freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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).* s6 a/ g4 n+ z# r
3 X1 y. S$ G+ v
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. % J  r. a* [0 y' z- e$ g& c
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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.
  O% U# l0 {+ S; T  {
7 R" K4 `  `- y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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8 M; r: J  e0 Y4 W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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very& N, G7 W* _- g- r0 q
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
) s6 x1 _$ Y3 M" iwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.5 V0 h" R. A3 O1 H/ O0 j  `& T5 J! o

. r6 f- a8 M7 w( I+ s4 y# PIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,7 p8 @3 F9 X9 v$ R+ i/ _
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
3 F0 D9 k# }( i6 Oa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as' ]0 W& \: g5 ^# C+ o2 l
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
# n7 N. ?  z! X" ishow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep' J8 Z9 J( V% E# A, H0 U4 Z7 [
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the- M6 a: O2 p0 ~, {7 D0 d
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
, M+ n3 a/ P. k/ nwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
" z( x/ i/ ^' t, H) W9 ? People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( p6 J# a8 [7 G+ T. N6 K
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ N) ^( L7 ^2 z* s
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
. N/ h6 \1 o3 q5 Mflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) r; T: M, C' I/ L. i1 X; a+ f  C
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- O8 F2 K& {) a9 U3 o$ @+ |
) U. s* ?- P! g# u- v
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
+ a1 n% e  z( i1 ~. ~% plow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
3 o2 f$ f# f* h# W5 s(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
6 \, m$ M% b& j3 B) Fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the. L. V5 T: H0 W! \+ K0 M, V
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from  @0 e" b/ p. I) v/ Z3 w
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
, k4 J# `6 p. `" |& O' KCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with* `! s$ B4 W3 ]7 L3 e
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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/ m3 O9 C* _& h$ M) J# b! \The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
; X+ R9 g) v( Q& e& Djust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
9 e. \8 F* p( C* b  \, u5 Sfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
" e' K2 X; i( S$ Qtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
. o# A. l9 a& m9 ja staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
7 j' G5 X& t% i* [- Idaily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
9 _% j# u- H! k! [7 Jstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
$ w& z6 c' L! i( n& z  z0 mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
* d' X& u/ }7 z! g! c9 G- l$ i"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* z  [6 H! O! j& R9 I( e
answers to our pointed questions., ]/ _; b6 f5 W3 i* J9 v, x. N
; q5 d, y. `7 q' Q
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! x7 b2 |( H3 t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 @' C- X/ e( W& f0 i# U! Lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is: o4 Q9 A5 @3 D1 f: j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 o7 m" E# j2 W+ Z" j/ Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* ^; |& c7 E' I: Z3 e+ O# {
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; {1 H" O4 j5 k2 `: B# E9 ^. Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" ?$ j, k, m! X3 m9 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& W/ @5 q1 h$ s* M/ z2 k9 c2 Tassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba5 U* @9 w" C% ^! k- \
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' a* ^' `7 o* }* {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
& j7 o2 U9 x. H  P6 I- F- N! G6 \) Cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 {5 p4 Z; u% L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, \5 ~6 I. ^* T$ c) K* k# M5 |shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
  y+ `0 H" e" c5 q9 @# Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no4 g7 n) h3 x, @1 Z& S
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ G7 F3 u/ U7 ?* @, \% ~3 Psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: Q# y* O8 l; B1 i, d+ a: dhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
: \- d; q$ N  Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ v0 f2 ^& a/ ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. m4 W+ [7 N4 H- U  u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ C! U% d& M7 }1 @' F3 X1 i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
  w* @0 J% s4 ?  }& N  G' ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 a! l/ r6 H9 T+ U. J8 {charge the fee defined by the state.) U' D' d1 `- V8 p

0 t2 B3 t, \0 y2 G* J3 WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 E8 @6 z* ]5 p9 T$ E4 ?1 l  M6 Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ @! k8 r1 K/ f- bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) a0 T4 H3 A: i& Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel4 E/ D* {" v2 w4 c0 d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* F1 |) L& ?, Y" S* D5 W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 Z/ c' s3 q* w! a2 yschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 ]& I% S% S) w( ]; W* K' C! c: l$ I3 }4 c6 s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people3 g1 L% R/ z4 R( a# a) G% v9 J) W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- R( K2 d% l4 r( c. C: g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 ^( A6 e: ]3 b. l0 }1 R% Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 y0 e8 `9 ?0 V3 E) wto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or( b( D( A( f' y2 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: c4 P; [0 O2 Y( s
are spaces., n3 T3 g+ [0 H: x( j" I7 ?
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& C, [: x, e/ G+ Y( X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! \5 g- z. ^  J/ a. j% T! g0 Iown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 m: e4 e: C: q4 N& W+ s# a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# x8 q1 c4 Z7 B( ?! Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 t1 O/ t1 U9 R7 W# H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
5 Q. u/ R! F# b' O5 nnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
  ]) K+ N' U5 o0 O1 bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 m. U7 ?. ?/ u1 v, P! g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! N4 [& [( R5 e8 K( M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful  ]9 o& r6 Q% P2 a) V9 Y8 @6 H
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
. c1 {" K1 \( s9 M% m. sthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very2 `" e, A4 l1 f/ `- S
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
3 p# H& f& }4 h4 U% Z% v7 Mrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day3 l: ~; V' W5 e3 Y3 h8 z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of8 N! N( T' d1 \
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms2 @0 F7 z' W( ]! ?/ M
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
; |$ b" n% F2 V$ x  h" a- Ctourist area.2 A- a- Z3 F  Y  @: J3 P+ I: }

9 @+ v) ~5 A2 v* Y3 IOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's- \! m6 }% L7 ?% C
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
2 b0 n4 l- U/ ?4 s) h* T' yCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were6 }9 z; _0 B+ X! Z9 p
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
# l2 ?4 U3 m8 vless leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
2 n/ u. H: c9 W* c$ ~government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big8 f3 D' g7 x$ B3 z7 L: i; A
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US: w& e9 l$ V8 _' L9 M% O. [
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).$ W) V2 Q7 {* G9 m9 z8 k- t5 {" o3 m

" w9 Y$ S$ B" ~2 D5 `# @We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
& I" j( Z1 x  o3 v7 o6 A  Cparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; @" w' ^3 Z; _# Y6 \* ~
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
. R7 v9 Q8 i( j: q' Z+ I  Uconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
8 t4 \9 E/ f3 t' \- M8 n' eforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
+ I& ]9 Y7 A, V% E0 J4 R- [(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we( I7 }4 w, O8 d
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
' d5 V5 {# b* Z6 c6 J* creal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.6 m9 ]4 i; @* g" v! |! Y+ ^3 V
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
6 s; V$ W+ B) H; f0 B9 z& B' wor visitors.3 G0 W, ]& T6 C

* g$ n3 O* _  E- m/ p--  The End --