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).
( r) z  @+ b* T1 U$ U* q) s, V  z
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.
; M+ w- H% S/ e: e
9 Q0 i9 |5 r8 M+ k# {# o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.* p. A4 B4 E. f7 d
4 K; ~2 ^' Q  C  }
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." t. Y: m1 m/ ]: r, D

4 R3 v/ N: q( P# X  {7 l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 very2 e+ x/ g& W* l: t4 r
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
4 T/ u1 |# O! s8 `wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.: Y: O9 X  _& G$ G

8 Z5 x0 i) f2 w% U5 HIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,, u, }4 Y9 w( v# q' H/ q
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in7 X0 V, _& e8 |6 |, e
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* i3 p0 N1 F! I' U
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort  |- r. j% D' m* w1 X& E+ @* \+ C& ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
3 [  [+ j' ~. G. N# Sbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
5 a0 j! ]+ P( a: G7 xlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
  ^4 l" b4 ?, _; w2 twith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.& \5 z. s" B. J; Q0 N
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but9 o* T. j, }$ t
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
! A6 u( F) [2 w5 O5 Zexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our+ C/ W2 t9 W; {- ~$ N- V
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 E2 A* l% J8 L/ i
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
$ [. `" I& ^1 ^6 p# T: e! H8 V) d" m% \' R8 v0 C3 G% w* h( R
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,0 o- |; b9 b) V/ t+ \
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool# ]( B6 s- J; K! v
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top$ B/ K/ M2 k" d: E+ X+ E
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
2 y* c. ^1 S9 b( gstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
% T9 I( x9 ?$ i6 D/ G7 ?0 v49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
8 E$ W8 i" g# MCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
1 E% o& z7 T, |& h  v- o2 \, Pfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 e7 ?/ s' {9 L( E* o
4 I. @0 ]: D1 B! X& X
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& Y$ h, i  R9 ]6 h) m
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
. N% q9 l4 G+ y  i: Zfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba3 f+ `- }% g; ~0 d9 a6 y8 Y  F
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having* x9 W# I% Z0 O  h! f
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China1 D) r" ]* r, t! I9 X) m0 Y& Z
daily 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, living/ Z4 y" `. {9 c; ?) U
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
) a6 c  y. C- I1 n# H7 p) `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
" t- P8 A' }: r+ w- c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 f4 B% d% q" C8 f, j) Xanswers to our pointed questions.- W6 J) w# d6 \  m! u: A
. W$ f$ h: s" y! K) }$ f
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ ]0 q% S" |$ F5 E, |% _3 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* \3 J* t- Z$ z& j6 o* o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is" C; h. R; m+ G1 r. l- J$ [( }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: _# S0 t  l& n2 v3 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. T8 y9 D, R: f6 }
medical schools.3 i# h3 A+ L1 p. o& D
# u0 o# e2 a' }. ~
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ A( s3 ]; q, O5 K* ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 B0 |! R' R# J0 X+ fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; ^) D# h1 X: J: _assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba- U) k8 N+ f9 q7 ~
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# o7 ?0 Y; C6 g8 i8 w: z9 ]. Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
% d( X* X. J! |7 h9 Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& s# w7 M2 v1 m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; F5 ]4 r; R3 R( Q8 y) a# wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! A* ~- I: m9 k4 s( Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., N, ~; O4 r* I5 ?

( k3 q) h+ A. D0 R4 E' H! HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
8 z! O3 X; Q7 U( s( g9 \" ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 I7 ^* y% ~2 Q8 S# g4 M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; r) l) n+ |  O" Z( I$ |8 r$ p/ b
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good' {4 e9 A3 P" k$ Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( z) Y' |/ v( w/ l$ b; j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 P& b  n' J) e+ u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; D& q7 e0 s+ u( p" N- yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When% q1 M( ?& g5 I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% R* V4 A; `5 {, o; ^2 Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
/ ?" d8 P& w7 S, D- B
' D. q4 }& t# A/ l" [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 U# F; v) I: ?6 D/ B5 q+ ]  z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- ~3 |5 Y( |% ?1 \, p# o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 U) p; ~4 k  _! g$ htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
% W7 F* d4 g6 h' Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
  Y- I5 q- \  R$ R+ }# Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 c/ \' V, N3 T8 {# N$ F1 g& d1 _schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; x" s; S! Z, m) ?1 i% j! v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
3 ^: y% P: r% I, ?3 L3 Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- y' ]2 p7 v/ E8 g- V9 w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* x4 ]: t. Z( i) j9 H) Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 z0 m1 ^; h0 c6 {; Z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' \3 k; E8 J4 U# tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 k- V% P$ y8 d% E6 S6 Dare spaces.
! C( Y3 a* M$ ^- Q: U0 N" i: J, H) y1 i" A3 q+ @
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 ]7 x! t5 ~3 j" B: [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) m9 S) I1 d1 W. I+ C/ F0 A
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. Y/ X& W9 Q0 _, j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 Z1 J7 j; w3 i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! G  @# @2 [& }0 e. v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
& M2 ~0 Y2 p* N3 F$ @2 c; M9 unice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of  h9 o# x  u+ q+ U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 h7 Z& c6 [* D' a, H% I, t! n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 N! k# t0 _# s& I) ~& t; I$ q& x+ C 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
6 d/ g8 f( @/ Z; Y" s9 j& kspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
4 o& }) d, ?+ W. p7 \the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
7 n1 o" I1 v$ o: e' Elimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep4 e+ X% ?) W7 [1 x
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day# _/ v4 D1 d; B) p( A5 `. Y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
0 O6 I2 @: n$ J. t4 Kthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
/ @1 W" \% h: N8 E& u  Z9 Jhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
1 P5 n- k+ [: e* d- J1 m5 r; Utourist area.
/ Z' A- O% H( U: y2 a, Y; v4 F8 d3 r/ [4 @; p: l
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's. t* c9 R. L9 Z8 o7 n
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
1 }% {: L5 r( z6 E4 d) S! CCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were% W  n6 X3 p! {1 }
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
2 s( J2 i1 E, D7 S) ~less leader-religious.' i" {  b/ |; B7 c& J5 l) g

7 T: E5 ?. ~7 q* i& T0 ~About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba  M, y4 o" D# x( p. k+ E& G, e1 e
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
- z) o' ]6 i: y8 Cblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
0 X6 N4 Z. J9 [/ K# D. t6 eembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
& F1 Z: w* X$ x
: i* Q/ ~4 u& }( Q" UWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the% `6 P# `/ M2 X- }- ?* g- m6 [. f
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 H4 ~4 h- s7 I, L4 c' B. U
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $18 j7 q+ a' V5 Y7 Y3 w
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
0 ^: O  ~. E% rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars1 G* X- W0 }: d: z/ v" z& f* `, J
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we8 N* T7 @" o) ]; x1 v
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
* D* x; H* P! b6 _  sreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.& W: T/ {/ X* M" W! ~
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
1 h! A" c5 t) E& _' N( n4 p5 Kor visitors.
" U' `/ L0 F% {2 t4 r
5 ]- V# z" ]. |--  The End --

TOP

发新话题