发新话题
打印

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.

TOP

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.

TOP

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).+ T# K% F0 ^! ~( `2 d& W
* J: E0 m$ X; f5 a0 U7 T, `
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.
0 e. G+ M, j2 S: m2 K
* Q9 I; L! y0 P3 S  p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.
6 K7 X7 \2 @) U; Q4 _
4 \2 m) R" i, z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.* L7 e$ O& v1 U% D& b
- c- U/ W4 V4 Z5 W. ?) K6 f! J9 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.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (一)

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very* [4 i5 C4 J! o$ y
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
5 `% t4 T% ~4 z0 W: W3 y8 E/ ~4 `wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
0 T2 p0 [, F  T9 b- \: M4 P% V5 T, j' w/ x$ @3 N
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
3 c9 C. O, f8 g7 F30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
* S$ J% J9 j% N" @* V2 m  G. Sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as2 B. b( r' f# T' o; ]! @
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
4 Z3 l/ T  \; S& Eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
# h! q+ z3 q4 f# tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the  @7 j: f. N" F; L2 f0 X" f  y
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
7 d% x/ Y7 p, @$ A2 Cwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.* L+ D! R- r! B: f- K
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
6 w6 }$ Z8 z: ]- Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not0 Z: k% i) Q5 k
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our" Q* y9 H8 a5 z9 g' P
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through/ k  o$ b' l4 N3 A9 S, X) `' h& k
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.: J7 Y; E( s  @3 ^) ]. n
/ q2 n5 k$ {7 {- N5 g
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,' L# ~7 y' _+ @( S( z: c
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( ?0 y& L+ W! G& |( K1 }
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
& n4 h$ N( z8 X; `+ aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
7 r3 G( o2 Y! `) @$ Tstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from( N5 C& O3 H) P
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
# v1 j" n$ N! a/ }8 \- oCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with- \+ W2 {7 E, W0 P* z- U
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
* N* s/ t; D5 o) o$ b2 T5 q3 i- z: n, w) E3 z+ o# J4 S' {
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are7 t$ T' t9 p: }" ^5 F$ h
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
+ Q' g% }. X9 hfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba' Y& p9 [. w. O: p' H% F& E5 |# `
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having0 W0 o! O$ h+ U
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
5 r/ }$ F4 x% M/ e* odaily political studies.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 E6 K- b  I$ M
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went: V9 w3 [! \  Y4 J6 S; n/ O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,/ k5 Z" D4 U/ Y6 t! |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# S5 P$ g; I2 }  V2 j% ganswers to our pointed questions.+ c% I4 t: |) O+ @, Q

6 h0 R2 v6 A4 G) jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% N1 H8 A5 W+ q5 X1 {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 _( ~3 ?5 f! Y( q, x4 _! cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is# b' K9 ]  x  L7 l% D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, D8 ^8 P+ n2 J. N' r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 F$ w# f5 T6 d  _. X
medical schools.( b7 M3 m( s( q0 c* }/ q% P

! l5 W! l" y0 Y1 w0 _1 v4 JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) A" K1 v# q/ B& Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants  W& a* l$ f  w7 E$ x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ R2 r& K) B8 j5 v  [6 G  |6 a$ p/ \assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
$ X  o* j- E4 {+ b2 g) [is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 f( p0 G. l* A) b) R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There$ D8 K! [; k+ t# k5 [, j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 s/ B# e% V. U4 j, A7 N& rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) {$ R. l7 F+ Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 x( T' H" U7 J7 o8 j+ W0 H1 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' a' n) y4 i+ m

2 k0 e( c, T; s6 U, xThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
0 @, u" R$ D# p* Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 f5 g: g3 @) b3 A) x( C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 \2 M5 x2 V1 d) J
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
. k( n, x2 s2 K. l5 D3 dthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. I4 s$ `/ [* x9 c2 Y8 ~% Z1 V' P, c+ Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; f& y3 e! V! H9 l. O* tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' S% L) m) E9 y; n$ D$ L7 l2 t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
$ ?4 R2 L5 k8 va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
  O) e6 [% K9 l6 i) {charge the fee defined by the state.
' c& h* ?' m6 j2 x+ |7 R9 M* |& N1 @2 w9 K+ f$ h& O
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. U. i6 }/ E# v% W% }( l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 Z1 S7 b7 |% h9 N9 D; xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 G/ W' m( D- xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
+ }5 J  T% X  G1 o7 Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: ?: z6 u( w& g6 B) q6 _0 V4 Q1 X  cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 O# k2 O& J* q9 M) S% pschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ D. ^. B5 n! myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
6 p9 P; @$ m& L5 Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ p- s5 R* z+ e$ B3 b1 Y, Jhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 q% u) C9 t9 |" Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 q9 B) f* w5 `0 g
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or: ?3 _+ w. ~9 H  f( b' N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) L! B) T; d; A  r7 I; k+ Sare spaces.
4 P3 r% [* q+ b! v3 S3 I* n9 s
* I% i6 {7 j  W  }# B) v$ zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, ~8 W) H5 L( D5 W7 X+ t% Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: U* Y0 a4 Z- z. W
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 P& Y8 f+ a# ?8 ]6 M7 U
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ L9 \7 Y+ L3 a/ B  a: V( r0 |2 H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 f. }; w* ], q' H6 i$ ^6 M  jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few1 X( L1 C5 L; C- I% z# h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
4 B5 x0 c* q' x$ Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 R# s% X* M6 b6 f6 Y# p
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 I" }) T7 S3 x  T' e8 |) {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
" U, j2 ]/ K" e* @" x1 ^; Sspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
) A  ^3 m1 i* D9 p5 U3 F( c- F/ athe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very$ B, R% a4 U. w# q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep) m- h4 b) [: E1 I  ]: F+ U9 r6 x
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
* e0 [/ _) A9 Asupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of3 V% A4 X& H3 m2 ]- l* E
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
, ~9 K- R0 L2 q( e1 S1 c; i4 ~have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 P6 r4 a) }8 w- s9 P  @
tourist area.
! m1 W1 N5 s; ~- l/ w% ?& q5 g) @9 I- s, r
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
# h) F  Q, I$ i: p5 t% Qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
* ~0 x, b2 P8 b8 _. PCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
1 l6 |8 J5 M, [9 A0 h' E6 Ieverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 6 c' K- h. n) }: f' R4 M6 ~
less leader-religious.
% E! E( x* g3 `7 H
0 B* X1 l" Y2 fAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
) t6 l2 G* l. z( j4 Dgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
0 D$ i: z* z' p4 I; Oblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
& _, j$ }5 H1 Vembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).3 S" r  U5 K! u1 r- p; J
9 D$ z; O8 {( r4 _4 t& V& }
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the) a: b8 w" l$ @7 O  C
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not  K) S8 v4 K  g8 j2 ^1 m
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1% I: s* j0 X+ Y
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
8 w9 Z, w/ Q$ q3 w- F$ ~. q1 Zforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars3 F' N; w4 z, u% x) y4 z( o
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
. W+ h) D* @5 ?6 W: w/ O& }probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
5 }0 x3 y, {/ B; \( Ireal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
) S8 V* l: A% @6 ^And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
! h9 D- |7 t9 `or visitors.. z& m! C3 q' s( ?5 E5 I( {& V
/ q1 {) D0 C8 T1 x; |# I+ L: f
--  The End --

TOP

发新话题