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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).' b- b$ {& R) n
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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. 5 V) e! P: ~* _

$ H3 e4 j! y6 t2 @2 J  Y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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5 y- R* S  j5 M/ Z6 c: R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.
9 W: P% Q) e- v
- W# \8 r& F6 H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* \9 `/ c+ U3 Q4 F: W7 e
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 G: b* `8 B9 C! F! U- k* h
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
# J$ P. {* w4 q$ x) S* w$ d  `) c* m
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
, R& L. C& {; U- f! e* b30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
# K9 }+ t- q* {* _3 Xa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
2 Y; S  e% U" C# E! Tpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort. y& q. O7 W) W3 }
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
6 ^- d# G2 a$ O; O7 a; t+ i9 Jbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the( R/ Q. ?9 R! N! w
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
2 o* r5 [- o6 q) W( V8 e  ?with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.. E8 y. v. P2 u! W* `
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
& ]: }, X- I( ^; b4 [3 Z5 rnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not9 d- f) C& X; p& ]
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our/ I; J$ f) \7 o- x  i4 C* x
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through; f9 B3 R' P; Z1 B8 ~3 M* d" ?
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.4 B' S5 t- N& }# c0 Q6 V

1 c0 A& {& V7 E& \5 M0 X* l) DThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
& D  E2 _( l% k3 v% `/ Flow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
9 T2 L8 q! |: O  i0 g6 y(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
+ I% Z9 m( s+ G3 ]2 w% D2 T) m4 Tof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
& S/ V8 a. r' r0 t6 S1 Gstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
& Z2 L& D$ h# P( `8 c& ~49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
2 D" |, ?6 S' K2 U- xCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
7 a1 ~# U' B# k5 V$ Lfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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! ?" m  k" R3 r4 l% \4 T! c6 {The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ O$ }/ T  y8 A% J
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made) Z$ R% F1 c/ _6 W/ N( ^. z
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba0 K  r. K% o2 ^& C
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having' o% J( q; Q1 f9 N/ s1 h
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- r# D5 p% u' U. X# O
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
# v' M9 b: V. G' [$ a0 ostandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
& F0 m5 h0 a+ R; k4 L# Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
# H7 j" ~8 Y( E3 u! X1 `"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* A$ r4 H1 ?& C, |0 m, X( m+ L
answers to our pointed questions.
4 W# j! Z, C& i2 ^$ [$ I( p5 O; Y! l9 O4 Q0 M% U3 H
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ x$ D" g( [* Q# c. P# h8 x. n) u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. Z8 x+ n7 n$ l# _6 D' U1 I1 m5 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
* s- q8 G( l! `' }- F' m2 Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 G# s& |4 q2 R4 Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" W( b( W  o7 f1 f2 G& Ymedical schools.6 G, W$ }6 r( n! s& ]! z
) a# ~$ P3 a4 T" Y+ m
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 w; r/ ?$ H8 }% w3 p5 Z% U( r% I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* f7 T) k0 H$ ^' R5 B0 O" i
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 I( L4 l% z0 L
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
  {2 N; T5 G$ ]2 Ais from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. Y& `$ R0 L8 Y+ ]- n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There+ a3 h) \; e, v( ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 \# v- E+ }$ P' e- ^" I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk  i; o: Z- ]! @5 F, V
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 n" @* g! A  R2 m! I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
" E- s- L! J1 Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 W8 u( C/ l0 u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' R0 c7 v  ?& z/ S
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good* c( y4 A( o. |5 ~8 H1 L% I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) n$ I! E( _. X9 R7 W' }" jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; a+ H, j& V3 I, t+ ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 m8 L: _* g0 c% g( R4 ?' [6 ]& jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
4 u9 C2 b0 y8 O! q! V+ _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 \3 H) K/ D0 R# Rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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$ Z# F9 v' ?- ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' q1 s  h1 U" l9 _on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% ]( {% h# n& zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: R: L  r4 V. T' N3 I1 A5 U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel9 Z3 N+ a; J4 `; l( M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 H/ h: i2 n( x9 D0 Jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% F' m0 R6 {1 J7 E
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) ?' ^  M; m6 J: d9 ^. H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
8 p( _6 E( F+ Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# d" U3 J% t1 R( \8 J' V1 {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. k+ z1 M0 o9 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 K. M1 D  ~* {! G
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# ~) g% Q+ [( z# {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( n/ t+ H. {& t. e; R/ s0 ^. rare spaces./ v& _6 [& [  y% ^
9 L; L! l* f! v2 i6 m
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* V; \6 B- d+ A$ S7 K' _( Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 G) d  h3 d$ X
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, B; {5 G/ t3 A" O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* t) d1 e% ?6 P' B
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) i4 G# q- Q7 }. k1 i: M$ ?& gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
6 I; ^' q0 i9 J8 u+ X- L7 y2 {4 R! onice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of. u/ K% N. x! w" P: C7 Y- W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& y1 s0 H0 k- s& L9 K
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ L. C7 ?! d$ {" Z; M+ y* E. k 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 beautiful2 Y7 L$ T1 Z; H6 c7 L- d; t
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
- H  i" t: |' \the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very0 ^' N) k9 C% U/ N& E! J) I& R
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep, u4 C5 W! C# b6 L
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& l  G5 [1 q$ `8 ?* U% J( U
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
. A( d' c1 X1 ^them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
$ J* q: v  B2 yhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
2 E+ U  E7 }8 W4 Ztourist area.' u; ^5 Y, G5 r, c5 W. d3 b% S4 m

+ J: u! y$ b+ p& d5 mOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; F" F& o* @* d$ y4 J* g3 Y
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., z2 r9 p. f# P3 ^$ R1 a
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were8 {4 Z' a  w6 R. `: B4 z
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
' Q1 O' E- y; l! V( F2 {& Cless leader-religious.
! n3 |6 A% J" @  s  p; e8 @. t1 L' {' M/ R. l8 ?0 b
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
4 ^  l1 @4 h+ q! [. I2 dgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big1 w# Y* f. f( E4 y
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
! ]8 K, i1 z6 A7 _# @embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
3 Z8 q% M- I, V4 X
, a( h& k+ a3 O: uWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the* r2 }) v. x  p6 m: M  U# ]
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
( h3 {( s7 u$ }3 n& Y/ Othe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $15 X0 g% U% d0 b5 w3 K
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
% t; @' y, Z: C, {: Xforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 i7 a1 @& n2 b4 w$ I. s
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
. Y' H: C9 i* d) |7 E! Iprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the2 M) G+ x& D: [* _0 F
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
+ g  G8 F; A7 G" U4 }3 {And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
% \. v9 ]6 h/ ior visitors.
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# D5 n" Z* |% W+ \8 u& z--  The End --

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