freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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).
, {+ m+ ~9 M' N: _- S5 t; K
" E$ x1 e7 R/ {( c% @* S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. # _! e9 U7 Q# k  a! @. u
- W5 g8 @% E  \: M8 }0 s2 \
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.: @+ D7 r, Y1 H* e2 H+ z( U

5 q0 `& w$ T- F! b" M+ W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.! g  g1 Q3 Z' a" F
, s: A4 k- M6 f3 {
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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) ^! f: `: e8 e$ G1 e. K
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
  `/ m$ M4 ?' p% o2 ^- Ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.! R* }3 \4 u5 S& {) u1 A  Q
/ L, ^9 t% C4 ~& R- h
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
, d1 ?0 V/ O' Z/ E% {, S$ f/ c30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
; X4 B2 [0 ?* \" H2 sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as; N! z; X) N6 }& X, t
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort( O" A! i, l1 g4 F: ]* n7 _
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep% [3 v$ w, x0 H1 j! f: h8 Z' ^
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
5 d) d3 s/ `; Globby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,6 b0 o9 s" T) e4 r4 t) o
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.% [1 y8 s3 c& y. {8 m, q
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! M4 n$ l1 |/ O( a' Z" j: x$ T
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
, \1 z, ~8 I8 M0 K  Q, I4 E/ Aexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our4 L, o7 G  e6 O8 k% w
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
) [7 Z3 W* {& `6 B9 E5 x: E8 na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.: S2 x5 C- V- L1 V

9 v' @/ G/ f, {' w8 S4 HThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ n, L1 K' T" @  T' @7 o3 b. L" N
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
" @& i2 \& ~) `/ j1 Z' s: `(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top; h  C' i3 c! P% E
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the  X2 Z' s. I2 p8 q0 Q8 E, a& N
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from. Q" j7 w/ b( [
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes$ D" b, v' O  Z9 f5 v
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with' c1 t- f0 J0 P* q; p) ]4 k) ]
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
6 h9 N, B! j- G! Q& m. w( f( I. E! `1 ?: _2 i8 j  g  e
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& }3 S+ u, C/ I3 p- g7 h
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# b* G7 v9 S- t7 y$ {8 m
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba. W! `- |0 S8 @( ^, a& q
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
/ T, B4 |) K# ]. ?& o/ Z* La staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
) _$ q  [/ z8 l! ~5 o, [daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
- O3 h% x9 C% D+ |  Kstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went4 D+ A6 t7 B/ D" c& K: q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,. y* N6 L5 r! G, X2 G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ z% w" @2 a6 r. K, q! i# ?1 }0 o: Aanswers to our pointed questions.& f% L6 q$ ~& Y" D5 N
1 T1 t0 o+ D6 ~( V
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) Y% Z5 x+ A& b5 ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; j' W9 h# m% X; L! Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
! y6 M/ P) A  \) ?3 I% [; nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% |$ r# M2 y- ~* U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ f# f' m2 y1 s/ a) B- F
medical schools.* h3 G/ C4 n; I8 G

+ d% j# v0 u4 c! D" n; EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, a! k. P, X% w9 O7 ~2 @+ u- X0 I# @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 [4 y- V! G' U1 Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 ]* ~1 Y! \# qassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba# S0 f- p& L5 [
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% q% E; X2 h9 e: `5 T* l0 c
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There( j  T" ^  l8 A: q8 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 s4 _6 {+ }! d0 Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk  u+ }- z2 Q1 m- ?1 m; X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 i$ I7 g4 [6 L' k. [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
' ]: r" E+ z( K- x
, H+ k: t3 m$ T; ~4 N6 H. @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no" {- f3 W+ o, G& E+ X* c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; U' G4 }3 [7 B$ a% |! g+ M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: R( f/ X0 C9 Ihave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
* d$ g& }2 |' `2 l! V' [8 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: t) _0 i' l/ q( ^. L5 lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% Z+ d+ b$ u9 Y* T+ G4 Z; ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 ]" Y9 g5 Z: o9 W! R1 q2 j3 rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When# Y: Q/ e$ n: w' v& \& K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 g6 B- d2 z  Q; j* i* gcharge the fee defined by the state.
, u7 X% A- V4 \& O& _* @5 [- f
9 e0 E( S& A! D7 x9 O) S0 ]4 S) UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 ^/ J# x# s, M5 e9 k* ]( yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# Z7 t) |: B# V/ z, g: Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' x6 Y0 w( G/ l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
. K; Q4 Y' z, ~* }! j( vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 P9 m8 j% D* S+ d) A/ jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ l1 Y8 n" w% c2 Q& uschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ X4 m! z. R+ \+ n5 E+ E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
, \8 {& c! i$ etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 h, N( ^! M4 o7 R+ F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ z% H  _  a& Q" t" g0 a  H# Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 x4 h1 x) X8 z- W+ @, Jto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or  Y' I6 r$ L" d' v0 R( ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, E( X! a; i$ M8 Y3 |- P4 w/ D
are spaces.: b+ s3 R/ W) g3 k8 H' R- X0 ?

- t# E& x0 W" U- T! l; p! PThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# _! l! X' d8 J8 ?" X( w/ n) Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# f5 p& ?$ s+ M5 [% w2 _1 n( |own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 `+ ~. y* g( M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 ^( t: O1 B$ J  e2 W$ Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ S4 t3 b! F0 S$ r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few- L0 F! k  l5 w4 f
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
% Z- O( p5 @7 }& zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- T! M/ T# X, J) v+ G* S, l. G' F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 G$ B$ J: u% Q! ^, z- Q7 E8 ^& h' ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
. `: h2 x5 F+ d( q( m: V5 Mspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
1 u! Y( a% |2 v+ z0 Bthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very: e/ @5 [4 Z: X: O5 _; n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep' S5 u. Z! K$ Z% g
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. v, |1 z0 `% E& F& r! F9 |
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* v- ^+ e1 a: o1 z* i# g! a
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
. d# S5 L5 n& i3 Z7 w3 g0 Fhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the2 f4 H& k- `! s% `- i
tourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
+ R' e4 v3 ^8 W0 vpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
8 F3 \, m9 K3 ?3 s6 ]4 w9 rCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 q$ a2 U9 V% b( k' i
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & c; X7 q  q. M; Q, Q
less leader-religious.
# e) ~. I7 r6 |. k& N, c1 o4 s# T; }  b
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& F/ [& f/ s$ F) v
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
+ Q: }& }. Y& B: m$ A' mblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
8 f" Z7 d) }1 q- l; U8 j8 Kembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 w2 s" {  r: i8 {2 s" f

! X; t  y) X2 p/ D; {We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
8 H$ T& o: {! m0 zparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
' ]8 Z; m! u2 ]9 @the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
! N; G* k/ d0 c* k3 Dconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for7 ^2 C" G- N$ m+ \5 ^* O
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 b; f: L; s% Y+ R7 a% S' @
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we, d+ s8 v( g2 b: O- |7 o
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
: [8 W1 A( d- q1 l9 D2 \4 a, Breal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going./ j1 ?8 j: o  G& W! S( d1 P
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: k# \4 \5 D  ~1 G
or visitors.& N0 ^% N0 Y7 N- m

# \: d) h% X5 w9 }6 c" T--  The End --