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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).( Z+ L1 i0 |! b/ 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. - c+ I* g# P9 K) q) E' @

! B8 X2 B+ @0 a0 c. n2 T( p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.4 d: B$ T  S" u! {1 ]: L+ B

1 y1 t7 ^) J. {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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8 q/ @! W! p& t5 }5 @  e1 ]: C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( c' ^) F4 }# J+ d* t! w+ L
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
1 V+ }1 a. R# }1 Ewanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
# D$ `8 k( C7 e3 ^; Q3 v' }
. b4 q, f% M; d0 JIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 q" o8 V' l; A* y! }* l: `: ^% J# P
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in0 ?$ j: C! A9 ^2 q! z& ]" `& R
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as" `9 x5 F- R. @4 h1 }3 |
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort: x5 n9 p0 I6 _
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
/ ^) L, j2 f9 ^. I+ e2 n+ n) Abetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the. p) ~9 m% Q3 C/ N6 b: v% ]! a
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,& ?2 M4 N1 N2 K- t8 v
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 a2 D6 C( s6 _$ C, Q  i/ C3 [+ K8 [
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
, q/ `- c8 c' f, N- [names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
% e! \% L  s, w0 n& Q; ]( Wexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our" S4 S$ k3 h7 K6 L. M  p: F5 b$ ^2 Y
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
0 |0 N; U0 V: F8 va roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
0 t% H/ F: I; e! d$ r* c3 `; S" |4 L: ]3 P1 |/ ?
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
, O  d1 z' T8 d' W! V9 i3 Wlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
; z8 p  w6 f/ z(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
- r1 z: K' y5 j* w6 hof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the3 ]7 N$ Z0 P6 Q) A- O% B3 v9 S( N4 \
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
0 p( `! k4 |% l0 B% c" e1 B+ j49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
, A) q( @7 h) y; S' F) F/ jCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with# [1 y& o( W# u8 s: E# K& @
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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0 ^6 ^7 z7 R6 f' EThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
$ q- G( S. B. f, {( d) rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 `$ q, K  I' L- G0 ]
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba7 R: }5 y9 F% V' q6 U+ K7 j
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
* G2 p) p7 y; s0 qa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
  `7 j$ t3 H/ j2 L; 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, living- @# @2 j, Q, y0 b$ J6 g
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
3 E4 p( M' U7 M# \6 A0 Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
! y3 |( o3 h; l+ Z. Y- C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ n5 l5 y' n  P2 \& q# j# f, |/ E5 ]answers to our pointed questions.* Y9 _8 k) |" p  k
! @. `, R( t- `( {* o
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 a' P3 [' y6 U$ e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! P% _4 y1 n$ U7 Q0 N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
1 p9 d1 l1 E. e/ c# Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 ?. C* r% m: @) m! B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 M3 s6 |- X, T; D* _. B& {$ O
medical schools.2 M9 z5 K5 Y4 h

- o' o8 l+ _" q* R+ f  H1 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 r+ `) Y3 W$ \6 H+ D: P5 a5 D& d( }6 V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! Q4 s2 U/ o- j: U- G- D) x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 |; i" @* n% ^3 y- ?5 E8 A
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
/ `) i+ c4 |# y* v3 ris from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ R- Q% k9 S! Z2 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
8 w: ?( o7 E0 Q( I' eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# }& ?: u" o; L" L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
  t. J- {5 o# U! ?0 [6 Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! V, [! Q- r3 M# [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* F8 J' K, f+ e. H$ A6 s. K( r: S0 c
3 E( S3 e  D+ U( q4 R' e
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no% A# Q) V6 A* J4 R7 A5 x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( R1 [) l9 y, B* ]5 y. bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 o7 z3 v3 ~: e
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good2 l" u5 Q- }1 L0 q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby  }% O- [7 ?/ K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) n2 k$ y+ X5 a) N+ E$ kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.  C8 `+ ?6 _. {/ Z$ d! b" R! ]. W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When" ~' L# @+ U. n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( b5 x! a* {6 m" Y# t: [charge the fee defined by the state.7 z* W7 x9 t- q* Z3 m. Z
, t; J# P0 @. r* r- L: ]
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 }+ X8 i$ R: J. }# x. mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& ^9 h- R% ~* ]' ~
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 j  j2 \2 w$ K, a; s' x. h; x
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel% |0 `! r+ Y  V  C$ f: e# v0 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ J6 h5 ~/ o! v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 H- b  A& U8 e3 E
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. d) g- k, T% T3 G( u5 [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
" p+ A0 f) N$ ?  A5 z! mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 ]5 n, E2 P  v  J/ Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 p, q: G- U" n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 p3 Q1 d! }' [% |" [) I3 h
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& w1 P5 X. y) v  G# n! qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" l' J7 S+ Q/ Y. }are spaces.8 N3 i6 L; O5 ]+ e0 ~9 N: M7 Q, q* N
/ x4 \) U" I0 A  s
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 o7 F% `& o" @( ^) G1 }. m, p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, h- K+ \3 k4 ?own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 `' M! M/ A) P* w6 i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* e* ^1 z/ S9 z9 N8 _4 R( O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: Z1 t7 t( M! i/ Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
8 t8 {( V7 |# e$ g" anice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of3 x3 L2 b8 C$ [# m+ A5 A5 ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: I, \+ ?+ C% Q' M" Y4 G- a6 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 H5 p  N$ g0 ?# `* O 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
% v, s0 F* ^# L. D$ @: kspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all) ]- v- f: I6 g$ M6 G2 q
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very3 i1 l4 a1 F+ k8 I) P' Y: t9 A) `0 j3 y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
* g" X; w8 K4 b, b' srecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day7 U1 u, Z3 V, R; r9 D$ o
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ t1 T3 w$ k0 T* @2 r
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
, s+ p3 E" D7 ^0 Y7 Z" o& {/ Thave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the4 N6 v  [( f, J3 p) f9 K
tourist area.6 F# J- {) e1 ]6 s
7 F6 ]! a  m, ?
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's6 y( I7 M; q# l. U* B
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) F8 w) r( s0 y6 r3 J" k! B& ^' B
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
# ~5 ]9 A# f1 [* d  Teverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
2 c- [# z% {/ b! w" iless leader-religious.
$ V$ \# |0 t  Z& E& v# m8 ^3 `) `' B5 K% t: `9 T2 c  W! ]
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
/ V% X, u$ f3 }' c" q9 Zgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
8 O* ~9 k; t+ R, `8 r/ t* Ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
# F9 J' c/ o$ I* cembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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5 N) a+ I. X/ k; @- U( I; F# SWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the! T+ n& [0 z9 M3 f7 G: j+ ]' `
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& [& `+ H! b; A" c( O" Z0 v
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1  @' ?6 r' x( x3 p1 l& d
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: K" z. d2 E  \6 e; b
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
0 ^7 k4 q6 c. ]2 ~# e1 p$ N5 i(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
$ l# _7 h& q7 x9 J: B; _probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
; Z# C% i3 z$ R' r5 u# nreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 ?& S8 ~5 @* D: f1 `
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local# Q- |! l& P0 B4 P, I9 H: b
or visitors.
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--  The End --

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