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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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  l3 E( L( O- `/ B/ M# ~. {8 ~/ n0 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.4 G) N( N4 m& [+ M9 ^* k6 B; [
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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) q2 k9 H$ H! ~6 o5 k" O
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) A, |8 i9 T8 C1 W6 m* o" h) H/ P8 `
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.! o( V! Z' e6 y- L
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ p, g2 Y: _5 ?* e# u8 y
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in: k* @3 Q& l2 r/ F2 S" F/ r
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
! a$ j( v" F: X, lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
2 h5 ]( u9 @3 \* w) Tshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
8 B( `; \* i4 }! E+ Hbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the/ N2 z, F+ N! b, ~; `
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,' }: o! F* Y5 K" j6 ~
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.3 b& r; _9 l5 N8 Z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
# _6 W; b6 x/ E! M7 Xnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not! C" j3 z( e) f3 h, r+ l
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our) D. T( r; m# ~) n8 p
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through4 R" H. J% r. b$ i5 v0 I% g2 s
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
6 S$ ^3 O! r2 [low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool: S% x1 m9 x$ k) z7 r
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top$ m9 W' x/ r; p) s
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the3 {4 {* q. N# [* g
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
# ~; s8 J9 m9 P2 e0 e. D3 }8 h49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
, ^% K0 Q9 e) ?/ e. A8 O7 G, S: yCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
6 t( y! @8 m$ }3 {5 Qfingers, 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
: Y9 E$ t' f" f) t$ h3 a% zjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made6 `/ |; k% O; z# w% P2 W5 b+ `
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba+ F: M- F! t7 f) r) j% U
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
" h: |0 c0 k: Q& p( r- Ga staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China% ?" a  ~* `+ k3 \5 c- p$ Z
daily 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
# m: n+ z7 P9 pstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
5 N0 ]7 E: R! E0 B9 X. s$ don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,, A5 @6 r5 l- @8 r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give  `9 \3 i6 J: s( m8 y6 o2 N
answers to our pointed questions., g+ h4 ^- K; a$ A" l% {0 o" J

% a8 {' Z! L, B, {/ P/ a' I8 kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- x% _7 K) _1 v; v: J! k- P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! I( J# F( s4 Q& @3 N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
4 B# v' `/ k6 }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. X% B# c! P0 U  Z1 R7 L# _5 W; \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) e6 }* l' k' q0 D! b' G+ e% [medical schools.
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  y) o3 U- E  T  ]8 B) N& r! `: qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* O# i2 W& {% D7 J) t- l# c
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: c* \  z; P" h4 E- k8 [% [! ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 C4 W% L& M' [' S) p1 X  M
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba- u8 C; i3 C9 g2 Y8 s
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* G& Q5 X- h5 Y  k, C+ @5 F/ D& xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There" p; G" f* F1 T0 R% K$ t! N
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ W: ^* a1 Q" a% p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* ?" \2 i/ C! l" ~- u6 Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 n  h( l/ V3 T' J3 O# S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% w/ h5 E2 q- ~5 Y9 C" ?" vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no6 p, b6 h) x! E) I8 }3 F; i. U+ `
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 E$ Q8 L/ T1 ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 b( X3 n/ b& g* x7 u2 R' r( ghave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
2 U' E0 e0 t) Q8 }. Z5 c9 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) s5 Z  Q( i9 a) C9 U+ Ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 E' U* ]5 L" F% }% M. ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 g# ?0 \. Y8 G% nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
; r* _, p8 c, d  [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& c9 r! F3 \# |: Tcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- e- S! g4 a' I% Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 g# A# }7 o( S
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 L5 [% a) r) ]. U2 _2 o4 vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel! F% X/ W( Y1 S1 u: ~- d" T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 D! x( t8 g& B# r1 Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( K7 z- w0 k5 d3 F% b* a# Uschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- S% G- O" o2 G; K9 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
8 ~; g' x7 E1 r; ?" Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" C; L: i  @7 a9 S+ W" m5 ~hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ d6 i/ L/ e$ T! L: @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! o, ~5 `& n( K7 T. ?) Hto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( o/ P$ R! R. ]: H; rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# ~% a/ T  W" Y8 |
are spaces.
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9 e8 a, d6 ]# W0 ~5 AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 `7 B8 T8 {: `) X: V8 u
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 X% |( V4 m1 B; z
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 j0 b; R3 b8 {7 v7 l7 {& C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 [% f1 |0 v% }# s, |3 I/ |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 c) s: v! b* v" K" W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few( V0 r5 i. G" V% A4 S! R
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of8 m6 F- z; V) q3 _6 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! v6 K+ F, O$ zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 u" V  B2 ]$ W- J1 D
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
0 `& u! v( ]7 Z, v* mspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
# E6 F/ z% ^" ^8 kthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
& z# d- o4 {5 M' @, X2 q' blimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 {+ o6 j& e3 v. V+ |
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
+ Q  o1 L% L4 osupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
( K$ j8 w* f. F1 d- D) Mthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
9 P# d7 ?" t. O2 `0 _have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
7 ?- ]: f/ P. R. v6 ?tourist area.: Q! O0 F/ B' P6 T
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
* A( s" Q$ N+ i  l/ J9 u8 W$ cpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).: l4 b& Z- u! |/ m, u  R
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were' I6 l) K* [6 D% H# A- a
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
% u. o- g" m& p3 ^& w$ m$ yless leader-religious.8 d" m! q* h( z- O+ O
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
4 l  L- e5 ?; J8 N7 b6 ugovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
" X, g3 Y3 t0 j" d9 q+ cblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
3 W5 o2 _0 p+ p* _embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).9 e9 o5 k0 Q% D! j6 |$ `/ c+ t& K

* M( U6 A/ l) n; {" x1 OWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the8 }  z4 |* J( L) L
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not9 G% K. t1 p* _: k' l1 q+ t
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
4 H5 ?' v. w' }* D1 ~2 V' a: ]* e3 _convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for) }+ g1 D% }# [; ]1 w& c! ~0 h
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- J: g# l. C, U+ U" l6 p
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
* N2 g* l2 N/ Y$ Y; y# Xprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 t. F$ p. K/ \) w
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 ]6 A. Z" G" @
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local* H$ y# p' x0 J4 c/ k: N
or visitors.; M; ^! J. i8 A. O

) X8 K; Q+ W3 T4 v--  The End --

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