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).
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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. 8 P# X' c8 e6 v5 R: w" P; 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.) p% x% I$ X$ V
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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.( [" a  C2 ]9 b7 m0 T: }
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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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very
5 g! J1 n) q( einteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) F5 F6 c9 y+ `5 _! w! j
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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7 S- a% f6 {0 X* b3 `It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ A; I3 u9 V- P% ]7 ?" [  z/ F
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
8 ]. G- \! |. x5 ]a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
4 G8 h" q3 G% H  x& L4 Dpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort5 E* T1 q1 ?& l7 O
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep1 f8 E. g* k/ ?. p
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
0 w7 ^6 F- P2 [  C  H" ~2 Clobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,: ^: v5 O4 y& H! Q
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
$ H8 l' {- S  C5 p# D" c( o People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
; r% A- x  c9 x% F' x1 knames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
4 E7 z) t8 s" R% B7 O& k! eexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
  O. A$ T  u1 f+ @0 P. g: \flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
$ @5 H9 I+ g1 w9 C: l' |5 ]a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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, j" O2 h! N% NThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: Y2 p- l% X0 \
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
( I5 C- e  W; S- C. N/ Q(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
& `/ U& e$ _6 \$ J" U/ s% Bof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
2 W" L9 R0 [- |$ o2 t4 w0 xstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
9 _- b+ k  g8 ?, C5 H6 s: I' g49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
0 D/ [% I( w9 J3 A) i6 K6 ICuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
9 e' o& P( |8 J/ d6 w% d* rfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada., O( g+ G1 a* Q( ^  O, ?

; E# L* j8 R; h7 q4 UThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, ^  j1 k. d2 T" K, [
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made; m4 l  I" f1 z+ R& s2 ?6 I
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba3 d) m. i! T$ M/ G: P6 s" u8 |! @
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having& @, M. r* [' t$ T3 C
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China( B7 W/ |  _) K/ G* v
daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
4 u. c& {' o/ N( G5 _standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went- ~$ l+ z" D; N6 m5 _, u5 a6 l
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
3 I( n* `' Z! Y* j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 v6 `5 z3 A7 _. G, `/ s& ?' g
answers to our pointed questions.3 g0 o8 S6 Q9 q/ b

5 ~4 G# P5 I" s0 ~$ `( JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- x  W: ^) o8 w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 l4 [1 C: m  t: G7 d- H  C4 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
0 v& W6 O6 c2 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! h* Z0 B; @( d& g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ V* t' C. L% f* ?1 o$ b
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! }+ W1 {4 Y* w  D$ Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 c. \1 v4 j7 r8 D, h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: y/ I1 {$ z5 p
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba0 I& C# M& D6 x( c( ]
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) i2 N3 ]+ Y/ H6 y$ x. N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There( p) ^# B. p" u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 _1 _4 u3 }  c9 [  f% X1 tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- }( G- H) Y; E' g' f4 G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 h) _/ g9 [: F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ X& _% O9 @: u3 B
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no2 u4 z$ {3 l# d3 g. \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 `# y, [7 |7 S$ p+ L/ C* y: R
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 g  U" @& E  h3 D4 h% I
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
$ {0 c# `; a3 ]4 D: t5 L& B) Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 Z  d" j4 C% b" z+ V& ~% Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 {6 R: m. X3 c! ]! D; {/ q8 o6 Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 f# A. T! G3 _1 Q. Y: ]$ hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
7 M5 d1 y  C1 ?# I/ o, c6 x5 J! Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& [) ~, O$ A* @* _9 H+ ^; T4 j
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get  }* {9 @  x6 Y) @& C- x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- j$ E. S4 ]" ^+ L1 l" I: Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. B# O8 N# n7 c5 U8 y. u: H# y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel, |7 x( }4 p/ S% k+ @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
  a& z# G! e, a( v! x6 k6 ]+ Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' U, z: {& S2 P0 D; H9 j# h7 Nschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) D& d* b* M7 {' m' t) u: X# J2 u) Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
4 W) K) X- L  p- S* ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* V- m+ L; e  a. f. a9 g# P8 b8 H4 s5 Z2 Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 w2 Y" G8 R+ k/ r; B, W5 \6 `" w) [% T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% ^' p: f( j" R1 P  g6 Ato go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 F$ G( W8 K- O4 A" o+ C' Y4 E( C% {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ b7 c) a7 o7 r7 ?are spaces." x1 K6 O& i& A6 v) f

; {# [( P) E9 C. y, h9 i; UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 {4 F0 K( {( C9 n  ^- ^+ U" dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% b0 j6 S1 l9 d7 c' Fown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 q9 Y/ L: |6 g5 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 _& g0 c; [6 E0 p8 J5 o" Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 T9 Q* l- h9 S+ ~/ d1 g; hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few# j& B  }! {1 l- W2 {6 w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of! w$ O, U; ]$ D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; i" t$ J% |& n4 Z8 |8 c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., F3 u* _3 C8 t/ ^3 s# g
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& ~7 p0 A& ?3 L2 m
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 a+ W2 W0 m) N# Y3 {
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
8 \4 g) \& {3 V6 D; zlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep7 N* p/ H  S* G2 x
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day# n, a5 T/ |- p% X
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
$ T5 l) G! o" j+ a3 k6 Bthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms" ]0 I' l1 A2 I& I# J; B$ E5 d
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
! Y1 S; ~* y  b* g# Q) o" |tourist area.3 l, R& B# d' u9 @
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
9 `6 r" O/ k+ k" b3 O; y$ d2 Qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
" q- N4 q; e. QCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were4 ?6 H: s& X. V1 }2 D
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - A# @2 k! z- v# [
less leader-religious.
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  u, R5 a. j* g, _2 d/ B' l8 xAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ Q8 L3 R  V. |7 e$ ?
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big# D) n2 B4 ~  Y. o8 Y# O
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US  \: b6 x% c+ S/ k* _5 }& W) 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  `. G* A- a0 X" M7 W
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
7 S; f& \) n! [7 u9 y; e9 d6 ^the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
6 O3 E  M7 q2 jconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for1 ]+ [5 k' a; `$ n
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
0 |  b& m, j% z(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
1 O$ {5 y! c9 o- W5 }, r$ Xprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
8 ~7 G8 @3 O0 s# y& B) Treal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.5 s' W& J  ]0 R0 I9 V
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local$ I3 r5 p6 N% Y, a
or visitors.
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--  The End --