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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).& `3 G9 I- I- y
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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. 9 l) R) `) V+ r# }8 h

# q# S2 c" M: M7 g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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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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+ Q- O3 X, z' `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 very3 j2 M- \2 i! {; K8 a9 V) R# F
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) s7 [2 r; Y# i8 A
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.3 J/ F# j, U: c

; L; O  B) W  RIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
0 \  t: v* `( a; N30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
$ J8 i5 Y/ i: m) v+ C) j% Ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
$ O" R; Y1 v/ R+ q" ~* b5 `possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort. N* I; D7 O. i0 H
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
" U' g: M8 `2 \. Lbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the5 T9 q) k8 d$ J- h3 u' z
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% u! u9 g* t+ w
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
" I4 u/ o9 w/ g9 _. u1 R People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
' `: f) [" X8 ?$ r0 a- cnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
2 o" |! ]* c6 r3 `# ~" t9 ^: Eexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our% U; v" z& d) A! ~6 u2 Y
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
! a$ U7 N$ f8 H% c& Pa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.+ V. c$ m, |  c9 i/ @! \% c* ]

0 N8 z+ }$ j. C: `% x7 N& |* aThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,( Q* j+ a. X  @1 O. C
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool6 l# k0 G7 Y3 o9 B6 F' i/ @# p
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top. \5 C+ M% A. y" F6 |
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
( b- n5 b/ q7 ^% \' ystars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from$ C1 C$ U; E: T# k, Z  G7 Z; l
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
4 a. D; u( J+ I8 |( t& r* D1 fCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with$ O  p0 ~" t# q% P4 }2 d$ }; o
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.0 i( q" @, N: z, ~# x5 _  H2 E

( Z. G( u3 T1 Y' n! WThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' N$ q/ }' N" A( B- _$ G. q- _5 y. X
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
) \7 ]$ k5 G, M! T$ B+ M% Sfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba4 t" l; W% S* n8 V/ z
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
1 x9 U0 I3 _+ Z7 u8 [a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
2 d: ?# A9 q! p1 P( mdaily 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  }3 \1 M, w+ V* C5 z
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
% {( i" w3 [9 ]& [% K) s4 son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
5 Q6 |* `1 o! l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: |4 y0 i8 r5 T; D
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) J. R/ e# c' p% \9 ]# r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ F7 f1 @) Q) u0 v% q2 c. W. \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
! Y) Z* [8 o9 N' e5 _- o0 nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# j9 U9 T6 n2 z: S3 ~. ?- ^6 M. {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" h5 V; `" t# I% v, a
medical schools.2 Y) L$ R8 f0 [& ^8 D1 U
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) L- B) |# x6 r# D: jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ ]; \5 |6 Z; o& k0 q, |9 wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. w* D1 l5 i: e* j
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
6 Z8 T7 k0 H; N2 z' Wis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" ]2 j' j6 l/ Y* Z- ]& O5 Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
, |* R+ |0 C* _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 g5 I, n$ F% {8 r* C: G/ R/ g8 }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) s5 C, K3 U/ q' K1 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 f( q  R( H9 O  k, a) Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no$ t, W  ~) n! p& k+ u2 Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 @( g8 f% N; l1 \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" _2 }0 s9 V+ G% g
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
! F4 y7 g0 d$ ~' N* othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( m+ {4 j( a" d7 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& _: h1 M! B6 c, ]) S9 ]9 L9 b) }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.  }! m2 G0 K+ \8 W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When; V3 N" V% n' Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
  V! H" Y: \( X& A6 V6 ]6 g# i0 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: u4 V4 y7 [& s7 W5 s9 a5 X9 I" e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) f. G7 ~% g" N5 R; D; w6 `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ P; ]* y& T) o  d! Y) e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
% C7 ^- _& q' z$ C5 i  `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the  ]4 k( z+ f$ c5 Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: u% \/ _; v: I+ W* E
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! @: k; C5 I% |& t$ L" syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
/ R6 t$ E6 E$ \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 Z  K# t3 F2 @; @; c. V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 c0 y# H' \1 }" A9 {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) b3 z( j7 h: J9 R2 Z- s, R# K; wto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or( H, h2 Y( t" i' i" |5 y9 I  e6 A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 o0 |; Q* K0 p+ U9 X
are spaces.* `/ A! a* \3 K8 P6 A

5 m' `5 `0 m: _2 M: u- B, qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 b' A- K. O4 e/ L  E- K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; z/ Z7 X) ]" Y7 Mown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# s' \! w: n4 |1 N, d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 J/ W0 j, w2 v" M+ Y& aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 }& ~. L6 G% Q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
4 r7 C0 l  Z1 ynice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
2 v1 s8 E/ \5 C) ^  bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 c3 V) X) x8 D; {7 |
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& r& h: x6 Z7 r; Z, v% u8 L
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; r: Q& l5 s% `% ]1 n
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
1 {. g8 d, A# l% U* G0 y' ]the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- F2 F$ a) H. [4 |* y0 _4 d
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
$ ]. _1 C& |# v' \) R- Z' Urecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
# L) E* D- j- e! i6 Q& dsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
2 f3 Q2 o0 G2 W# @! T/ Lthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms6 _+ k# o7 T8 _- [" V1 a
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
9 ]. f: A+ @1 U' X7 gtourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's) _/ `3 Y( P5 O8 k# a
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
  @7 @3 S. B/ ^! u6 xCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
% Q3 x* t1 g) w$ B7 beverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - t) i" z1 C+ ?# v2 M1 |
less leader-religious.) Z" }. l( |9 J2 H- o, b/ D! ^
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba# y. b1 j" e5 t
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
% Y2 K. x7 S# W6 E+ R6 Pblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
2 V" P2 y) v8 e! |6 yembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
# U9 C& U) n$ v! Q( X$ t* T4 Z, H2 J  N4 ^( u
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
3 R) X+ T- g4 zparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not# t2 j. g' O. j9 f
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
4 L% q8 V0 Y; b% p' y. Wconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
. F4 E9 J& i- V9 \- Iforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars: ~! X. G" ]% |  j4 P2 K
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we& c6 F+ z& U8 Y/ V! v, B  x$ J4 `
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 |( _( M9 O1 y& b5 z* A7 m
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
) N, y0 r, P, U+ Z$ n4 h6 TAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local3 {8 q* C" p9 l# N5 D: E
or visitors.& w7 C) o* J, |

  l/ l0 J6 o6 [  g3 g; h--  The End --

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