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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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! C( O; s# d, d  b, Z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. ) f) f# \  q( n! |

( _* _, C; f) M% E0 @! }" w$ q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.% m$ l, \  F2 |2 X
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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
6 i5 K: y" r& \interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
& m9 q& `% K8 p0 M8 Bwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.. y- S( @2 N$ ~
" z2 }& U! P( e6 |, l. ?
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,  z: f9 J, p1 B( D, c5 \  o& ^
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in+ S, {. s9 f0 g" D4 Q
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
" g; @! ]6 V4 @; n, bpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort# J4 d, I( Y5 ~( v, ]( v' p- j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
# o! o& s- w) e- r2 R8 {4 p6 wbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the& ]5 z* i0 b0 p* @
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,1 k; G- d( V% g9 a6 P% t% F5 U
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.& V1 P' B1 B" }# m6 j! r# T9 Y
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
; C/ Q; v* m2 L5 Znames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
: n: R! X+ J7 g: Z! S" \# S* Pexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our+ R4 o/ S  q: S/ s0 x8 `
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
/ |" x% O) q, {a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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( q7 H, v6 i- ^4 j5 r: a9 m* _, OThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
; k; a0 \' r# q; Llow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! m- V- K6 P/ P! B3 ?9 g
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top) `# f, ~/ r5 f: {7 f- s- ?
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: d  L( u+ }4 f# o; [3 H
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from" q9 H+ m5 Z# N
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
( }, [, y$ T9 M5 _Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with6 o0 J( B3 Y: T1 Z, m9 k0 j
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 l) |. F4 h% N) z) v

2 ]; ~; A0 o" ZThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
1 k' @1 {  m- J# T3 Y; ejust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
( [& z+ Z4 Y# ^: [, j. A# Xfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
3 S) l( Y# B1 L- N% w$ Ytourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having# }3 N5 T0 q, `# w/ o$ ^3 V
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China& Z2 \, }! E+ a* _5 w" E2 [- @$ d
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
- x( b9 ~& {  o% l7 [  T. \standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went* V- k1 v9 g& N. c
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
2 c2 ?& P4 [3 x. }) |' I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: |1 B, W% z2 r7 `
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ x! F7 r5 |5 C* P  E: q% J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) q$ E; X, }4 K" h  F6 ?
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
$ R; d4 x% P& q# B/ ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 i* H) @: O* q. i& V- B; u) A# y3 g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( c  P6 d5 m' c. }) Smedical schools." \" b  Z! {  x; d- H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: v, n- D* [+ m+ b) `" y- g2 ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 j4 m# g# N3 V: o' k6 W! u
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' T  O# v$ P3 y$ |  a- U' @assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba+ D" \( W# I/ t: T) M" p' h. b' w
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. g3 p$ H, a6 m$ x! |; G
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There6 {5 y( a0 K$ N! ]1 X$ k) k: C$ a. R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& H# I+ y' E; w( v! }( E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' }0 o# g4 e8 U' X9 h/ S" z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% b" u* t% \* c* ^3 }: D( R# z$ Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.  J* V: w! M! e/ w' ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
) r2 Y7 b; |$ V2 Q2 g1 E, s- Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 x7 W/ n: [3 i9 _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ P' @" P; V. B; Q8 F* c( g# phave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
6 P) V' D' L* a) B$ ]3 Q' }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 L. n3 }$ ~3 A8 L: k  Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: Q3 S. h  C8 _3 }8 g( u5 Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.  q# B# @0 n2 J1 w0 M) q" r
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
! p9 A. H# y# X1 v; H3 D5 X, oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 \2 v. k5 ^: R  y
charge the fee defined by the state.- m6 N4 G$ S3 u& v
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; x+ N; H4 n/ [% a0 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) L1 F6 h( i* f! I& [4 d* pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 p4 f! V1 k0 Z) ?* ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel+ E4 u) G4 Y* s! o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) F7 y, [. C: e$ o; `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 |8 i$ h. b+ {4 [4 f: }* D# vschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 I& y4 y5 O- e4 N! ^6 N/ l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
' Z, x4 |+ r) h& P- @% `- Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. `' l  V' K# s; k* c8 R% `
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 b5 N- Q( W% ^1 |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 b- z# }- v* |* Y. _- f" w
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 E. [. J- F4 d5 E+ |, S9 {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 W( b, m7 U7 K* hare spaces.
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, X1 b& p% j" V' ~- b# U  N, aThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 N0 G+ L) J, U) o( D3 o& z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ }9 t6 S% A2 p
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 d- a  e/ r& k0 G8 C6 D
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ U8 Z" E6 R" s( w- w, ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 }( P/ s" R9 A) }% m0 j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few/ r; u# V) C7 \8 `) _; w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of8 N$ j, ?7 r9 U  f, i; `( H+ N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 B" p  S# K( Z7 i& D9 lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 Y4 k# Z  t8 T* w3 J/ z# 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$ _4 U* c, G6 [- K2 z# Q3 l+ `
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all8 s. x; j. e# S: E, ?% R
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
: ~8 V, Y: Y3 M2 a" @limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
+ C+ w! X7 `' v: Irecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
$ E9 I- u  k2 e" f0 j3 R% x* qsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
7 U) f1 _6 b/ q& y% O8 Pthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms& L& j+ U& s; m8 H# Y1 E
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# J" E/ e8 y" r4 o, [; z$ K
tourist area.; D) o+ }4 q4 P
$ ]' t* R' |! W* a  v5 L: s
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
# Q5 d+ K. ]1 E+ u! p0 p% q( k& Bpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. {+ W& I* Q# K7 \6 l- P
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were, ]5 f& ~: X$ W# L
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
( r9 H! O) K# H" l) M5 A4 Lless leader-religious./ _. z2 |6 Q  c
. M7 K5 J' j. ~" E, g& D# Q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
# A, }* r2 O( J( [  |government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
6 Y0 y% F3 E) f2 c! m$ Eblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US! T- R1 u- F  m( T5 w1 W6 d  A
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." j6 Z, G/ v& G* M; F: W
  s& ^$ v3 H/ {0 {; |- e" `! h
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
0 D; c: T3 ^3 Q' tparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
$ r+ r% a4 g+ u1 L% P$ R, T3 [# athe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( j, f1 H% Q; m
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
; s4 {+ f3 s6 r# T  Oforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 B9 A! d5 ?$ T
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we$ F) s+ W2 ~0 J9 h! ?5 Z1 E5 R
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the7 U: I  P) r# b+ }" P# h% H& {
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
( Z  _3 Y) j2 Z/ s& t& jAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
4 _7 y9 C: _+ s$ m2 {or visitors.
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; w$ ]( x: D9 F. e, A" ]# M3 R--  The End --

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