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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. & e* m) o3 e' q: Z: Z: l
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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.8 W: D/ S, [* |6 @
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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.( H) b" A8 F) |) @% h( s

% N- e$ K2 F" S# U+ Y! D) S% T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
; o, i3 b$ n! F3 binteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 ^, \/ w) d$ y! Q+ l
wanted 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,, |  U& H5 I, Y( Y" W. z) G: ^" f
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in$ t. }) R0 ?5 i" p" N8 t3 b
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as4 _6 C0 y1 i4 D2 R& a
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
' |1 ?( _' d# [! e# `+ h( [  r; lshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
, U. X+ `) Y) V3 C1 _5 nbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
* u- o$ ?6 X  n! S/ P" tlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
4 U, i( l* V8 k# y0 S" Zwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.; m* w3 n' l/ \! R' ]% D( q
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
6 L7 t/ Y4 n' U3 H% [names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
0 L- y5 S# d* p& t, i- cexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our" }: o5 S6 f7 I! B9 W7 i/ R
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through2 r8 Z2 L& J6 I# O8 {! s
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- `' f/ a3 F  l

" o' O" v$ u% x, b5 y1 H7 U% U. _The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
8 ]" G3 U; I5 r6 z! E8 T* Tlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
# f0 {$ `1 [; J2 C+ M9 S+ S(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top7 w# S- O2 l. B# Y
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the* X2 J/ `: B2 o2 R
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from3 a2 t& z5 D$ B, y) L( E; E
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
! ]) O1 c2 _  ?3 n9 W7 DCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with  Q: i) g7 g: H. T
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada./ |3 }) r0 P4 h1 N8 I$ K7 W
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 a8 \# j, P6 ?, n4 t" ~! l$ u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
: U! m. i5 w5 ifor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
  B) {& x  }  B& @tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
( q' ~# N- ^. v; q7 d# V3 \) w7 Pa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
8 ~& w6 ~$ _' Pdaily 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. t9 Z" n9 Y. ?
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
, ]! d+ x2 e: mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
: g; Z1 M; W0 I1 s# o; Q: b; \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 |$ a1 H8 u+ K. z0 Danswers to our pointed questions.
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5 N4 \+ Z6 f+ }' k% AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 j6 L  a  L& c6 \+ y6 |, R, x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) E5 I* V1 X7 L5 H  B0 P- zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
$ A( {3 \; w7 u- wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 V8 k+ O4 `  O" A) Tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
  V8 ?2 \; z" A! y. Ymedical schools.+ a9 Q: t  N3 B" k' o" U; z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. _/ b0 c5 T" Z. ~8 ^' Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 {8 U$ Q% R  F, Z4 e, ?" k3 j4 y; L7 q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 P" d& U8 ?3 t, C0 K! g) p3 rassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
: X2 s, J# G* b/ S- i  h2 C' @is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 c  V6 r' W, s, w, u; g5 pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There/ A5 U+ X! C! F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& h3 I. d/ k& U8 Dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( L& @- a/ H: H% v) b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 c& n" M- f' ?) R. Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 _3 F8 F2 }* l# c
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no6 ^* y3 I1 |8 T  L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ g% t9 s  O% @: J- N$ Z6 B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# `; a; c" Z! v# O
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
, j% ?1 w0 L( V! w8 l; Qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" s3 R. T' u3 m* j- m- {# ?/ d, Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) f" N9 f$ F9 O& j2 S3 {6 Y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." a8 x9 I! R1 `" t/ y0 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
1 ?% Z. ?2 R2 z$ c8 F, R" Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: G$ ^; L' z' A5 }0 F7 W- o
charge the fee defined by the state.
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+ T- g$ S  K/ a% n% n8 {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ B. q  u% w, ~, _4 ~7 Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 ~0 ?% J' [, `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 f' u! E/ X6 S0 j. Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel. m, f4 n8 w! f5 q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 T2 y- p2 G" S; T$ p) n9 R7 |working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 d" h6 p: J% B8 p3 D0 H
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 j+ Z0 N  ?. }( o
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people; {* C, `  ^& G) p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 n( u* @" H% Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# g% b( L: c( r* _, [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ I9 d8 T. ?& ^6 z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 Q) t  V! N' [" ?! U
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
  @: w) k7 p( oare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 H/ d* f& g: P, p" k* k! t- kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 `' p3 p( e5 y. b! r3 B% B6 T( }own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 G% u* b  B( z/ J) S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ g9 y7 l" t0 y" r0 e! E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 f  h4 C6 c: L- q4 {( v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
( z9 d, z) D# e, X1 c6 K. vnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
' h6 V' ?# {; D6 v3 I" bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, B, D# h, A+ S* Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( z* D5 X+ ~  t, _& c
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! A' n. j; d$ Q8 e4 ^8 \0 h  ?; f8 _
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
; O: h1 \/ ]7 a  R. z( ]) Kthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very; n1 [; M/ s( Q1 I
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep$ ~; e& y3 I) b  D+ B
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: B& F9 t8 ]5 K$ O, @) m
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
$ G6 ~( D) G4 ^( q5 z) y0 @9 gthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms+ p7 V9 Y* N/ a' M) W/ u
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the; B: a$ b* |6 u/ i5 e! E# N/ d
tourist area.
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2 ^! ]+ A; H% Z8 m( sOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's# r3 ?: D; A( x/ S! H
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
* g- e8 o5 M4 WCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were/ ?4 w0 V. f' E/ g8 ^9 G
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 @0 i8 k5 D& V4 Q$ w' N8 d2 n
less leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
( B! p: z5 A  ]) Lgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
5 `+ }" l* L1 A  U; Z; q- ?black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
1 ~& ^6 N$ G3 ?5 E2 V9 [1 s% {embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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* e% D: S/ u0 `7 \5 U* mWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
( \6 {3 B& @0 p. Y" _: Q: ?parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& Y6 [/ ^  r$ q$ E
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
/ Q) N& L! E) T, q. _% wconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for! r9 [, b, I7 k2 ~3 d
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
+ J$ w! x' F. o; \$ h! o(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! S8 w7 Z% s2 @; u5 s/ S' _9 j2 U
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
# E4 s2 m( ~" J/ y9 B% ?9 g3 k6 Jreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 Z6 }3 b0 A& V4 Q/ d
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
7 Q3 v2 Z0 l( E7 T2 J# I( jor visitors.2 m& t6 Z& u, F. v- M+ N

. e; V9 {# F5 N7 r" @( F--  The End --

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