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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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" F* j8 N, ]; ]$ |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. + i* B$ e' ], Z6 b( p
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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.( J0 J- r" R. L+ ?2 M$ o$ |

5 F: Z# _" c* x( }6 S  ?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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) ~3 A3 _1 d3 K. J0 s6 b+ w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
" \6 }- u( T4 ~2 xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we* |4 d4 t4 E# X- E+ R( |1 b" E( t9 [2 ?
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.  v# N, Z! O5 X

5 X6 j4 B  X) L! e' jIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,) @1 Q6 l$ ~* z( ~4 J
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
4 M  e/ ?/ g7 }a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
6 X: i# ~3 m) ^% `1 Upossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort# {1 Y) k: T" Z! L0 @
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
5 H" e# }& {% u! Z: Y8 a: C" \between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 H* C  `/ C9 H5 D4 ?; U! C
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
* j/ d! g4 t7 i+ y9 |& r+ F6 Awith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 E+ b: F! U, D1 f* ^0 A5 b* _+ g
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but' U; ^' {& l0 [; [+ H
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not# ^# i5 E# K: K3 W
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our+ q' O6 @- |& S& O/ h0 x; m1 {
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
' H( L: s& ]; W% x5 o" ?  ]3 {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,9 a9 k1 I' H7 A! t, `! _
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
' V! M1 e3 }  Z* j( C" c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
$ L7 W* X8 i7 F7 Xof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
" R; l$ e5 V( B" _* [% Q# estars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
6 A! M  t% b3 R) Z49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes# `& Q* w/ O( }4 O# S( z
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
& W' I6 l3 _  R; D# q0 \: i' wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.! `" ]- T( D# h

0 `) m  n1 G4 D, cThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
* ?$ B7 g$ \( U/ ^) `9 l, Tjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
* _; K0 z6 R8 T: N0 Cfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
. _6 Q* ]) E/ R0 E) ]" O, Utourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
) v4 e1 s* Z- {* @5 `/ _a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China* N  ]7 `3 ?" B- t: P. `* b+ B! L9 x
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( L5 M  Y; Q( D8 Z' E: }
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went+ L' g1 x/ F$ Y6 R# k/ {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
, t. n8 h. @5 g, x) J2 {$ e; ?( J0 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 M+ X) ?' P- i+ M7 z5 \" Zanswers to our pointed questions.
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* I$ e1 ~( I* R% K$ G0 O( h+ e7 HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ \* l6 O) n/ \9 q+ w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) X5 J+ A% B" \" \, _& Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is$ s8 f' _0 _+ N+ c0 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. A; ~: d5 I2 m! a0 e- }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 U1 h' C3 C* R8 a6 [
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 F4 j' I; J$ p$ \- l+ F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 ?; J6 f/ @8 F2 Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 D6 F) A; U' O* W. M3 v( ?7 [* ^assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba0 }: ^$ X) ?+ G! o
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( e& Q% W% o3 ~1 Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There: R% n) z. S- E* {" J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ N7 _; o9 J, E' b, Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 O5 H) j2 Q; m0 x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 ?7 |* F' }8 {. H: g: psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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& c/ b  i4 P" q: _! zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no( L% }! w  T( ]! U  y7 A* R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 j. V7 t- [9 j' E- M: isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 d  h/ I7 _! F; T6 A! |have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good8 ^" a- B! \' A0 R" A1 A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 f) m) [) x2 _+ Z/ L% B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 T. [" \* m# a% j) R+ J3 jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) z% J- y/ x! K; G) z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
' y: E4 t  b2 j- Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 D2 N. ^" f7 S# E0 B& X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! h8 h9 K1 U+ V/ `4 R2 e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; c7 }* n6 o1 F7 ?5 x5 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. P7 E' r8 Q! H# A' dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel$ z/ E3 `9 |, P$ N) x9 U3 B- R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ Q% K! W# l( Y$ ~+ a9 W3 }
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 }9 V5 U. o) L. ~+ M: C
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 E' J2 W* K( g4 O7 J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
9 P- J% p+ v9 b' J* m) ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' J& {6 E6 {+ \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- Y, r7 n) u; |+ j8 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* w# @6 b6 j" V* w1 Z6 m  nto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 [- b  o0 A7 `5 L8 ^6 D# d" t2 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% d/ M2 T% E6 C  [- _7 X8 [# Vare spaces.
+ w" ]3 ]& H4 e$ U% G9 _; F0 m8 x' o5 H5 X9 @4 _: @; I9 |8 q
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# f- R1 Z4 X) B+ l% ]( ~! b' A- Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# @8 k/ [; [* W+ g+ y7 M1 `: F: a
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 i/ F! [" o6 N' f
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 y) r- P; G8 `1 f  w* pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 P9 t% T: D  l9 H' }* s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few9 L# |. b# ~) [3 L7 p0 w& ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
( F  z& ]% v; d: z! |car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 Q7 S8 y6 U  r# F+ L; his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." s$ _$ A* ^3 X: q+ h5 u
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
% Z  ]' N7 L( `5 q/ e- W$ Lspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all. F$ a, |0 M* T- E: R  F
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
! o( A1 j$ S. U9 S- mlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
5 R' w4 v( l/ z  z2 }! V/ w. `recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
5 Y2 \7 H1 a- i( D6 Xsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of  R: ?) `$ z6 a3 m- n5 W
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
2 F1 X8 R! K, J6 v6 @) l6 \4 `0 N1 K1 qhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the% }% z* s# T3 |! V0 x! R* N) Z# j
tourist area.
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: @. v; o0 \9 X4 L- lOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
' k+ K. f5 E. D- E4 `+ E8 a% }9 `pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).* i: j! _3 Y* [2 [
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
9 L, i- [' I0 ~! T# m. oeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
* v% U/ i7 z; y, `' Bless leader-religious.: ^( o, M0 Z8 ~; I

; W; S+ E2 h0 A0 b7 g9 lAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba# z  `+ v7 M( k9 o3 B6 z2 @: J% Q3 _
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big3 e" \; H5 w* H9 x) `1 L% m
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US4 S! }: H# ?& Z! X0 ?" i3 _& X- w" ?
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).! \7 a8 J: j# E/ P: [# m
3 ^! U: g3 S$ \1 b' z
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
* d4 s+ Z* _3 T% R# {9 P& h3 o8 `parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
8 x( t1 f* s9 K1 ^the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1, e2 b0 {- k7 H1 f; e) y, a
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for) B' b! n  v$ k7 Y- f# \
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- M* l* _0 ], f) K
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we6 f- ^0 N& f2 D! Y  U* S8 h
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
! j4 l% B" x" m' E; Y$ zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
: {5 d5 \" i& R! i0 V7 D: V; fAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; y! O* {0 c$ R( P! c
or visitors.
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' H* Y$ b" |+ x! P; L--  The End --

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