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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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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. ) `; N% R+ x2 t7 @3 n

/ X8 ]$ y3 \1 B1 w1 M; P5 G- J8 {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.
- @! |8 t9 D# G1 t! n" e4 ]% o  V# s' r: z" E; k) c3 e2 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.$ t" G; P% g, g$ r
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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 very2 z( g  I- j9 L( y, P& z/ d* o+ N
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
) t! L! s) x! s0 v3 cwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 C9 h1 g, N8 K, b8 ~

  T3 p  g5 y# v$ s$ k2 C$ K: }It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,2 S& _8 Y9 K9 O
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in) j- C5 U4 q0 w% {# R7 s& u- |: @
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as  s' o. x/ w  \' q# }
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort4 t+ p2 Z/ C# @" G9 F
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep- Z+ V  c4 G* e* u0 ~, ^6 ?! D
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 {$ @7 N& v/ q* _# @: u! l
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
/ W0 v6 ^* P$ X5 g2 J* Y7 x- nwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 o' ~* y: B8 S/ d) G
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
& ?1 R4 @/ E: n/ D) {! |names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
! Z3 y. u! X% w8 q! {' i: \1 C4 t$ c# D7 cexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
4 J8 p, Q6 N. W: r2 h3 t; Yflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through: h0 \# a0 J3 ^' m) e3 {" W
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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; _- F3 U5 }1 `The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
4 j7 w0 S! t/ ]2 P9 z( Olow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool& i  F  ^0 V2 b+ @4 G) ^4 \
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
4 ]% `0 T4 ^1 r* z0 _' y9 B4 W5 ^of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
  j( d) Y& x4 n( L$ w4 |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
) R6 U. t5 [0 w* ^5 E( x49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes1 s/ y% h+ @$ U' U( H! ?4 b
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 @% ^* E3 d  o
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.6 ^  S8 s/ I* [( |2 v3 b; q# A
* s+ J' u% U9 U* e& p
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
  t9 B5 ~$ J! s1 a7 {  Yjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made- p4 j1 h* q. _5 g7 [+ y
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba! |" l  n8 q  J0 Q0 x4 h- w
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
/ Y" s# E1 Z  {" B( F/ G, F$ La staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
) Q5 _3 P. l$ Z: n" R+ D! B; Ydaily 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
2 g+ M' b# K& h/ n/ V/ o: Zstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
0 Z% Z0 S2 x$ |9 C* i% s1 ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
6 S7 U- z; }& i! h! q* ~7 o3 o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: s$ E! n& |; U2 W; V6 @+ Banswers to our pointed questions.) m0 E, n+ O/ p! u3 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,  D  Y% l/ ~; w' C: w/ b9 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. n& C5 G  {6 n* M; h9 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
2 I/ b& \, i/ L0 v% S2 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: Y+ ], g! Y% R$ c6 C) rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; i  P4 P4 V1 i: hmedical schools.! H0 X* O- g* R. r1 _  O$ c

6 M' Z: X$ }4 V: ~, u& z# VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 R. o" Y' V3 }" t6 r8 Z& @$ d& D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. M! l, o4 {, b- U/ b$ E8 a8 Ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( L6 O" K% i# h" @- }, g
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
2 s& \  Z$ \, s3 Q2 nis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 k, q, d& ^6 y9 \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
7 N8 D( ]% }: }: r  ]; h9 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) d4 M+ d1 H# n! emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# C/ X2 c6 N* A0 Z8 t! _
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' V$ z$ D2 K5 h' t* b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.  _1 U% ~2 E1 J+ E8 `5 A! S" h
5 V. O4 G4 l- m, T# A8 ]
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
. M7 G6 x7 I) v' K5 P- q* u( Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 H+ M" |, \# F8 g$ @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
  n- ]  ?" \6 ^have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good0 X, e* u. s) m8 d* C  Q0 ]. F# V$ [# q# l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
  t( j2 T0 Y, dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
  `+ k$ A6 [# Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
  P9 @; X9 y- r6 r: @. Y2 [  kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
8 e; _9 K& [6 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 A% f& s! A  ~
charge the fee defined by the state.
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) Y- A: A/ ]; V* W/ p& h: IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 @* J' [3 e2 w+ u! u4 o4 won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ U" U: B$ B# ?) M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% B9 m/ _8 L! q' r9 \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel- O: Q8 n5 J8 [" k3 e$ }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" _; J+ r$ z. H: _' z+ p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 D: V% d/ V3 a4 k. W, P0 Yschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 }' |. x4 j9 }- xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
3 T% c# ^' z+ q8 [& m2 ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 z2 g$ ?' T/ _7 e$ bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 ?' q0 [4 s) p' e6 Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" x" z" k( p& m5 T, G9 m8 Kto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' X! l, N$ ?% B3 {% Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 [& ^6 l0 ]5 E4 kare spaces.( b' B, ]& R" L+ l
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) }4 k9 `* s4 U# _+ f3 D; F; H3 oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& N" \1 Q1 p. f3 _: O8 v6 h
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 b8 _2 r. R# |; c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
  Q  N. y  V' qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, K, \9 {1 c9 P0 u0 ~
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
7 c, W) U4 k! _# M! Snice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
' u% ~  G* A' W/ q1 icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 `+ T7 _2 w3 Z5 l8 W5 I1 q6 t" x+ }. [" I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" x( q* n5 S; V8 T 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 T4 {* m4 I8 m4 K  u( P
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all, V) e) f! }6 Z! ^3 W8 M
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
  t6 d; r2 A( d9 f; e/ u( klimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep" t6 D1 j8 U  U) ~5 n
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day' z9 ^( p3 D( P" i
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
4 [& r  X* @! Z* G. _them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
9 W! ~0 c3 B1 N' ^) shave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
2 i+ i8 Q# j# ?4 V  Y% |0 ptourist area.6 r4 D' W8 \# L( S9 w3 M) d
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's) E0 F4 b3 u, P
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).% d" y6 p- o7 m
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were, N3 D# V' J0 A; l% x6 \
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
* `- G4 R3 ^6 s5 Jless leader-religious.- b0 ]6 X3 W, U  ]

0 w, M$ g5 x9 d6 u/ dAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
# O$ k3 s  z( Y) xgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
! t, U$ k. c- ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US! L& P, s0 o  `
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" g. B& E! V% _& S
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 z! G2 L( T+ Q( H
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $11 X9 X  z/ f1 ]2 N
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
+ q' `# M0 N" G9 {foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
/ s8 O: l$ _9 G' ?. C' o# A* [. B(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 B- t/ [; M6 c+ c  x8 ?7 e& ]
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
! E9 o. \& @8 k: ~real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.) |1 ~  \7 X( z9 r
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local7 I5 i' y( c- f  \& O. ]$ z$ o
or visitors.
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' _/ E) p, o3 `9 V  d- {6 h--  The End --

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