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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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3 I- E  U, I( n9 \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.
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+ J2 c* ]# t! K5 _$ ^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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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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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/ N6 M, b4 ^. E
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
+ K' E& }* F( S( B. P  S! F8 uwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,+ Z( {% [3 x) q( v( |  j. A
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in( Y- _$ [- Y/ @( z- ], ?
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as! K0 l" t3 @5 o( W
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 z8 d" G* W; ^( I: I( S, m( P
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep, O* N( J& z* g. x# `
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the+ Z5 X% Q7 b# V4 _. J5 s( R
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
* }& V4 [0 X& w6 ~" vwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
' `8 R7 Q  _0 h+ t( J People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but/ P8 P6 A# k  B% U$ O  p
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not& G! P! P4 K- \
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our$ R" |+ [( w1 N1 g+ R
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
4 n  d; q6 b/ L# p( `a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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/ H! p# T- l, Z( hThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
# d' h4 p. ^; X1 E* _8 Hlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
$ r7 x- D  {& ?6 \0 a/ _  @$ y: ~(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
* R) U" p# M" V/ C. fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the) G9 p" n4 c* B" ?* {
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
1 y9 U; p- Z8 g+ C0 `/ ~" w3 r49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
# k3 n' P  @( H5 y7 m$ GCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with! x. V; l' D8 d& Z6 w$ @
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.1 R0 a3 V2 J! L

+ z% ^  R) Y: cThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are# c- j, k( b- P9 ^3 ]& H4 x
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made5 X5 A$ @3 w- T/ k
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
5 u5 ^5 f! S) W' Ttourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having- m, f/ F5 s% m  N6 B+ h0 w
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China0 }4 K" F" B- `) _
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
" V5 n5 I. S8 u% M. _standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
% I7 W6 ]6 F" ]4 ]7 O0 gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,( o$ U4 d9 n+ K6 R' D4 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) i4 b6 H, p: ]answers to our pointed questions.* o% Z( `) J- J& Z. `0 @
5 ~' H: L7 i$ m
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 ^: @- C" r6 d8 |8 S9 Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( c! [3 j% O) y* J3 z* T+ kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
2 H; U+ N( O& n% o1 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' R9 d2 j! v" @2 o" Z5 bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 F/ t* I( k/ G. e: S/ ]. E
medical schools.4 {- F! }' j  ?7 A

' u& K, Q3 Z; K$ u+ nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 H' f* D$ n$ j8 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 ?0 h- @' n, Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 Z, J& ~+ }3 }9 S: J1 cassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba8 F& y! x3 Q. v% p# e* X
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; h! E3 a3 L& c8 Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There4 Z$ [$ F* [' G0 M, M; O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 T% y0 l& |2 m; x% Q3 s8 l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 G( Q: |2 z2 tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ C8 A) k: w% b/ G) P$ Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- w; G# l: g/ B) m% @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
0 _2 J. N# G6 H+ J& G1 Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 }" n" X- j$ `4 x8 j( V8 R0 Qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 @2 f9 U# V" `+ m, U2 J, |have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
$ ?) s; @+ l- Q# ?0 T1 P6 Othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 e2 U' s$ C& I" @5 o3 _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ D! ]- p9 z" T* Y5 Z( C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: s/ x7 c/ ?1 ^. O+ x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
2 U! n& y" f( I$ R2 ~1 B+ ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 F% x; ~( Q+ n" Gcharge the fee defined by the state.) ]- H: a% A4 t1 f3 f5 R

* O) y2 b  {% k+ k  T! g( T2 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" B% ^+ {2 a' K: F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. p. B: |9 S* S' q# `, W7 X& d+ Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- z/ {3 j6 `! x( ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel, B. _8 e4 x% [# y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ n( M4 z6 }* U' W4 }8 n, [5 L$ Bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- B. `/ r0 m' O* x+ Aschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 H2 x) c0 r' D  K8 I  r! B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
* D. ?' @! P' @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 P/ ~# U' |* Q' Y' p* f2 h: Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 `- O% q3 b# t% d/ A1 V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 J4 V3 m0 D" N5 ?% i( L+ |
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or! M; O+ p( x+ D. V- ]; H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, O- ?* z9 A/ P* r8 V% N( D# u
are spaces.
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& u% b, I+ _' yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 I9 W) j9 a2 I5 K. \% \! f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& q  ?$ `6 b8 T* i* V
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 O; r. j) M/ j2 k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! R* S) I  p0 v  Y* P# J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 p; b$ @# l  d$ H' T) Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
( F7 v; Y4 b* {: lnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
  u' [7 Q; l$ T% Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 C1 B" I) P" c: c, V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! T+ x" z- B0 Q& H2 d! j" r 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' J# {" [2 d* p  O
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
) j7 A! _- B; m6 T: k; ethe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very( A8 {( H# _4 h, {$ b) }& e
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
; m: I$ t0 f7 hrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
. Z, b: ^" [- z8 C2 X% U9 psupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of- o) d; j' v* G( s) `5 v
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms* ^* o3 S4 r7 I$ L
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 [' l" M. T: {! ^% Q
tourist area.' {& x" s  C8 B3 j- S' p. n! w+ V

  c, n; j  y, p/ O1 yOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's0 U3 n5 o1 d) ^. ?
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).: \; l2 c) Z$ M3 t: X: p6 r& m; F
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( @- @2 D) M2 M& w) N
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 x& x4 v( ?5 [! i- U5 S; s$ _
less leader-religious.
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' P$ G" H8 V1 j" rAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba! V* R+ E* S1 @* }6 I8 f# z
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big6 M1 e# l, Y. R1 f
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US5 w& `  l. E8 t* d4 L
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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* t3 b+ g! c8 AWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
, m( U$ R% a6 B& r8 [parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not. V( c2 Y9 M% y! t5 y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
. D# s- n: ~; v8 D; @' ]$ Yconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
% u% f: S& h, ]  b' \foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- D- n3 @7 X2 b0 M5 e
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
! W; |8 F9 e) Q+ e. eprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the6 l" J5 B; j: Q) u! _% Y" Q3 o
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
* v$ N/ t' f2 }) Z* IAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
9 T( H# U  ~6 por visitors., D7 a- Q- |; o/ `$ d
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--  The End --

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