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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)." @7 i, [5 H. j9 T4 f+ e

; l2 q/ s0 O9 T- h& {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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; a$ l% Z) ~2 b# _3 l* Y! p8 x8 q5 V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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1 A  B# B! k# n* [4 ^2 Y! x, O( v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.
' P' p; p  Z3 _9 k% ^
% B/ Y3 r* S# X% H+ q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
) q! N; D- C# i- Xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
1 r5 y- q' `3 y- U& v  Kwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.( [! I7 I( c2 d
" h0 E. ?2 J+ n1 T, v  ]: Y
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
! |. r) ]5 F+ b9 B: X* H30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in; o: E$ @" I: {* U; V, j$ d
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as1 B7 `: Z- z0 f- W7 @! U5 l% W5 u
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
' _! j6 O$ ?% v% P( U' I1 J% f; Gshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
) ~; Q1 s" ]+ G( L' D' Fbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the6 S) e- f8 L( L" K6 X
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
1 }/ n4 n; y0 z) hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.0 p: w, N# l% T) f/ |
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but, P8 ~; j8 W5 M' Y9 p* v9 s* y7 C
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not0 W' N3 B( Z0 v" e7 o  N
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
: q# ^  j3 b, _flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through; K: b! ]) s+ U9 ?" n9 y0 H
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,2 V# S' X' ~( Q% Q3 D1 _
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool# ], z  |) B3 B% J  {
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
8 m- y8 x6 l4 N+ r% Mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
- \  _7 @' J$ Ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% s+ u7 V) d( N* e3 p# a5 ~8 h
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
+ R4 F! |1 \6 P) CCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
3 [/ O$ d+ d+ S) y( t* E' ^+ ofingers, 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& \7 V# \( ]% M& |- q# c. L" D. W
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made( R1 h& c' T( h$ ]: z& z; o- A
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
8 a; I$ S" a/ V6 t- g4 W; wtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
  {6 F) r3 U. m& N' Ta staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
  L9 S7 x" X4 h4 U4 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
0 t' e  B/ y3 X: ~! b2 T0 lstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
& m) l* N+ n1 o* \* B0 H! ^6 |3 Lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
2 e# Y/ p. i0 L+ n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 S  }; _/ d2 Canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& `$ v/ E! u9 \0 ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& d4 @" |  c$ v: l! l) }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is) c0 @3 w' W) W/ }; B: W7 j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 m" d9 f* i; B* P+ R, M% y) Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 F$ t) M0 q7 s5 qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 o# S! r5 Y( a9 e5 Y8 f2 N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, W/ K' c/ a! V8 |# s# w5 l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 L+ l7 N$ a! z0 Z6 o* @assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba% J  n& A- R- k7 ]" B
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
  ~+ U( B' P5 M) e( \, ?/ nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
# \6 v( ]$ b8 F; dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
  y- j; V- H0 ^# `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ p9 ^5 B0 \! _* L7 f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; h+ T6 i, c) \% C" o+ @- |1 Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 y( Y) b% e5 m% m8 {0 [5 q4 E

4 U: B0 h6 ~8 I4 I/ ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no( ~9 |1 E/ T( k9 \' |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: ?8 Q5 W# ~! Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 v$ [9 T- t& ^) h1 u1 [3 G$ `have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good  [2 M+ V$ v4 r
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 ?* Y& E/ x1 V3 I5 T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) O$ e5 K! U7 B* ^4 M
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 }( u0 p# D$ Y& r7 q3 K* m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When: j8 l) I9 A- O' z# _* ^# p" K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ Q' f" Y0 l0 |: L5 h  gcharge the fee defined by the state.; [6 J8 g+ H8 f- A7 [& S, A% V- j' z

! ?! r3 R6 O( u7 ~$ j9 eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. {  \0 `0 T; U, F' e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 [) ?: V3 Q0 u- ~: n! eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 Y/ Q$ S8 H. `9 N6 u, y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel9 G9 h! r* a  A& K( V5 _* q: _
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 ?7 S0 @! e; B4 U) ^4 w' Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on  |- [- C% ^! Y3 G9 X3 C( G& _
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: d8 e% Z6 l0 ^/ [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
) [2 S8 Q$ @1 v  f/ ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, o$ n& y5 s! A- Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, ?) X% ^% A8 `) y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 ]4 m, `* j8 \1 Q9 R
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ j' J- w: O1 p1 y$ S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# s8 H% C7 X# \7 C# w  K  j
are spaces.4 [. h6 t3 a7 O; ~; ?: f2 C( I; M4 f
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ c) V9 ]: X/ B6 y( B, Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. G5 |# k9 t, a+ down a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 y& w4 H& x3 f) x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% \5 J, \- b) X) P9 O3 lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 P" e3 J; G% V( x
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few- `1 U3 g. q1 R1 v; e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
, ?9 m7 u/ X0 g2 L* acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& [" \* X  c" N; J+ V/ ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' z0 q! t& g' b6 v" J 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/ e/ B0 X/ A; ~/ n3 uspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all5 V$ z5 F$ a; \6 c# J
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very1 @4 [2 G' p/ h- W# \
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep, I7 o) V5 _: z; a$ C$ Z
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& p9 I; \& U+ w/ Y5 Q+ t* M
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of( ?) r1 a9 P+ b6 t
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
  W5 a  R( I5 J- Q+ K( D3 H/ Mhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the) j3 o( ?2 ^8 ~8 M0 k: M
tourist area.; S3 i* Y; _. E# g! x2 F

2 o% G0 V2 n* {. j; POne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's5 n+ s3 X' h; z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).( N' s' g$ q+ M
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
' ^# s6 ~) p+ p& w: Zeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - O: V! l+ n6 C1 E/ @" ?8 M+ R% u( p
less leader-religious.3 G2 ]2 d5 Y  [7 ?
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
9 y: d0 W' m6 }  m" D7 zgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
7 l4 [: l! L* l% Y2 [; Mblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
) \8 C" [3 l* W% k# A1 {embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
$ }/ Q/ W, Z) p& Kparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
- X5 o% T) p0 _the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
% K6 R& i( o5 l$ @1 H5 C2 kconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
9 F1 p7 t9 U& t$ \) `foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
3 s! j% L# {. Z( ?6 f, L(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we) t" Z! `9 I9 l6 s5 H
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
! Z+ s% L2 S! y5 [' c9 p0 greal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
9 X# E6 z+ e  i9 pAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
2 Q& R; Y+ u: d# e, tor visitors.
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- I- g- @3 q# _--  The End --

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