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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).1 d6 z3 c  S3 c  D" K& \
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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. / T, o/ ?9 j( B) o# t
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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.
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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.( [+ o+ T, [* m9 b4 V7 P
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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 very3 q1 }6 s% q/ a! [
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we8 z! Y0 @$ F* Q9 @! X6 h5 ]! @/ w
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
: t' o1 U6 N! U+ K+ G7 p' s3 K' p! g/ n* y
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
5 ]" i  W+ x0 }/ A! _9 p& z) }30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in2 g) n2 f5 g6 r: d# L
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) a# b# e2 `2 v  n) c( B
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort) ~5 r, g% m2 J* h
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep2 o9 _% \, r: ]+ A# \  D* W3 E1 g  V
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the( R" ^0 G0 w% G) ]
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# F* p6 D% {" ^5 t  j
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
% {' ^4 y7 ?4 p) y1 N  J& _9 ] People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
* h8 f) s. i+ L7 _1 ^names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not& C% @6 o; Z- D4 j# s9 {% l/ z
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
0 H" A7 M+ l& q2 [9 m- oflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through4 F  S4 f" I9 i
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.2 i: B  w! i) \( z# N1 ^4 u4 P
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,! C2 W* M# z9 W* d# R1 l1 B
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
1 W3 G! J3 d) Q(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top1 x: u# E2 K# f
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
0 k5 _$ R# @1 S8 U' S# lstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
6 a( z0 q8 w3 _49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
" B" ^+ Y1 r9 ^6 ^5 j, n1 J( mCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
$ p# P" i6 V6 ffingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
! G+ C& `5 e- ]) h6 P/ M0 Q4 Cjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made' \  r, }2 e( h
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba8 _5 |. w+ B8 g; O4 m
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
. V' Z& x1 {/ |a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
1 s+ A- T5 E* V5 }) k: `' i: D$ Ldaily 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, living8 _& F+ Y( G7 r( v/ Q/ h7 n8 g
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went9 T5 L0 {# ]3 C8 P
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
9 y& W: q: C+ ]+ R2 _5 H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. C  C. C+ o$ k0 c, U5 ~: |  b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- r$ ~- R/ ^3 j- X! D* a) @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
  |$ b0 i7 k1 c, s- J1 h$ r8 aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
6 S" q) q+ a! C2 a2 ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' u: v1 A: G2 @7 V7 x2 Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; j* h( R, D! P9 M* q8 P, v& {medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 h7 e, _) L4 Z9 `3 m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 |+ q5 ?1 i0 @; F' i5 V0 A/ l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. b4 q7 l" K1 b8 }8 ?! i; _assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba0 w1 Q+ E3 S' ~
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 |; l% U1 f* N' v! Uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
' k" e* z. O6 J$ `5 pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 n0 i5 C- R; K  P0 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk  G$ v7 D/ ]+ ]1 ^8 W: M
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( {: K% u& y* w" w. N( C% Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# I; p2 k: y5 G! |9 z: u1 e& a
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
8 ]' P& M3 I  @# Q- z6 ?' b' ?! @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, ^/ X% V- l  P5 p& r8 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& F: X/ v1 U: g* e2 |7 E3 B
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good, Z7 j0 ]3 x/ [$ c; z3 R0 Z( j5 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ _1 L. G$ C2 w( \* v$ \% e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 f* D) ]% v& \$ N; D, g: [& I8 P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* @! z4 e3 t% z& |. z9 L" YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
# l, f  t5 `7 `# r* f  g" t2 ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* t- T+ o/ t& X6 C" l% H4 D& Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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0 |( E- S& y/ W: `& h% gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 ^* g2 H2 r& X7 c. xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _# i" V+ _! l, A4 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 E3 o1 ~: G2 l0 \2 Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
7 N& }( _. ?/ i1 O3 v4 b" kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 _5 c7 O  ^6 b1 yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, m. ?7 H) Q# u4 L
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& U' }3 }1 c) m8 ?( U4 k0 j3 V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people: K; [# c0 U/ _; q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( G# P% {- [. U& S, N+ u9 H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. x$ Z; R+ \& q7 m+ @7 f" Z# v/ Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 S" C9 r& L) s" M2 }3 ?to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or  u/ W" {, |2 @4 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- N  V  [, j- ^) y9 W6 yare spaces.- E3 [' G" X3 e7 r5 W9 e
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* T) d5 }; B: ?: Q( Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" H  H1 _( g% T8 P* qown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ g. e# J5 N. @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: R- N" S: A4 ^/ l! g9 u- L9 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: |; h7 e6 v+ [3 S' ?. l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few& N7 p  h" x: ?2 F0 k  t1 e$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
$ b6 D: H! M  U! c) Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 ~( J1 L, V, ^# x- N8 y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 W0 l2 S9 A' n1 n 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, x. A' s* k: p) a: x- w) ~
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all, F% ~4 t& X3 Z3 Q1 o! |) G- X
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very" B0 w6 b% k3 L; R
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
2 p& c; l- U2 Y1 z% \5 U- h4 Yrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day! m' d2 P' Y* \. S& y, Q
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of% u  O8 W/ o8 h' F
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
$ y% g8 t4 P+ m* G8 t& Thave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the% @9 M, P4 t6 c4 ^4 B3 x( q% Z0 W
tourist area./ J9 [0 A" l- T$ `1 P0 v+ t: O

) {9 k" t; X. w* X: k0 ?One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's* W" f" g3 O- Q% M5 _2 g- `
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 u: B" X, t8 \4 T; j
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were6 r; `% F. s* q1 X8 A
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ _/ p4 m$ |6 @5 d
less leader-religious.: n' v; ?. Z% K- V7 {
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba2 W# |* z0 u& ~7 f& ^' F, k/ q
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big2 t0 ?( _: |# l- u4 ^
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
$ v4 S. x/ i6 f4 l7 R2 W. ~embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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3 d0 X0 _$ D$ ?We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
' d( d9 s2 I; G# N7 Sparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
8 \# F6 N3 |$ R3 \, tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) L6 d5 v- d8 V) w4 M
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
0 ]# ^# r1 Z: @+ M" G* w! w6 Tforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" `4 V0 \. M  p# v& Y+ \
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
) N* U* X* l+ ^, Cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the; ~0 G% W" S  C/ j
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.4 K; A. Z: M/ t. X
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 L" d$ E3 q. J1 j+ ^
or visitors.
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8 R' c. A" _. m4 I--  The End --

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