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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. , W1 L; E! L6 W5 t9 r- o: T7 T

3 x- h( p* C& |( J; i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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7 }" E# V& L; k: O+ [$ U3 m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( _9 I* Z: z* Y9 n" K
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we4 J" ]8 Q2 E- U3 ?
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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1 a& j7 I6 Z! Y! l( a9 c( sIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,1 b" M( O; M7 j2 l
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
$ X/ N! H6 h8 \5 `$ m6 f0 m' ]a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
1 z$ b; c9 H/ H3 S/ u/ d7 D# b2 t0 Xpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
1 y/ Y7 r& g6 gshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep$ R9 j8 S; P6 `& N
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
& p" n% V* F1 x6 b/ {+ nlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,- c0 p  t: o+ ]
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
, ]8 N% p: [- r' w+ Q People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
6 K, ?6 @; K  [: Snames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not, x- ?! V4 S% r0 z
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our% v; E/ z8 K$ j& f: `
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 A* L3 x8 y2 f! Y" Z
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.2 |  [$ O) r! O  ~- z; h* z

( X' U$ @) c/ IThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,6 ?/ E/ `2 i. v9 H- K+ W
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool5 M, X+ {' q1 P. E- ~( Q$ F  `. x
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
" R2 v: i- B  `( Oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the4 J: c9 H& e) \2 G/ I9 v
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
7 s7 I5 h9 ~: b% C. H6 u49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes) z: R7 T2 c# U# u( k$ p, b6 O
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
$ h& L' y- O0 S' k7 ^fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.3 s3 S5 b( j' q# w4 y

# q, Q) R3 v- EThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' g9 z( b: R! a0 [0 M
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made  L/ G: F( x5 Q0 }0 k6 Z% {
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
& I/ s1 A" Y" s3 o& P& ztourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
& |0 x# f4 [& A5 o3 Ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
. f. Q4 L( 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, living9 v  M( y3 e$ G$ f7 B
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
1 D, Q# c8 F* j7 h& L2 B7 Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
) G1 }4 f# u  V% z8 p# W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ b) P4 i* T0 I! sanswers to our pointed questions.) k- p2 |/ @) {( F: b

( t- q$ n3 E7 Q; a7 BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 t1 n, A$ R0 E% X% U# T4 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 m( _& e! S) U6 V# J; t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
' W' f4 Y& z; b: _0 afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 J# O3 R* R9 c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) ^9 G: u# i( ~7 t- K2 l* imedical schools.
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% x5 ?- u6 u3 v1 B: ]Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* n5 T! {. F& j) l  @4 i) `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 Z& _4 f# f3 V% E- b% r2 k4 m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; o9 \$ S% g1 E# V3 P
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
. o' o: r6 {7 ]+ L  n$ Z$ y3 L7 Yis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 m; e* K" r1 i+ [% n/ Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There; i0 v. Z: d, c0 m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; w  Y- n' d; @! f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. H& Z2 b8 M" Z; |& L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* H6 o  I  d( msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
$ a# Q. K4 N0 p/ uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- F+ D: p: z5 K* }! p& L7 P+ k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: x5 o, p6 E1 k- a$ Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
/ M6 P& f2 S9 f6 ^( Q& bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ G* H" |- z, G* c, Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 ^" a9 |; ^2 y4 Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 a& j: V1 G6 H$ q$ Q# O' L: @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
1 x  c8 G2 W1 j. r: ]" ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, r, D4 f& s1 P# [2 H! |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: I# C5 {' }8 u* n# O! {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 `$ _( F( r" ?' c& x. sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 H' j/ u4 D: b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
: w3 m0 d# s8 iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# e  H* \8 {  ]- {6 D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. J, z' q( D8 m0 `7 j1 u, t  sschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( _# E9 l8 ~- o0 o0 W; Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people: q$ T5 K+ G6 q- N- _( ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( l( T( k" `3 V" i2 [5 `6 z1 M
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" v9 ~1 {, Q* Q) D/ _# ]9 x* b6 `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 d' h7 \4 v3 L! R7 o: Nto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 z1 r/ u4 N- [, t5 S+ q0 t0 K/ F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* u. w% U; B8 A' i. g4 {6 `* {9 a
are spaces.
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9 d" f' m3 F/ h2 [" c0 a7 K. YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* q( d  [: Z* v0 Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 V' Q# p% i$ d
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 y, O0 l( L6 j( ^" y3 u& u- S0 w3 \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: L: A) b- B; w+ i% p: f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* c! j2 D. m3 q; n) obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
" E# ~: V7 `; L1 M! j8 p, tnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
% e" P$ S. ]" k0 k# kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 z6 G' u5 e6 t) Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 Z7 ^- c7 H6 `% g" P  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 beautiful
: h3 w' V9 d' ~2 B: }5 L8 x1 g6 Kspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
: `& B6 o3 ^. s- {- |( o4 bthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- Z2 L3 j  U0 O1 P
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep) V( u- ^* L' k# D
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. W) W* l$ G+ N3 [: v
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
9 q6 h. j: s: y* t2 a. Z& R3 ^them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
6 n5 i. {: q( chave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the3 w6 l) i# N" G$ D; R! J% b
tourist area.1 T" d: B& s& t/ A  S5 n/ |8 W

4 m* H, H6 O+ sOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
4 N6 B4 U2 N' f( E, Ipictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).4 x% ?1 s, Q4 y' l% q
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were8 _" p" Z! f, _8 R( Z! Y
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - B( {/ {( e; \* q& `5 h
less leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
# h1 ^6 d6 Y+ G1 o1 agovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big- D& ~) {4 X, K
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US2 g* i+ o* e2 a: y; j$ Q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).- {: x+ I. [, [- o' q! \0 R
: U( W) z  }. p0 b
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
  S$ r# W/ U8 cparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
1 q, \5 }, V! o. h1 V# {1 sthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1. a7 n' i6 h$ `
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
' K% E* @+ c- d  O2 o- i& ~' Y% @! tforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
( U; }4 F1 p  m, i; ]1 y$ Q( A(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we$ O4 A0 r8 k7 _
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the# i& W. i4 |  c4 z6 A% i
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
( A8 Z; q! I8 P. ^# S; aAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local* O: R- B5 h3 P
or visitors.
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3 t7 N9 c5 M+ q0 t% a--  The End --

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