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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).0 ?! \$ T( U' O' ^" E- e

& p" s- \8 Z9 w  d3 F2 v: [* l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.
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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.
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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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+ b& y$ Y5 U0 {$ D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
, s/ v: K; E) z6 }3 g5 i! iinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we3 h2 @' b6 x- R* E" j0 o
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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$ n+ _, z* c) O7 y  a' WIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
7 M% ]8 O: ]0 C3 D6 Y. g' r7 M3 w30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
* f5 z1 O: O2 i) c9 j. I+ Q! ia very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
0 B8 E8 t5 R4 `( `$ I' p7 J2 Wpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
/ x  U- m' D' _6 S2 `7 `9 [4 s8 @show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
2 u) n% M& h# h6 D  n& u; O1 v' ?between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
6 H& K% c' O/ l, j' s9 S: d! \lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
4 }8 }: x/ l( n% n2 {  _% Bwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
( A, l+ x7 V( ^* }! C7 U! \. A: j People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
5 q9 y. v4 ]' r* `0 U% D2 nnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not) r7 q! ]. A1 R/ M3 D& N: R" {
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our1 Y( D) m6 s/ z! T* C6 A
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
! d( O; {* m: p0 b  c, F/ ta roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,2 h3 {1 E- U& t8 F& a3 n8 [$ T
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
) q! B( o0 n1 m4 q  V1 {- G2 \(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top1 [, v+ N; A0 y
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
- M$ W( n! W9 P4 I: Ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
# P9 N: M# r" E! ]  D( l1 Y1 F49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes+ T0 {$ Z3 I( W; Z
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with8 T  q4 ]  c2 \
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada." S! A  v% E2 M: b5 I9 j
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
/ A2 _7 A% u/ C# Z. ~just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
: J2 Q6 T- V# pfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba+ q: X* k- ~6 p/ B$ A
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
2 D" j  T5 G5 La staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China, p: ~6 W; U/ \8 N% U9 y! Z
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( Y1 c  O4 ~/ @! G5 m: D$ o
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went% A8 Q/ u1 J* Q: v% D- A0 A& x) J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
) ^$ f4 H) P( a2 B; a0 G3 J$ U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% P/ Q0 y7 r, U. ]2 v$ Qanswers to our pointed questions.
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/ y: v! _3 z4 o( z% d. s9 `3 S, @0 IThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 s- E% u- X2 g* F+ L  h' N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- F3 h" m6 v' Q! ]/ \+ p8 {3 S, U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
4 T% ?' P' _" c( |* w* lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" }4 K" o  X  x  _+ u- ?, ?8 n. e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, U: L: q7 Y1 ~8 N( S' l0 B6 K) Emedical schools.) F" Z2 j/ p, y. Y2 g$ X2 }& W, ]. _

6 J- q* |9 x3 {" T$ L* F2 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- {; H8 J- G9 E( R1 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( c( D/ W* v# H0 g+ ~  Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, g- k' c# N! J+ N
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
% y/ P$ I# t6 o; w5 Xis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 H! B1 G: l+ C! B& [8 C( T+ sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
/ x1 k) u( n4 ^  Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- |4 D0 O1 G' `9 h& Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 M& U; l3 F( b/ i2 b0 s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 m# p# Z8 b( Q0 g$ M4 D/ J3 t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& {" F( l, m* ~* v' w+ n) |

; J$ L) X  u! m; w  S" m4 zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
( G5 Z8 N* h1 Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' {% L( t/ j' M; `& u% a7 F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# Y7 Z! K, x3 @2 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good* I3 O$ j, P/ J0 x) g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) z  q8 L4 f2 y. E' Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) F. Y5 P$ S; ~! b8 v* }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.  i7 t. k4 ]) H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
4 e2 r  R) I/ h8 m0 j) X' l+ sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% z; D1 @+ |6 n$ U* \) G, |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 \  [: T- f. y: U2 Y4 Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- E* E$ a4 F3 A1 t# t  rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- i* M1 u1 x9 c8 [: E8 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
% q" ~, H8 \7 f+ w) Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% {0 `5 B3 x2 ^# g' p- U4 Q# G+ Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, a! ]# _( x( L: Nschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' W  B' k' ^" Z7 x8 U" }! t3 cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people* I. c3 x7 I& U/ R0 Y! f" q% ]  p, L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 N% n1 s3 ^8 mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# g  ]* Q7 W6 s' R# I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% V% m, t) w1 D0 q2 B. B% }' K2 m
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 Q" {4 i0 q' `' L% E9 p5 o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% S4 p5 c7 P7 t+ M, b! h7 Kare spaces.4 G7 x6 f$ `+ S3 Z. ~+ S
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 T. @( u9 F! \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 F5 L' q5 J7 L5 d3 J: ]0 O6 Mown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' z! `. g# s) O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 T8 H) H2 v9 v$ V( U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" l, a( X/ Q/ b7 k1 y& f1 ~9 U. \7 ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few, r8 @- v- y. g" n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
5 h  H+ B2 a% c$ q$ M0 O& V! d6 y3 Scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 A) T  f( B  r& M, x# h6 k" f! }4 |7 R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ V* r) }; ?3 s6 {8 ?+ G, [$ o* ? 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 beautiful2 C6 T9 j8 M! {" q, `
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all7 d1 D" p# x0 |. b: K3 I* a
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very( t6 ?4 ^: y" F9 `% y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
$ F) n4 i5 |9 _( V8 N; y& d0 c2 wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, V6 o/ {4 K6 D7 M$ s) W
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of5 i+ M1 b. L8 i2 S9 i
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms4 `  B, i) [6 d6 u9 M# Z% z
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
& m* I1 a* E3 f' W4 ?6 d! ~9 ctourist area.$ D1 g4 u9 E6 I9 j2 O! u
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
: i. q4 X9 N* ~& U% \% c+ n5 o  k: Bpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
! Z) _9 Q/ q$ aCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
; h  H7 z- X! N$ x* }7 m  D0 _everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ ~! [0 u0 J, B, l# F6 m' ]: p6 B
less leader-religious.$ ]# U& T3 W* o3 W: y" m

' g5 S( {  q' y* H& E# f2 P' XAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba! r% {0 t& i* p
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
7 h$ |% f0 h: Q( D/ gblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US5 B& F! V* v5 I* q. E
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).8 S0 M% G6 h# E$ l$ t' N; h

8 T$ X' A* Y# G! G  mWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the2 l) U" I. ]6 e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& m+ A  V& y1 C. K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
; K) u6 e* I, g; O5 O/ Hconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
" J2 J9 {7 g* r: L# [foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
/ R0 d5 i* j8 N9 K. S% }(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% D& h* T/ U# D* i
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the( G: z( f6 U, O/ m: i9 Q* [: o
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ V) I8 O  S; l/ @
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local! z& T% ~& B" z4 A9 P
or visitors.
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0 y1 X5 q2 o+ \2 p3 K# T+ i--  The End --

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