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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).9 c8 |, X. H6 S& g! |

3 W2 a. O2 {. G$ ^  Z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. 0 u: }; F  T1 `, u

! s% O9 N; m! _' N  f7 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.
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5 R$ Y! H8 [8 {2 {& t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 very8 n; W$ N. P1 `1 D9 y& H
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
7 x' x9 h" s! n0 j" N1 t9 Nwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
  ^$ _1 S+ J* U- D% ]3 r5 V" t" x. ^; d% r4 o5 Q
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
  |5 a7 T: m% a6 }- T. R30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in0 I8 j4 L( P3 x% l! {
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) p7 F0 I& O4 q; i8 ~0 g8 j
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort5 c! v  v$ |- D' q9 E7 u
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 I5 _& O5 A7 {5 _1 x$ b% R% `
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
$ o' l7 J4 ~. M; @1 b! V+ M2 Jlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
4 v! |% h2 ?' G7 y# O) L! m  n+ i: iwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.% d, J- l) f) t6 A+ O$ O) l
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( S+ r3 }  A: ?$ z' g$ R" m
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not2 e3 [" }) U+ }+ B/ |
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our; `" u, `8 P' q) i8 T
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 E/ a# B, D8 D; q
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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7 p4 M8 y& F3 `: L, KThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,6 ?4 f: F0 T0 t* j! w& {) O
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool, q  c7 Y: u- j' P1 B
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top( ^" t. B/ a6 ^$ X7 R9 Q7 r
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
0 E6 \" Z- I. B' Astars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
$ v% f- g+ }; D* t- {49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes1 u2 w- a, A' s( Z
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
; \8 H/ q% x7 k5 C! `3 ifingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.8 M& ?( y, C( x1 \1 E# U5 l* v

$ B: o) m4 L4 R. A& |% ]The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
+ f3 T) U7 K: d. ?just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 K) d  {' `& q' @& f
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba8 \5 R  E  S0 U0 V5 t0 j8 Y
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
% f  z0 Y( d- r. h6 t- Q/ }7 ja staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
5 h, Z& D% N; }4 g3 B6 Y4 x& k" fdaily 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
- _) n5 W: |/ V5 i! Wstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went4 z, A, r  b1 U4 R
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
1 h7 z0 [6 i+ v7 t" O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: }1 P6 c; I% e/ z6 e3 p- m( F
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 x! A$ ^; N* ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 O9 n! r1 \* p- a' |  X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is4 e- M  x5 T: q9 W- d" _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 h2 K/ t+ J/ M. N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! P* r& ~5 ]6 M5 x
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 `+ H8 G& p1 O! b& H( M: N6 W% V* Y# h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 v- E8 x+ V* P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" w" j: |' g. j% D& B+ J
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba9 m8 o; s4 ~' F$ X& g8 r& Y
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* P6 I) f6 q$ W  Q4 a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
; P  c' x! d; W% g. rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! b2 N" [3 \0 w+ ~( c: }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: c! N' e1 L" C/ T0 U( ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) X. j$ z' F2 J4 f5 @- a6 F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no  v& H. q/ R4 K  |+ W+ e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* y0 A/ g" Y! m" e& B1 G  f! j. }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ H5 i2 f: d; t( H: Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good4 u5 J3 l1 V+ ]- w0 V8 Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; b1 R+ k! b% G/ b3 u1 ]9 Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' P; I+ [3 B! wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ A$ Q2 d; H% MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
; ^" ^5 W- P1 k7 |# A8 g: q' a+ [1 u! \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; }: \9 s4 n, i+ t! ^$ echarge the fee defined by the state.2 W" p# A6 p0 ~* ?3 S. n
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ u+ @7 i; \( t7 ?! q, [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 {- K- F) r: I! P. D$ x$ u3 n. k2 tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; h! ]! U; D9 ?' G( d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
2 e. }: _' w9 Y1 E5 k8 Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 k1 [& p1 s6 n1 [4 M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 ~6 @. v' |4 Y" b1 G& q+ X9 {+ W7 ^schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ a6 w( ~, p4 v7 ~" Q9 m) W8 y* M
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people7 X$ n: o& z3 X+ R3 S- n  K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 y3 N  q6 X0 y8 b1 X' b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& Z; l- L- Z- Z) P" i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( m1 i4 t# [% e! Y4 ~0 E: b
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or, s0 X! {, G3 I* c: t* t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 m( g5 R2 Q. {1 g6 Mare spaces.  p- }* [) l1 A* f/ h/ C5 s/ q

- s4 h5 C# D& xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ U0 R6 ^+ u" M" ]& y/ c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" f+ v9 [5 J, u( f8 x; V8 gown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! {3 @1 A, s1 p# H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, t: `) I$ _9 E  M8 O6 W- v2 G5 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* f% V: H; f: s% a) w1 cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few) q4 @$ O  s5 X* u' _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of1 C+ q6 Q3 _6 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 M' y; E$ f5 G! X2 B& L" Q) {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 S$ v% O4 E+ U8 A% e( C3 n/ r
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* a9 X" V) g# z) ]9 @5 A
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
/ |2 T0 p- ]& ~: F, B6 \. p  O6 _the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ L! d  Z' N$ l; b
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
& |" u% p* j3 v* b1 Q7 b+ Crecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
- [* s, s( i% C. t/ v* |supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of1 ]" I4 w1 B9 G/ L0 x
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms) ~- e  i# V' z
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the) Q  Y- U& L$ e9 T) b1 `9 |5 M/ i  X/ p
tourist area.+ q, X+ x% u3 p5 B6 b. L/ [5 r

6 B/ F7 O* |" C# z! I8 ]One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
9 b& T2 ^8 j! @/ \pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).$ C5 o2 ~& X. n7 F
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were2 d) C6 S$ \7 e( b" q9 ]7 U& i. ^
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & Q" A- M* P9 Y3 ~0 e1 Y* o
less leader-religious.
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0 ]; F, O8 I( oAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba( ~, R6 `! m8 a- a5 Y
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
9 A; l& z& y8 ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US' W8 l0 v4 j  J/ f& ]
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).# f& w6 O" n/ E8 k( i5 W  ?
# t. f: V2 `6 F' y  [; e
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
( ~6 f5 L) A& l. F7 H3 l. n+ iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
& C  Q  O" m4 S8 A  w; ^1 p: }the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1  k, W4 q; B' X: ~0 Q+ {
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 O! Y4 N0 t  ?* u8 c0 C& Q
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 @3 ^7 e. }8 k/ r! y7 K" A
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
8 L; R9 H/ w* J% ?probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the2 e/ ]) c( [1 r/ }7 y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." f* j0 w1 r# T7 l
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local" r$ i6 U+ @2 ?* ]! v* k6 e
or visitors.) j8 a- d8 |0 U. T( O
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--  The End --

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