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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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& v$ W& d, f" [8 ~+ l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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6 N+ t& @) c3 K0 x! S/ R# G  v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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: {/ l9 A7 G/ L, x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
# Z8 U4 z2 m; Z. ?3 sinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) h; v6 K- B$ ]" ?; I) B; i
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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6 A  k# u/ x8 e) ?5 oIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,- I8 R, c! f8 x0 q" g4 Z7 l3 P1 d6 M4 S
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in" M/ }4 E: A' k4 W9 Z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
0 W" ~; g3 T0 j/ ]possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort5 X+ C4 O- g4 N) s
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
4 B$ I( S% @+ }between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
: Q3 `  f3 a# [+ ]% |: b  [0 h+ \lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 {# u. |+ h' G. T0 v
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
* F: J5 z( W$ }* x& Z4 i) d  c People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
( i# P, r- I6 `! {. M4 o/ jnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
4 N- [- s1 ^  W, ~# I$ {" n( aexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our4 ~- {5 m. V. Z# \8 I
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through: Q2 \, M: v! Z" j
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., Q! M  x8 g, _4 K! u
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
$ V5 n; Z; h! b, Jlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool4 u% h7 Y% [8 ^9 u* C* i
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
1 m/ @, Q! N) o3 E: aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the# q9 `8 D9 F0 T1 q) G
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
) z! I) o# t( o, B49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
- M$ A: A+ y+ d: ^3 w/ [Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
% p- P0 Q- [  n0 w/ V0 Yfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ q/ q3 W1 @8 D3 Q9 x: w. a7 j; [

" I. K( W6 A. ~( tThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are  F! L* h* ]: j: F/ j! U9 V# h# I
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
* y9 j  M4 I6 U' Qfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba$ ~* T8 B+ a9 C% U2 G# ~8 J& B
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
( m, R6 T, Z/ A/ c. d( i% o6 c2 sa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China8 {$ `! v& w. J- a& n6 ]
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
+ w2 w& p+ H( S: G* astandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went% W* j8 U0 f% q: R: `/ M0 Y& K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
1 o+ l" f: v$ B0 B$ O2 E) k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 w3 P% Q! H" \  @- M0 y" b$ zanswers to our pointed questions.3 C$ _* ^; Q' I# t  y) d5 O+ X
3 H+ n; q/ Q3 }% b6 {# G  U# M
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 J. P; u' c4 P- E8 I' R( N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" n% Y2 w+ d  J: T1 x( ^$ L
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is; ^! w; P( n0 T0 `1 J+ `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ c; u$ V8 H) f: e- U4 t* O6 _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& u. V% m1 z% t! ?+ jmedical schools.
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/ u- n- _1 y! W$ ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( E) d$ R9 @0 @+ H/ X$ B3 c$ Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- U# D. f' R* `. H$ Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
  c6 `1 C* G# j* eassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
- `' @* P9 `9 d8 Yis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* a4 E2 X6 k  X/ j9 {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There' l+ B3 G- c" D- P: r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 }# X5 {  K5 h% nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 g# @) o: B, |3 k. E# {% q+ `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. B# `0 ], T, E0 v& D6 s( E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no, f: t' S4 n1 D- n4 e3 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) D1 z, D5 k7 V9 rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' J# m# Q/ P6 B/ X+ H$ h2 thave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good$ S" J$ E. W: C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 O% v' p! e* o. x+ `sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 ^! ?( n1 R7 s0 l
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% w# C: E6 r4 w) PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
% F3 M! @9 k; `% {3 M# _6 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% E0 O& w& V3 g8 ccharge the fee defined by the state.$ h# W' w; ~' {' i' V" u$ i( B

3 k' B) E1 ?7 Z" k: R; S/ LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 F# c5 b3 g0 L; S$ u0 d+ Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: }) z7 S& M8 L1 o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' z* q0 c- ^, x& h
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
9 k4 f# ?$ |1 N  X* nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 y  o$ l; \  |) T. l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. n% f. u  c, n% Hschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* E! m% K8 ^' c* i6 g; b; Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people& u' E( j. @8 w1 M# D4 g+ O" ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 `" G6 x" W! }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' `0 g. M  o. X0 d, t- ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( `5 P% q2 s* p- ?( Yto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ l! j8 u  J& }( H2 c: n$ [$ t4 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there  e% M. o" V+ K+ o# D
are spaces.2 r3 Q! q  y5 U0 P: b  u8 ]; }
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 r; }1 Z2 W+ E+ B) ?5 q& R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 W+ d9 b6 T* \/ }own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 \8 }2 \: t; p/ j2 q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ j2 X) O" _( [6 ~  Q3 @& Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 V' l+ C: L0 p7 k7 F  ]$ f: |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
2 S. J7 M2 e1 r4 Z, gnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
# s& Y0 q0 |" |5 ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# @& j0 c# s7 d6 l- X" ]7 r, Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; q& i; X6 T3 e 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
5 B$ S0 [1 m8 ispots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all& t; I! W) S6 \! {2 b3 C9 O
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
4 V" r; `* o; V1 Rlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: n4 F- F% a. T
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: _/ A. B% c( ~6 q% `% U" y# ]
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
) i4 n/ [* U. ~7 J; cthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
- J' r# ^1 e9 }( v1 N7 G$ k  bhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the: A9 ~$ w% I  a" p  ~: v
tourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
  @4 ^9 \- N5 `9 Zpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).  w: ?/ [- ]! {
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
& ]1 `  W$ m9 @# W, b3 }- ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " @" G8 I: W+ {& y# h
less leader-religious.9 r5 Y# V' |' I1 P
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
( r8 F) V- @- u- qgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
# v+ q, E7 n* c3 Mblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
) w4 _% v" t/ @/ S7 K, \" rembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).- I+ z* c. P* }) I; i  |

, _6 `1 D$ ]6 N: z! ~$ L- h, MWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the1 z1 p( |& L2 @
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& U* ^" z$ g0 D4 m0 y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
7 q$ P0 }. t2 x* f5 sconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
+ f' t! z0 R8 i9 J* K& [' }. z* Bforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars  [- e: w+ v3 A! b# r  {! `: _
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ M; F: C6 T/ {9 ^. Z" O
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the8 p+ V. T* H) f. K
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
* ?6 K& k$ h+ {, c0 fAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local" G/ ^  l1 j5 \( N. l
or visitors.
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--  The End --

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