" d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' S- |: n4 V% t) i
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no" q1 g  {* N) \# A5 r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ g0 C$ ~& F& L0 v; X8 a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ F4 Y1 g3 p* @& m& K- B' ihave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
9 g4 [- X: f7 X0 @thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. k3 s9 @3 I! K! w8 @+ k7 psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) ~7 v9 x! l$ J0 V; b  [2 N/ sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 G$ k; B8 G' P9 y. n; [6 pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When+ j' I" X) z& M+ b! Q( L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% ]+ a7 ~( y5 `% E2 h( gcharge the fee defined by the state.5 l# q8 g( n1 w& d
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& T8 q& m$ y) xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" O  b- u" Q. T! J8 ]$ O2 S* [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) o: R" }* A7 w- u7 q8 ]6 |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
' p" c) d5 B) e" ~( Lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" K' n; f8 K2 l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 U+ c! o) d% Q+ p: B; u& v9 Q9 g
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 C" y% F3 R8 H4 {. v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
: j- _. f! H0 O2 X5 Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; [- T; `& }- H$ W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, U- S! L% {- Y. o: |7 _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 W5 Y6 |% D. L" v& o" v" z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or% _" R3 f) c4 d5 y* f" r0 w& @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' T4 f9 {+ E9 |
are spaces.
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) D. U4 i' }& A) V* u- cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ [- W- J# Q+ `& w. Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- r# g1 }3 o' H5 A5 O1 w
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( w8 A( G' _8 h/ `+ }2 p4 ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% _: s/ g( C# l8 }2 y4 A$ W% i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 Z$ \' |9 o& n) S# k) M9 w) c& x4 N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
- v9 {2 V: I3 E! Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
' T; m5 L/ R2 l4 h; [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 T' _# @4 ~* d1 m9 g, Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ Z" Y7 x' E4 B# A, @0 `7 }
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
" m' @( U* X/ L% y# v& N6 r; Tspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all2 F! F, G1 b, G2 ^* W3 d% C
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
" C6 O; O) ^5 h1 l  n& {5 |6 vlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
# P3 K. ^$ [) K. b- g0 p1 G9 {- Nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. Z( x6 G3 F: r6 a
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
) f6 A' }+ C4 y2 B: x' t6 }them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
2 i7 b2 D7 _9 t$ d' ihave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 `6 l% [" m% @) r6 f; Y4 S  J7 m
tourist area.
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. \9 @% A* O3 i4 a- lOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 ~; |1 [8 r. u- E5 ]+ z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
) r  Y, \) i) O$ ^2 p. H1 p% ]Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 F  o- j/ i& A" P% W4 Z' d* U: ?. |
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
  K. n) Y' o# Q1 c8 D7 Z6 eless leader-religious.2 Q3 y1 @; f3 I+ p
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba. Q, M: r% ?9 k9 V7 E
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
) \7 P; Y" b* Q9 wblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
. x; w) p  R$ v; Y3 F6 wembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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8 K% C* F+ P8 |1 q5 e3 TWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
5 X, C  |4 }; T6 Uparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& ]8 v  M( d7 Y  p
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) C3 H1 Q. A- w! M. J& \7 A
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for  |5 m/ l8 j" m- p& c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
' ^7 U6 l9 Z2 W/ f& l5 K(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
0 N8 X. v" r& _& Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
& C" {' t# l8 i9 n9 Z3 r- H& dreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.6 I+ h! `- q. x# n4 z
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
( s" S4 y: ~" Y& ]7 Y/ M& Nor visitors.
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--  The End --

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