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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).' y0 k7 G. I0 o! G6 x5 ]
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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. ( d2 q& |! |/ A, G3 y
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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.$ ]8 k* `. u4 b0 e

4 x' |! }% B  z& s/ N( Q1 Z& P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.8 f# w- y, U) ]$ z

( U# Z9 x3 r& {# d. ~* E2 }1 q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  I6 m6 j' w* [) O, X
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we. Z+ d) i, s7 K/ y$ {
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- ^4 ~; h( Q& L; k6 x
. c$ f6 g# S3 ^/ A# j* w
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
& [0 [# P8 I; U' L30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in: n/ }8 U) E; N% M5 T  l, }
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
* L+ }; _% [' Z& ~% npossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort6 Z: k, x- s- v0 h/ i' {5 ?2 j$ z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep# p, r2 H+ ^5 y5 ?
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the1 i! S/ @3 k9 d& x! i
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
% i( b9 j! w7 v" n8 g6 dwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." j' W5 L- r! L7 f
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 r' w! k, U- o& E0 ~6 l
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ U  D; r  }7 u1 j- g0 _
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our2 h0 b1 K  l7 f( D2 v1 R
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
" @( U' H- u* A% ea roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.: ?; k+ l) @! e
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,8 P; j+ t1 T, Y2 o2 g2 g
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool" I8 z9 b# i" [/ D3 X. a
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
. [+ N( q  B" l! S, Y5 g1 L# D# rof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ m" M+ g* d, J# D7 K) b/ r+ c
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% q  m9 m! ~7 o: S0 k8 R" }/ N9 n, `
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes# W  R; w* v: i5 g; X
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with& T* g7 Q) ^0 A
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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+ z6 u  L3 ~( M) b' EThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 t% V. q4 _; i( p+ Q& z& D# I7 s
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
- k+ ?& s- H; H! j2 O' e* M& m5 ffor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
' \2 Q; F; g# T( W( L- \tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
! v- M# N$ M. T& ya staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China4 Y! q$ o8 h4 q! k( k1 {" c' D" T: t
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, living, y4 G6 c3 ?  Z' Q
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went0 b7 ]; t# y5 b
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,$ K. Q0 P# p" ]  c3 o0 w* k, m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 p- ]7 m& f$ Q' X' ~" ranswers to our pointed questions.* L$ y4 |9 e0 I$ f1 g

" e) N! d) D% C( oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: h$ f9 _! K( w5 P" B+ \, {. i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. ~, |9 d# G' G- j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
1 K3 L  M/ c  a9 l& y2 K3 J2 kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! n5 X  P# \6 ?+ V' `1 Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' m  O# Z' v( y$ Q1 X, w7 amedical schools., T( `: m, o1 k

' |( u# \0 K" T  E1 m, _Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* ?7 g  B: m5 K/ H" Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) N6 m$ V7 B7 x: d% q& B( |! eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ q+ Y, y6 ~+ W4 _assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
: v. s+ p: w; C/ o, His from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# K7 \$ p9 ~7 _over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There  @4 m: x. X# r$ |( R5 I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 v- }6 ^# Z1 Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 {7 Q, T; h& Ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( _. V. X* X0 F* P  i, l  g: i; wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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2 `: w- u4 R2 o, o$ OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no# E2 B4 Y3 d3 b7 Q7 L8 j/ K+ X& c& U+ M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 O* P5 D4 k# }/ L7 i  M: w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 v" z, F: e( G; e) Q
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good1 A! i& _" t* I9 Y6 R. e7 L* ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! g  c4 p  A9 t
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 l$ @' s2 N; g- M- ?& x+ l! |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ g7 n- K  b9 D- N- |  ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When: w' _' I/ |3 n- P  Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 W, j5 t8 j+ A4 h$ I! h* b) W8 e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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9 T% ]' A8 A1 tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 F$ P' G; w6 U. @
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 Y% r1 y4 w% A  M' V+ i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- D; Z  u- X) `; F1 J' d9 M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel5 i% x1 u, V( Y* H4 l3 a$ P" }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- w7 I8 r; v! d1 d# Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! `4 u/ B$ m  O
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) t/ ~% t% o3 e- x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
0 B% R/ u3 S" l& o! i. _* ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 j. w( e/ L' y) Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ D; n, J) {" z2 Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% _9 p/ _9 w7 D
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 S8 x( |4 l; i0 o  tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: V5 s! f0 w, L1 n6 h! iare spaces.
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/ C9 k5 L" X; SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. m) |- c% h% @9 O" ]2 R& B  O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. _5 l9 y. D) Q& D2 o; i' pown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 e9 h: `) V5 d9 |4 l7 h0 u
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* \# R1 }+ d$ c7 B. @# L- |* j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 p7 }, b1 |; }6 P
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few9 S, R  `" V/ u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of( H( \$ I! M) t& V$ b5 R( j" \1 x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* I4 g) \( @( ~) D8 v9 y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 A/ K$ L0 }) ~% N9 d4 K8 K
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 beautiful7 D; t3 T) h& S- V# p! i8 z0 M
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all* R1 x3 `' F! ^0 _7 ]
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
3 \2 J  S- t, Ylimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
7 ^# }/ D6 ~) @8 N1 r! Rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day9 W% L. p/ M" I: a# c5 m; ~
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
/ T9 t+ A  l$ u- O9 b+ s# e0 a! s' Xthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
4 H* r% l, ^/ C1 ohave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
: ]. H8 I) b- K+ l* M9 s) [tourist area.
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% I5 p+ I) L& Z( ^One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
0 y( ~  E- d0 ]9 U( a2 w- Ipictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
4 j5 B) v- {7 P% L3 h! ^Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
; P! X: H/ Y$ V% S/ ^everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
2 m/ q% F. |  J, I" vless leader-religious.
1 r( r7 |9 Y6 c  R, W
0 u, i3 Y- a! _1 aAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
; J% K2 S) h) D# I# t% l* D  Hgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
; [- H% e' `0 ]2 bblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
/ Z8 s- `+ _# k- ]embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
# W( o% U$ Q0 lparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 N: W) @" l5 X
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1; A3 j; i" b0 f- L# e% P( O
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
; e1 _6 [2 T+ e. S! Mforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
5 k* B9 Q5 {+ Z* c, H(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
  C  ~! g$ @0 xprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
* @# N# k7 n% K" ]# M' O' G( oreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
( ?* @, f" J" NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
' d( p8 i) B/ \* \+ }( Zor visitors.
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--  The End --

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