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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).7 c5 d6 l! Z0 V- l  Z9 K& u" ^  _

8 U" @" [, j# M0 `3 l7 ?, ~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. # E3 L, A4 u0 |" 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.% z( F5 h" _% l% m* ~& q* {

/ W; Z. |' x2 E! ~6 r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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5 b  Z* h- e6 I5 V; g; u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
* K( w0 n6 ?( C# W6 ginteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
9 M; ?, L# T2 n1 P! b1 d( C5 iwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ A) A0 W" p$ l& B

( r" l3 |/ _6 _+ X, C9 @7 U! D- s+ x9 VIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,4 x5 C" b6 n: q4 z+ x+ A- c
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in2 S; O+ f3 ?+ \. v, n
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
' d, ]1 U/ I+ ?3 V& ^+ bpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 l/ _# H; |2 Y  e
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep$ L2 _7 ?" _, C; r4 `
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
) c4 o8 q/ o5 u& U+ I; nlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
: h' i; n7 f6 t( Zwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.9 H1 _( K  Y: v
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
1 U% S* W4 ^$ ]9 Knames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not! Q1 f1 n1 W* W- J2 k" w) s
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
& t' H3 R9 |% r" Yflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through0 c/ K3 x1 x* a  @) @( G9 @% c$ h
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
8 \0 o" b( k6 {- b$ Zlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
& n7 N. w( N/ T& h  G2 u' @4 U(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
$ P" T6 N( P# r3 ~( s3 fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the# K; X# @  T+ X5 Z& g
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
/ d) E; O5 \: D2 d+ a3 Y49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes  h9 G6 r& m% ~' P7 f3 q$ r3 s) s
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with  G3 v2 g& n. w) Q$ B1 D
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.7 g! q( f; h% k, J# |% f

' F* Z$ U4 A' |9 @5 {; zThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
! d: d6 u9 f! Q" m$ n2 Tjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made6 w! C; @6 e$ u1 U
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba# ?4 f% B8 r! c& X
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having% A3 I6 }" p9 ]1 w+ p2 Y, ]. R
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China! j% p8 |: \; |5 g) g
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
  c5 H6 l$ h' U: hstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
. D  m9 D2 p8 S; i0 N* f* z+ zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
6 N5 B( [3 d! L1 d3 I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& z/ _0 @; T# a$ a) _answers to our pointed questions.
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& \1 E, y( K' m' c( `8 OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 y- n% u+ a' ^" F- X6 [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 r- I2 w7 O) ?. q2 F9 dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is0 s  ^% Z" c. {! T+ g2 w# ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- m) c+ b$ Y8 ~- P, N- X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 f7 P( ]+ j+ t0 P9 N' ]% Omedical schools.( k5 E5 j, e" m- J4 h4 W2 n
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# w" S0 ~7 O6 i$ b7 h$ U$ x" r
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
  d5 |! {+ y# u9 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 f* R1 d8 ~3 |3 @8 g- T
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
$ k2 n' E% b+ R* R; Y8 C/ ]) R3 |is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 V5 e. \; x" z& Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There* D8 `& f$ B- A, d/ v: z5 S) G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. ]' C; m2 \& i7 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 e) m, `$ ~: e( f2 j* W8 l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 l6 \% }. U! ]' |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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7 G" A7 R- U* V; h) Y7 AThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no/ p. V- n* y: `% T7 G, V8 t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 t, t1 y. B- Z) p5 b! E0 ]5 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 V5 J% L$ f" A& w& O& D& U* P
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good9 E7 J$ Q! K5 t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 {% B! \9 b% i( H+ ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 ?; _2 ]6 Y3 K5 |7 j1 y# `/ bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 M( b* Q5 h0 y, U, ^6 [. UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When4 ?% k: N( c0 P) I) A. g3 k" y1 O
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. u) {( g! q& e& ^
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 Z* E* q: t- m4 A2 n& b6 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 x* B8 L2 A" H) C; O3 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% |, g6 L: O% |& i; htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel- S" \1 `! ^3 B, X2 c9 P5 P4 S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- D! H: \0 Z; h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 C, C/ u8 j- C5 |8 z0 ]' r
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 \2 C0 f8 D3 E3 |% T8 @& a. [0 h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
# L* o' z, _: v9 ?! vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* H! B& q+ p1 m. b$ s" q' e" dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- @9 B) b& H- @7 H6 z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: O1 S' G! r0 b* r# |" a6 Z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 [) }% q- B8 h) L) {" s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 b8 o3 W' |0 I- _* g% g
are spaces.
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7 P3 h# D; D8 a* Y9 F. M6 MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% G3 {2 _0 t$ g0 B& d9 Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 J3 N5 G# l0 D4 y7 w. }6 wown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 }4 W  q/ |( G4 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% {* E; |, f6 G4 o2 fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
  N1 L" P. H5 ^/ V+ Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few- ~7 w$ a4 o* Q/ v* k/ s+ O% v; w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of! s" }7 t/ ~+ G! `- i& S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 v+ s$ Z- E+ Z7 ~9 C3 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 r: M9 }: e0 h: W, i7 B6 m
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# r9 j9 M$ N. Z( q7 M6 y7 |* e7 X5 [
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all* ?* O7 Z6 Z. J# s+ D! t" k
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very3 m) z% V+ y( P& _8 a
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
- Y  w! Q# j' @( Nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
$ W" g: ?) E; D+ b, wsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
0 x9 _- y6 S2 s4 O4 Lthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
" u/ z0 S, q4 Q8 ehave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
8 i: f. }, `$ B/ A- F  ltourist area.
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% h) ?/ {' d2 _& o  M1 r- b5 IOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
2 H# S7 }3 w4 }7 T- {pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' ]: X& u& V! O  h) [- ~' R
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
3 C4 A+ `. y$ Zeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
: l8 l" r" I+ c; Vless leader-religious.% c) k' y9 ]' L/ ]; W1 c

; K7 r$ S2 {; T. UAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
4 ]& ]% A" X) \% {+ c9 Fgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big/ q) B5 W! L) k8 Y  `+ Z
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US! g& {% F' ~! N( O3 Z3 g1 O
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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! C# S( O9 {! W* |8 D! f9 aWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the4 u2 F/ ^: O! b1 s/ ^
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
1 A% x5 S/ {) H0 Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $17 x; x' j" a1 G8 i
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
: N  M8 N) N6 q0 q) o1 k6 {foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars& b+ r- v' ]- n3 T, v3 V; D6 q$ c2 B
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we2 Y) Y; G' u2 V' Q! w! K
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the) y9 b' O$ A1 W3 y9 D% k# d( T
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." X. \9 [; Z" y0 @' F6 C
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local1 ]4 r+ E- D! h5 A: ?
or visitors.
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--  The End --

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