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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).5 }& {4 N. i3 [& F7 Y% m) F
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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. % S: X2 R0 ~  q. P6 q# 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.
. P; {( {* N% U+ i# L( @2 v& [" E" L: F  \+ b7 O4 w
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./ G$ }' L! ^& H- ~' J* n3 ~; M

9 @$ |5 S7 V  M' S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
; q- ~8 j& U& z/ G/ S8 finteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we8 }$ A! T* e8 ~& ^. v
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
- D0 S' [6 m% P2 I" \* R; b, ?; Z3 h/ N' Q
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
0 _+ E# |/ ^$ W/ i" z& ?5 L30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
  n0 p6 k+ U/ U7 }/ v& pa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
/ r7 y2 j, k% _, T! p5 o6 qpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
. R( N6 o: I1 e; c' q/ l' p9 G: f3 Lshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep' l- k$ Y$ R$ ^3 R( }  p$ u. u
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
) z! j2 v, C; T# Llobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,: P9 s  b; }. G% _  h9 |; a) O
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
1 i% f1 @$ J0 L& a8 J9 c People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
( n7 C- {. f: @* j: A' j2 S' x; j, ~2 o5 Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
. H. p0 X+ x- _2 ^/ Zexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our# v+ N' J) U  A: W' {
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through6 r" K0 g- G# q# F
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.5 U) k) j; _4 s8 e' h. R
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ f: J; ]8 ^7 r# {$ |4 ^
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
, N4 D2 q, A# Z9 n, C9 I8 [$ W" e: E(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 V# J. F; `5 p' N5 W& y# v
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the0 z; p' U+ A% U9 e* ]
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
8 B9 E2 T( k) N6 v* _( n49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
* I5 Y' N! S& h, \3 Q% gCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 K. `* E+ i; {- i2 H2 n
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.) A# x- c0 [* R5 `4 L

; b9 {7 Z. u2 S9 v) s5 yThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are: m7 C0 q6 r# f( @& p  W3 H. b+ w* W* k
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 K7 ~" u! l: H3 \; q7 h* ]8 {
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
) Z# |) S* N& e- p* d, ~tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
+ i& C# h. y; h4 ja staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
) q- F5 l) n4 I4 D* {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, living2 |/ x9 e) v1 S9 t$ n; K! E0 [- v
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
- p+ ^% A) ]& l' gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide," N4 G5 v$ O) _; ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; w7 R; P  }: O& [. i% ?" d: ?
answers to our pointed questions.+ e2 `6 Q( o8 X6 s

' G) }0 G4 d" O$ j5 bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 s1 m( x8 o3 i# ~9 K6 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ i1 E1 c; J6 G5 ?" s3 A  ]+ Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is- L& G( f6 ]& B: f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ U$ C; [6 z1 u3 e; v! v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ f+ y& R3 H) Q0 b: m
medical schools.
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: }* U5 W# V) K4 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 i6 Y; ]! q; r' Q5 B$ o5 R8 }0 [. egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 R4 H& X: [* Z" J% c. x! T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 H* |: k7 h7 hassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba' a7 C! e- ~  f8 @) a& R
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 z2 v* _& R8 S0 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There5 [' @0 q, _$ E0 z+ s- d8 V* a
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 f$ f& s) ^+ G- Q( M- J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& J: \  Z8 l, n- s: }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 o2 w9 Q6 f* [: E7 b# Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% e' ?# K% q, {& nThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
  }% r! \6 `) j* n* U+ nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
  E3 {$ L1 v- I0 D1 b9 ^- Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- a4 `' t& t9 q$ q6 Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
) b1 o' l! J4 Q% X+ k+ Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ b, g9 G% T8 }  Z( j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 ~8 i6 R. ]# G; `) e1 ~# Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., D: g: z# H0 P; V  j  m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
( ~1 |! e8 Y- U. j% Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# y9 @0 X$ Q* |% L+ O/ w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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6 z2 T- j# W4 x; @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& B  i$ A* F" Q4 c, u2 W! g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( ^# H- j8 Z' Y. x* T! a( Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 S( d7 R, X2 a# ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
7 |4 @0 r# x# }! F( }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 h$ U% q$ [4 z  Q0 i" f* \working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
  p, w2 s( P( \$ {schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 e3 o* K! t5 H& r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
/ f1 L$ B' D$ Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) X7 e: q0 s# e8 S" p5 Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; H: s# e8 m2 k3 W3 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 }( n' A/ Z9 e# V0 wto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or' T- r& c7 i+ O6 X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! ?  \, ]# q: p
are spaces.6 r" O1 q5 ]6 h( |* ~' o
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 ^9 u+ s1 o: ^9 {2 dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 [- ?! ~- E- w4 @own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, p, c/ A* O5 Y  [5 E9 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& j7 k" r; V  L' K# @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% o; p$ `; ?; z8 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
! k5 B0 F7 r- `+ U! }8 Snice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of% a) y& O6 W& ?9 `$ b* B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) G8 I! Y9 }1 W# ~4 ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 `( D: K! G% o0 ?+ B 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
  f" N, W/ n, U3 Ispots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
5 m2 T" }* W3 b  c0 G5 j0 |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- J7 P& H0 {0 f! S5 ]
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# E7 w. z1 a; B' x- t/ j& o
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: U8 j4 I8 i/ p6 I9 |- o0 ~- F
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
+ T- n) K9 @5 ^7 M& ^9 ythem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
8 R) \" ?' F; F7 ~1 l; Rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 N0 u, }8 B9 u5 x) x) n0 T9 h7 F  {
tourist area.
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6 q! @" ?9 W) q0 Q$ _, _( l9 qOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
/ l. C8 m" V- ~" |. b+ w" b% ppictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
+ M% R& k5 m$ |8 O9 N  D; D6 RCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
, K" w* m& d* l+ t1 y, o: E4 |3 `everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
4 w% p) b5 A5 Xless leader-religious.# r( W6 j; z' s0 N1 Y, y, |
& X; J5 M- U% L# X5 M8 L
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba( E( B* ~9 a. T4 `2 l7 m2 [
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big) z$ Y7 T5 e$ I) J1 {$ u& ~
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
2 i  U" N8 p* G6 ~  F( O) nembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
7 s. K% }  X8 f/ x5 c" c/ ~- v$ C/ y
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
' c# ^" t4 v, Z- Cparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
9 H1 h7 X" @8 x7 Z7 `0 X: tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
8 k1 s) f+ `3 X: iconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 i% \4 a* q7 y/ C4 q& }) s
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars/ G- ~7 W) i+ ^. t; _, P4 ?: {" a
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
7 ~- D- m) p  B+ N# `4 U' i9 t# F0 ?probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the+ ^4 A. ~4 P( f0 D" t
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.5 m  _% g  Z. g
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local& q* H. a2 Y3 h% m$ ?1 J
or visitors.
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$ j# o' ]1 S- A7 l9 h--  The End --

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