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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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- [1 {1 x; W1 v+ [# K/ H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.4 W% f/ x5 T, ~' J

7 U1 }3 k0 a) ?! s! X- e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+ a; {) v: R% c/ k) k
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we6 A! Q7 k" b$ Z8 V+ b$ D/ u
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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0 g' X  g$ P9 E* m; s- \It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
( I2 d1 N0 G& U. Y# p* ~8 \: ~30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
8 t$ a& u! q, W: Z5 ]% s  Ea very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* K& Z* o' ~+ m' o( z! B/ I6 ?% e- W6 ?
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
# _- T0 R7 M: I* [show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
/ B" p% r: [" y- k# Ibetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
" D$ \7 j/ Z7 vlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
4 e7 L% n$ s; ]) Nwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.! G( t/ F0 j, B( j; T+ q: J; H* ~
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
! T! h! m) b8 [) [+ Jnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not) I9 i! ~- K$ G' |
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
6 c) Z& |2 x5 L1 ]) O2 S! @: cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' t/ B; M! t; R, @. X+ d& h6 R. r- c
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.4 u# B6 W# ?* o/ F7 }
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
  p; L/ W0 ^/ `low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
( f2 q; }! B+ p" T3 g) N(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 o# b, m& V$ t" L5 m& M
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the" ^2 P% N8 X, a1 r/ ]# Q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
3 g) ~& C: c: @5 |49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
, x6 B7 F- J+ M+ r+ D( R: fCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
* p" ^* ^3 Y" `( i  m/ _fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
, h/ i/ A' F+ e3 @just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made* _8 t. v: q9 M3 M  {0 P  ^( g1 A
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
; J: L" V& u9 d1 D* T8 ntourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
) w4 n+ K, g5 ?/ S  C- Ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
6 P) c0 e7 g9 O6 Jdaily 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
: a0 R+ Z' i5 g/ Gstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went. r4 U% Z  F/ J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
( s4 B) C9 b8 e: z6 i" d"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( Q; [3 Y5 z" L2 Q; o4 w& I9 g& canswers to our pointed questions.. `* M+ o; @  T( ]9 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 I7 k" P$ u0 R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 P2 h& ^: F- J; a3 A5 Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
( {' G- S# F& k! hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams  ?- O( E1 p" b0 B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* f" n/ o+ V; ?! i& d
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 n1 E5 B: D2 v1 q7 a  y+ a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 n+ q6 t/ R! tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 j" `: L4 j2 g( d! g
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba, @8 v( K" L$ b% l' S3 J, M
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 s- H5 @5 j) Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There. y4 e+ {! b1 g& Q: X2 H9 J4 o
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 ^! k5 Z7 s5 `8 l6 f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 }1 Q6 Y! q+ F2 m# k' b, ~$ D' m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 Y, x: i, R9 K) h5 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ W# Y1 w7 H3 y/ W! p1 H' ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
3 ]$ E6 S4 t# B8 ]# Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 U$ Q& n" C3 S; n+ R9 D/ V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 d- ?! ~1 t: |5 w# |have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good: N, }1 L, r+ a! G' o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ ~$ M3 X9 ^2 B3 @5 a* a* usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 G! t. p( V" \0 D" r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ {& i% q8 g( i& P
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When0 Y8 X- p/ S: c$ i$ H
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; i4 e' z" q; lcharge the fee defined by the state./ R8 g+ x7 f- J" J% Q

, Y* d  ~* T" }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 A6 f9 H! C- E% G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" {$ r6 k+ G6 {- `. k6 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& o5 }( c3 m0 H$ c  J( q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel- o) x$ X& e- O( ~6 y2 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 e7 A- ]0 j! d) Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 P  L, E$ I6 `7 s4 x5 _7 I) \7 pschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" t9 }4 p- X$ Z# L8 Z4 m. J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
  b- M+ C9 D! Q8 h- [6 ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' k' R9 z  M; k* e  Z; H- f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 m- x% V! f' L! q* kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' z+ i6 L. t$ }
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 O* v% f, J. ^" K$ w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 Z4 H3 @+ [, I/ d- E" _7 Hare spaces.* v6 M' u4 n* K; |0 U

2 E5 L' Y0 l9 \' v# a9 S+ bThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ D! _( f0 ~# ~" I$ t) M! H
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% x+ l0 M+ V- m+ H* W; L
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 }' @' E1 k( y! }3 p4 O: ?( \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, O3 i7 G0 o5 N0 ^3 @parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. }" d  t. t& Q; lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
4 m6 J! i0 k% @6 C# `nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
8 @* y8 V8 M1 wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& W; _% `, \( _( g5 I2 h% f: U  iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' _. i$ w% T/ p! s
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 beautiful5 I0 g9 l8 q" s0 a
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
! O9 `8 `9 p! H& D( K; R5 k2 ?: Uthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
' N( R5 M& F' I1 b2 |* G9 s+ @limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
' r+ r# f! X8 _% b5 E1 `# [6 h  z" k+ orecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
! h. f5 K4 ~! dsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
, O& a) x; T6 S0 M$ kthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
2 J' \) L# `6 Jhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
6 ~2 m1 P: G+ }% k7 B! Ptourist area./ C/ l* ~% t! d" S/ E* F9 t" k
/ x8 i2 N" [6 g! R& {' w' m6 ~- e0 K
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
* x  }" W8 \$ m- Bpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).+ T% M1 |# ?$ ~. w7 J
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were1 m) W+ v- G6 Y+ ?
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 L/ {; T+ W& o+ H: p
less leader-religious.4 S( D% \* `. r  F3 s
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba  Z5 ?* M: b0 ^2 F
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big9 v2 v& X( }- D2 m
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
0 C, [% C, a$ bembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)., I' I$ p! m: O+ g6 f* E! o

0 m& t+ H6 T! c3 ]) XWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
0 ]2 ]5 Q9 X7 v: Q1 b9 Uparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& r' A. T1 g1 w1 w* i
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
6 I$ Y8 h$ L- {3 k& M( t3 W' j2 ~convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for! I. j+ G2 X+ b) U9 b8 n  X+ A5 k  Z' b7 ~
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
/ Q% O; u& G) p% p7 f0 U8 ?(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we9 M# r/ L' [+ h) ]* S% o
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the* {; z' M- M% P) P; H/ a  W; s
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.* H" b" ]5 i$ \
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
7 f/ s  }* p1 y6 t' W" ?or visitors.
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' w+ g/ |" n) i9 U' P; g" i9 M* i--  The End --

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