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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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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. 4 p, b- L2 N: {8 h6 C1 q$ a. y$ \; n
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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.. l5 u- U$ a  t
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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." G1 l  T; ^* K. ?# s5 s

( r; s9 ]% h' ~' R( C1 @  \* f2 i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
% B- o) B5 v) E5 jinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we' `! S% u+ m) a9 h# j
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.  Z+ y& y8 x$ h% y

# B$ O9 G8 e7 \" f6 ~; T5 zIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
7 k! M/ M" ^) f4 a/ A30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in7 M4 c$ n. F5 p; X0 `. d3 I
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as- c% D  F/ ^5 z
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 J" M9 t5 d" X+ A
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; u; P9 `! p3 o. u5 B' P5 Y
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
4 f( Z+ O  w- K: J3 tlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
/ v# a$ ?! }3 ]' R* f" ^) N5 Ywith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there., o& V; j0 L& c% d" H& [2 _: D7 a/ R
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but0 U8 \/ O: a2 U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
2 J& U9 q$ A4 R3 W1 mexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
/ k4 V' D% |' Z7 ?flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
" P- _* G' V& ?- H, U' L, T9 Ta roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.( |0 i- ^# ]" l, _. K' Z( P2 P

- h; u- ~7 Y! c- r) nThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,& Y% w7 }) z3 g# p
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
# i- D3 ?2 {7 Z2 u& g( p(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top' J4 Q% P0 g5 v; W! \
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
, F) N  ]# n( T* g' ?4 ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from3 [8 i4 ~" `( i# _: C2 n5 c4 A
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes0 z/ Q# p/ M5 J4 G. q
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, t% l7 r4 I. o( }% I
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' o" x4 ^3 e7 F+ J' e+ b

4 w0 k* [, f: a" s  H5 M- l. ~3 sThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, _% N- X2 c9 p% f
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
% ]* o2 b( n* z" M. Ffor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" t$ `( g0 V! C4 [
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
, L/ R' W* \$ Y9 l4 O, z$ L% va staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
9 @) r* N- @, H( ~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* L* g1 b0 ^$ [: X3 }% G* Q
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
, Z' J1 T! [. Y2 ?% W, Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,: h4 N9 y* t0 U$ }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' N# W1 V5 t. w  ~
answers to our pointed questions.$ t, Y$ E1 X; G/ z6 ]& `

9 h1 i; ?' u+ RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
  Z( C. S3 c# O$ R' Z' Q  ?3 x- b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; x( j, v3 R  E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is+ z/ f* ^. B6 l* W" }. n; Z, w8 O" N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
  }% Q) N& G* g7 R3 A7 S  pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: j$ ^" M* S9 ^8 B! c* Mmedical schools.
+ |4 @! V) L+ D0 h; h7 a1 R, t: a# @5 C3 g7 [8 F
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. s% [' r4 A9 @$ \: {8 @2 G( Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 S* j4 O! \% A8 g* H; p4 o. U, nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- |( y* J8 y) C6 q- M6 u
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba/ R5 r8 ]0 F& B" _
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( u' \3 C' j5 ^. l3 ]- u6 U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There$ T0 _' a6 V7 M0 c: w7 X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& F$ O3 _# T5 }5 Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 n. ?  c6 T. `; r9 I+ d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 a( z% o6 |- }, `sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 F- H2 b9 L9 {! T

8 W' b$ O0 ]6 Y5 f) }  YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
: r. d: X* Q: l4 G1 m9 _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 C/ k! {8 E' V% Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ I) H/ P+ s$ C" i" \4 F! s
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good6 u+ @* D: q$ R1 n! \0 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 z8 X/ }8 X6 Y0 @+ g, l4 f$ d5 hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: P5 S$ E! X+ {7 [8 ~) Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 s7 ?. u6 U$ [5 x  B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When! n$ R9 M- d6 \) \4 {' J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' j5 S( T: }$ o6 l8 P0 Acharge the fee defined by the state.* f  }2 t- `% p- ?! w! T; V4 {

5 X9 A; @5 Y5 [1 D; YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get  \4 c$ g% I$ n/ C4 T# d& ?
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: u2 V( M+ g2 Y  n6 lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! h: T1 }, t, S! p  N  n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
7 H8 `, C' Y$ h* G  hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 }+ \+ N+ G- W5 G/ G+ ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 \: j1 o: v) I5 q" E0 kschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 G$ o& `, E0 b+ B) u4 S& D. B1 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
: M, J: V4 ?8 t3 h& Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( A3 G6 ~* Y, c0 G! z% ]hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* s2 U9 [$ V" j) @  Q% A/ a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 |6 p$ J9 t3 a7 }% f
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or" u( b7 ?5 B' ^  j6 Y( V; k7 }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 r4 a$ Y( l* z# J: Uare spaces.
1 m) I, Y1 ^/ V3 ^6 k
/ z2 u# u8 B# GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: }# s- h: s$ ]8 f; ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 ]1 x3 i' W* L: K
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. r' \. a4 ~- g: B/ _% v  K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: x- E# ^$ V2 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! ]7 Q) J: C& X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few! \! Q$ T" F! {: C8 m
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of0 e+ D5 X" ~8 Y4 c. E4 a
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) h4 b- ?0 _# a: ]% T  F8 f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: m: ~- Y6 I8 h; J& P6 |
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$ @" m. e! W5 s4 t: R
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all) t0 m! e* f0 D6 U0 a$ R# [$ I
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
" f0 D3 e- Q# {* J2 v, llimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep) v# E$ Z/ D+ O- E  E6 ~' H
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
3 T# a5 R7 s2 |+ Z- @# bsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
# x9 ]5 X4 e+ w" @3 i; g( Q2 Lthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
# W* v' f2 _4 |: x8 o! bhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ J. T  Q# V" X6 g5 I5 }6 s4 _
tourist area.5 s: H5 D# Y" A: y

; Y+ T" X" f: r; V) j8 @' a9 M/ @. ^One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's8 n; Y/ H" G0 n' x4 T7 W* S( \
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
: r6 i: Q0 T- p- |1 i- S6 w1 GCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
1 l7 l) v4 @3 C+ s5 Veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps , D8 P9 c1 W- O, y# `
less leader-religious.! B2 |+ _1 p0 P; \& g" {, s

( u8 |- X- ~, u! @About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
5 N1 d9 F/ }9 L+ e+ P0 n9 W$ c3 hgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big6 ]9 w; E  c6 @. I7 d! G" B
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US1 n# G( Y% ]5 {7 Y  s( C& n2 v
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
$ K- K) K0 Q+ ^: \, @+ x7 U5 ?parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
' g6 x4 g" c* R' Mthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $13 g0 s) c* g. f. M0 {* m1 P2 S
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
) ]: n6 I9 y6 \9 p4 M8 pforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars; b) V+ g1 ]$ F, M2 d4 s1 U. I# I
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we2 S* H1 j. F3 L* L9 {
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- `# w4 I+ [; u
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
* N3 V2 g& ]! o7 ?( EAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local& E& s: W; `" U: A+ _1 }* [( ~
or visitors.6 F" m# L5 ~! S
7 V. t+ ^8 p1 T- T
--  The End --

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