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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).
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6 g! F9 l/ F3 N" m2 }" r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. ; S% Y9 k( E: r7 S9 x4 H
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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.
% q- G, |" B# X& o8 E& W: J& D+ p& T/ f% C
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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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
9 c* i, V2 b4 |3 F2 |3 r/ ~, T5 {interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we$ [6 ]- P8 w" L
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
+ n9 c6 c8 I: X/ Z9 W2 x8 x) {$ C3 H0 n: _
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 {; b7 L8 l# d# p0 [3 k$ U
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in: ?3 E- R& A+ t
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
3 `3 V% L+ ^% O! Npossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 p7 d, y% z( g& K- e+ f
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
% n  u3 F0 l( f9 h. n" u! V; n- _between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
7 j% S6 X+ D0 P  vlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,& R2 P9 J: U  E8 ^- R7 e. x
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
1 W! i4 O0 t7 u8 } People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but# x+ J9 X0 ]7 K0 W4 p5 U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not* f5 c: ?/ e9 j0 `1 w: m" q
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our9 `) l) j9 A; j  w  m
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through4 Q9 N( J! R* r. Z( c0 b' n& b
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.6 O% x1 ~, g* f- G3 w' _9 {
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day," ?. d3 m$ J8 G; ^% v
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool% ?2 e  G9 T/ _8 k9 c3 c
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
5 M6 L9 e) c3 @  c, Vof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ ~" j5 n( z' [; ~
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from6 q1 w. E6 ^3 j5 {) t3 s; u
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes3 S# `% V4 K& I" w1 E  f
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 c' R* v- \! @3 E
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.) U7 h' Z% q' J  O# f: C: T6 d

0 a+ j" ]- ?$ H$ IThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
# n  e1 S  u2 _4 Rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made/ l6 ]4 y) q+ k* s6 H
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
% E- g, [7 P) w! w6 E! j- |2 mtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
4 t( c, _  p4 ca staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
& B9 j/ G  N3 m2 Z, W9 G/ l# cdaily 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
; z, r0 a8 Y# o0 A/ g# j3 Jstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
  y& h# i" D) m" [0 t& oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
0 o: q8 @, d7 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! C3 m# i4 L) {  S) @
answers to our pointed questions." T8 C) }' `4 b/ A9 \

& ^4 M  _& X$ D) O9 UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 K" u/ Z" z/ t" v( @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& l8 W& A- v8 R5 e  D2 U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is8 X) s4 s+ B4 ~1 r+ O- m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 w  S/ E* K5 v$ Q; P9 i- Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- N% s; j& z( ^
medical schools.' ^' y- Q- G: b) f" x& d7 W+ W/ ?
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 T  n- I5 {- A# F5 ~# z1 u+ Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants  J" R' }+ V: |+ [% E% w% Z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 b: g8 j) t4 dassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
4 h, i5 [/ i2 pis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 l( D7 Z2 X' D" Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
7 u2 r( d1 ~9 ?; ]1 }4 ]# I6 Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 r/ F+ z; Y  D! |7 @8 fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 I2 C' X6 o: n% s/ }% x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. o& ~: F# d7 B  j% ~! M  Y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ m: a8 ^0 p- v9 A; aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
: E0 k+ _) r6 U# dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- ^1 K4 u* m$ D* a6 t- i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 q3 |. e7 j  R2 ]8 n8 Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good& Z0 F! H2 m6 p. p. S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 P# d! Y% q6 d- }1 p  t. L
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, C( w- l& ^' L1 o1 ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* o6 {/ l3 i4 g# L- `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
! L3 Z6 U0 c& i5 `: Z; fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 C1 I& D" n+ V6 dcharge the fee defined by the state.& D  ~3 n! v8 l5 R
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 H) G; L2 U# Y: L2 {  uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 v/ y- p  h- @" J$ j* }$ oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 A1 s( E$ e7 U1 }8 ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
& ?' u4 A. M5 _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' V: T* _; m9 t& S7 X% M6 m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 `* j" }# c8 Wschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ E& x) }: H1 uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
/ X0 a7 ~$ D" m+ z) j- xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) j; P- L3 @( X( K5 ^9 h; j) Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 r; W, J' N0 g0 w. D% S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& ~' K- A) c) s% [1 m) r0 `' Q& t1 z
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, W! ~" g2 s4 B6 d' ~* j) H* |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, F& V0 j7 ]$ s5 l  T% ?
are spaces.* N6 {4 I0 Y1 z: N( {2 Q% b' n

# l; N' D# g3 |3 }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: W! b0 B% L2 x6 \' |" H
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 B1 u1 T5 r7 X$ z, S) {own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: D9 {. L# ~' v' N0 t7 ^* }3 o5 ^! S. `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) Y: I! r  _9 W& {  a; ^! Q, w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 o- ~2 ]: [' e" O. sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
( X3 T, M2 W" W* N* @0 I0 i  M6 Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
9 n% Q- A, q) h* U: Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' V) n2 |6 g' |* C3 Q6 M1 i  r0 p
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' `5 l8 v$ B! }5 K" s* K) I* ?
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  L5 W( s. \: i  l
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all) _( X- R( u6 S4 V1 o* n
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
! W+ ], a: {! v, M% Nlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep! D; J6 y9 U# o& V- t/ u# r
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
2 G& z. S* E+ n: G1 `4 J+ hsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
  I/ X3 h" W; U8 Kthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms7 U  r8 `5 K0 G: T- G; J1 o
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
  @3 g4 A9 ^+ N: b3 a1 ftourist area.6 L5 s* B# y% Q" I0 U4 H1 s

" @0 j5 Q" M% q/ [. JOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
6 K, L# Z: X% ~6 L: [; q0 N- Mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).# q! b% g' g& q8 {( `) C( p- f* E
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
7 x3 I8 j& D' b5 B+ }# |0 beverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 6 N5 C% e: I% q4 y* X
less leader-religious.8 f- {3 v; [/ S

$ B9 o% E" Y6 ]1 K1 w- vAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba- _0 W' v  z: \! D' R6 g
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
+ J4 e1 W0 i. ^. ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US5 }+ t9 ~) p8 j1 Z' a. G5 C
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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4 @+ {3 J6 n) j7 }" G, A7 ?# j# wWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
$ J" B3 t2 g. A; Mparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not4 |; H/ U; ~: g" d! H5 j' w
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $17 }0 t( N. k' n5 w. c+ h9 e
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
4 M' \% H! G; o: C8 ~* @- }/ fforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
4 {$ Z) v1 J% K; ~) m(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ y- E7 h$ \- E4 M- T' X6 t
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
- L9 U8 j. q0 B! O1 Ereal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
: y% b6 B! T$ |( o6 Q5 o/ y* ~And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: G/ g4 s  Q$ s( a9 Y, O! R# y
or visitors.& t5 u6 D6 t" R) M* I1 ~
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--  The End --

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