freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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)./ G) T& m! P5 i! T
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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.   K$ f* c1 y) A! x' V, e  D

8 m6 s& Q( r/ |3 K9 ?7 k+ }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.' M3 ]7 G! p3 V# Z7 `
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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., r+ e0 n& `. Y! K: Q3 K* A
& U1 u+ }* f7 q) w9 e+ 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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very
* E1 Q0 P1 t0 V0 b# Ainteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
$ S9 x: M$ E( m3 fwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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8 j. R. |* G# y- W& v, h9 {5 n, aIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,7 l+ \  U  c; U  w2 d1 @. o
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
$ q* w' \; j$ O& g' ~# o0 j" ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
0 t" M6 H4 s, |possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
& A- t( I% Z! S% q4 U* [' y. b' jshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ }5 D5 i, a- A3 u  I7 A/ T$ x
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
, W# }, Q+ ~; olobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
$ n; ]; \) u1 c5 \0 A9 Z/ Lwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.' L; r% W/ _) A5 V& O
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
1 G6 t2 D  }6 Y  O# {names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
7 W1 B1 w! T. N. ?, h+ K( Sexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
% f1 j& d  Y1 X' ]$ Y! [flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through0 h& j, i: s' E1 W6 _8 n
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.3 g" t! h. u4 X) w' p0 H

' P  G, a4 v  u$ @3 K7 B7 N5 zThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,8 [5 l! K4 P$ V7 U
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool  C' a$ }/ x7 `  D4 ?: `
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
3 s" V) m6 v) a( l7 ?9 W' ~of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
2 O; r. N% T8 D6 K9 qstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
, h- l5 V' y- d, Z7 N* [49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
* z$ j8 q% C0 w7 [/ Q. s7 X+ c. NCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 K! X' j; E( ?  R* e
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.# {! q0 q$ `- `* \, }5 j. C+ h
6 ~" }9 R0 N; G& l
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, q0 [6 p$ u1 M$ ~; j+ x3 w
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made+ n! N! L  t/ s6 _0 n1 ~" `
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba- K! @: o; e& x$ _4 S3 c
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
; V  x, E5 I1 J, `, E' \a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
; R: n% `, i0 B1 k( A+ n/ h; U8 y/ Sdaily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living* F% ]# k% M1 j' l- ?; R4 u' n
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went0 M; Y5 \& N$ V( m( c, D: S; t1 N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
. S' M/ g' k' O' f8 J- m$ L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, ^; i' Z3 O' G, x6 Aanswers to our pointed questions.
% }1 L( o0 B0 |) z$ C1 H8 @
( T/ s9 Z- l* k8 M/ r! [  R" m6 A* @5 QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 O; f, Z$ A; z5 q" I9 V" c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' M8 @; S- l' ?. N. W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is4 T# Z' L9 b* N% J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ I! E% h1 d& d8 k6 V: e) p* X. k+ s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! N7 C, |" Q/ k# L" _
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ b$ D2 y3 i% O+ O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 K. P% ~$ m5 A$ v' a
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' D3 z7 w% `9 z, O1 H
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba8 Z4 x7 ^. g1 ]- }
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 b+ U6 }$ G$ h8 D4 w1 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
; K% i7 D- m7 {& `seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ w+ H1 b0 ?/ [* Y0 C8 nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 t/ U0 u; m7 P; w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some  p$ |) i2 M: v# i! w0 Y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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& X5 |6 G& L- v2 \' KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no+ G4 n" W% Z6 p; r/ ]: _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: a; H/ R5 v5 M! o- ]3 p" {; m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 _$ J- [9 g$ X5 Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good9 d+ q8 i3 N2 ?; W: n3 n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 u- K# m0 \/ N# i" i  }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) L. x1 y- e9 w1 Q0 j8 Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 R* x& k1 T5 T% e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When# r: X6 w2 d9 |' `2 y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) X# H7 l* E  k. R: [charge the fee defined by the state.: X2 L, i) ?7 a3 p, f( u6 f

3 l( P; V$ u. R/ F/ P& a; I; \$ C& ^; mThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, Z7 p( p3 r( K- y' |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* O  }. @1 _  j- c5 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 d8 P% `' X% A( c) t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel/ n. ^/ W1 J2 s; @( \& `3 x: h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 p4 ^0 r8 l6 U$ m/ I' y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- F% j4 f. u' y8 o7 e% I/ hschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 \" M) I; H. ^0 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
* s( `( N4 g. a% S  I% wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. x, A' T: z- s8 T! @. q/ b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 P9 _+ z! w6 Ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# \* n7 c' V1 e5 K2 @/ Z- d
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& G! d! O! Q$ B& ?/ A5 w! ]buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' Q  `+ m) Q6 G7 l
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! R' {' n! ^) W0 u9 _* k! r$ {+ S3 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ x. l% f  v  g6 Y6 b6 q  `
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: `4 p$ N, g' Z+ N40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* x0 v5 ^/ U/ e- d0 uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% p0 t8 K; }3 n' S0 Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
4 g& l/ z: k& B1 f" I; Onice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of1 @- @) N8 p8 r7 ^# M- Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 U- j* M8 V/ Z* f7 c" ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% c* D: Z4 W1 J9 B6 n, {$ Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
; x: N+ g- k  Q) z, G* M% x% }spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
" k0 s' P) \' y3 rthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
$ Z7 o7 J: ^: b, b0 X* o$ Plimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep! p) o2 K1 P% j3 |) r
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
9 a1 R; e. u0 h) V% H6 Y' csupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of9 y$ O+ b5 ]7 D- K2 o' i" e
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms4 D% T" ^- ^! s; v% C) m  |* ^
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the* d0 |% U. a" q% u! _. X
tourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 C5 r. k% w0 K3 i+ P5 f
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
# z% J# W! Q/ H( nCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were; u, _' ]* ]% l4 e! T) R
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
, E# Q2 F; e2 G) E+ v2 V+ C, [less leader-religious.# C0 n2 u. C, k

1 G* `7 w* C+ b9 o/ N7 ^, j' bAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ k7 q* Q8 x& q  J: ^
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
$ f' D# I1 m5 M3 E- Y# @7 ?black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US' D) |+ q) _8 y+ u7 v
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
' D1 d+ g) W8 u: |# I+ M- q: p- F$ e: \3 `4 L$ ^* I1 j
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the. j5 A- X' f0 @4 p
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
  D; Z, q( v) Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1+ B) M5 Y! p- `8 I; K" v7 {# U
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
+ S- M! L* v0 |  Q) p" Sforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
- \  x' a+ a, [) t9 _(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we2 N/ R- [" k8 {, h# ?
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the2 F3 U/ i9 O' N$ c! \1 ], x
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! E( c+ B  {1 O$ i% D6 s
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
- z( ?5 `; ]/ G* H- mor visitors.2 t2 `. ?$ q  ]  f
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