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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).4 h0 p, F. p0 D! _

" ~$ L* D. J8 ~" L; N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. ' I3 ^9 s) b, v7 i9 C- c5 k) q

% t5 l2 U" w* i: [' H+ `. 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.
+ c3 Z# T8 ], _! H
3 C9 u" d! ]" I% 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.# ?1 k& [8 T( m2 W  Q$ I1 {4 V
+ q4 H. ]6 A1 V2 J/ e
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
+ T* ^; L. O. `; w0 }. c9 Ointeresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, U. A" P# ~2 t' B+ n
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.( f* N8 i  f) \5 U% }) F% U/ R7 L; K
: F- a$ a- e* j) B3 f
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
# p3 Y( Q/ O$ |7 ]6 b30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in  j4 m9 d& E: D; i' W* m8 y7 _
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
' a0 p9 Q0 O7 ?# D  |  @7 |* `. r) wpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort  x" y4 v* E3 T
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
* l5 C+ x; I. N% abetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
/ N. @& J, X3 H0 }1 w. R& f  f& Vlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# B$ b% b& ]7 q7 e$ ^: B
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 Y8 j' n6 ~# q) e+ O5 r$ D  \
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
) @) C- Y3 B4 [) i6 x$ W7 p3 t( |names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not+ R- h% J6 ?. B4 X/ H- D. T  k
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
% g% }2 L, B" ]( N' eflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
9 n& s7 r0 ^. a: a( da roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
# d$ \8 M1 \1 l' u2 [7 m
$ P8 T$ h# x. \1 {6 r4 _The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,+ q! a( }3 d: n/ q
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool5 ]* c# V, a8 Z9 I9 I& Y0 `- ]
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
- H) F  T8 ^) T2 K: [4 tof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the- f! ~+ K$ a- H7 k* l0 Z
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from, ~  ^* J/ b4 R# ~/ J
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
5 M: j- o; n* J, Q+ C8 z" [# VCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
8 y) q$ S8 e+ x# T/ p% Lfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
. e; r4 p, s3 q+ E, ]4 }
; b$ u1 ?  m/ k/ J' [/ Z8 i0 [The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 y1 y4 L2 o4 C3 J( [+ n. _
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made( p& v  O: T! S3 ]2 s  T+ ~
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
. c! Z1 a9 p# J0 r5 K* N" Y$ Ntourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having) L  m: V' i; c+ ]
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
$ e+ M0 i) E  W0 ?( b5 N2 K6 xdaily 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 Y; R' @' M8 q( Y" \
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went( k* l# z8 a& F& F% x1 @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
# ]* ^7 N4 {" k* X( W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& m9 M" c) W; a8 r' Ranswers to our pointed questions.
: x: T, f6 q% k% b- C" E
0 q. u; O2 g* }) NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) b: J! L8 B( f/ N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; X9 q2 o* S3 g/ U% v% U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
0 X; ~( }/ J  S6 l4 D2 U7 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 p$ K7 X( M) j  M# t8 m/ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 |. l* c, {4 P# P8 Fmedical schools.
% n- t5 t% ?6 g* {( @) {5 O
' G' B- X' Y7 {( rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 L6 a8 P* b: X: Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& K1 w# q" [7 H8 T+ Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; ^3 h2 p: u& K" N) qassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba, F) [9 K3 G% ?6 X
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. `$ a! I3 e8 F" x4 W6 g" [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
) k1 Q  z7 P. p% @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 c3 f2 R9 R  ~5 @6 i; h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 Y) U: S9 V6 a6 {, c- s% A! j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, q& D% r# x( D; {; E: L
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! H  b8 x% Q, @& P) U

8 P" ]! |; u+ e. I1 W. `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
; w) {9 X6 {5 \/ ^% Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 Q- L9 i* u: W* Q. L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* r7 |. u1 a2 Z5 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
$ N- {' s' d. D$ }, \4 i  Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" e2 h) L# o- i0 r' G) isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! x" y. }) z. n; t+ ^4 Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' R+ R* Y5 H& u: a$ q0 g# T$ UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
; ~% I; H# h8 J6 S  G; z$ B2 ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 x3 {3 f: g  n8 P7 @; ^5 k2 Z' Y; R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' s  x* u4 ^. c+ A& l8 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 K; X# {- V+ V7 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ V% K  i8 {; a
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel) k# N# b, C- s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 ~# b' l/ v) ^0 A' x6 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, @. u. m9 T9 T/ M3 \
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 D: m6 `, v6 n0 [3 a1 T) J' L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people0 K$ P8 R5 ^2 l$ k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# j; H1 e: l7 j. J* V/ H4 A- C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( l8 u1 y8 ]' V( [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' v* P0 r9 Z+ d7 ato go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 e* M& U9 |3 W. K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 M, A& q/ l2 V4 Z$ r( m. R# F; B
are spaces.
* o/ |! ^% `6 `8 p9 Q/ ]& ]: C
6 B5 C5 d3 a& s- {0 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& `5 e* s, D  H0 X5 k' ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 l8 ^; Q' B9 S% h
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& x! H. T+ x- p# Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" G: _- f3 h) H( d  Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' S4 ]9 J! t. _0 r: e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few7 {1 J* X% c: G' u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
  E$ c2 n  c, i3 T# K5 r* z9 k4 Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 n# H5 d6 {* V$ W; Q5 t& wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& U  I1 L. ~2 S8 D 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
3 z) F" k: m  V% xspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
6 [& b7 n/ t; Z2 _  sthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
8 N2 j6 u7 H6 F0 u  c+ vlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep- \6 S% a; E5 C7 E. m9 O* x/ S
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day0 V  x" {0 z. Q& b6 Q: ]
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
9 ]* G8 x, ^/ o( d3 o% |them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
2 t' A4 E. w  q' B- khave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the9 |2 o) X8 l' b. c/ O
tourist area.
/ E2 `, W7 J) E! m
/ f: }; g( q' i$ _One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's" ~. p* w5 V! Y/ X( r) w. i
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).7 x* Y- y) h* J# p2 c* z
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
1 A  L+ W" c- t1 neverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
) I; D) N7 ?# L7 \! Tless leader-religious.# p% `2 Z7 |) ~* t5 S1 E) Z
7 h- d5 r9 [3 ?! z" [% C5 X
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
, n( ?$ M! P) |3 I3 G; dgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big6 z5 s+ D  ^6 ^# j
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US$ a* z, D1 l$ z' F: A8 [  d
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)./ M0 H: }. w9 \) Z; N
7 w8 q" s& d* o$ T+ v2 M" |
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
' K9 ^& ~, o% Tparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
, p  T: ^+ c8 c8 X3 V& Othe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $19 z4 a2 _8 F# y5 p+ v" a' u) Y
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
2 T3 W# N, I  j  M- T  F8 l" ~foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
7 l# _" u7 a) B6 \' a(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 q1 i- |* P+ Z- E# X! X# F
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
  N2 n# ?5 C( e3 b6 breal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.* s$ L! W6 {8 t9 q
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
/ l: l- r2 I- [5 l+ h4 D5 J3 S  Xor visitors.% Z& Z/ c( U& s% F

% }& ~# Y4 ^% O2 A--  The End --

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