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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)." K3 B& U$ I. H4 |4 e7 `9 o

4 y& x& T, i* 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.
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( Q- P6 f+ r5 \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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8 ]" ~# x4 Z5 X- K" `1 |8 ]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.' F0 W8 ~1 \9 j6 {) k
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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- T. w; M7 b* C2 ?. f+ g
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we5 o7 _5 [4 }- B$ Z& L  J- q  j- r- k
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.4 v0 |+ M- z; ?. I  I
6 Z( e2 y: N$ R# h, f
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
) J- E6 {' X& j30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
/ u" y1 J( f9 p% A- @& a  d: ua very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) q3 l$ r& H; a$ P6 w( N6 d! ]0 i
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort2 n  q9 y& X7 R6 G4 y
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep7 U" x1 ]7 D2 b7 x% D' s
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the0 x1 y6 k, r9 z/ y
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,. e! O. t. Z4 U% X/ E) M
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
, H: v9 f' V( o' A( d9 i People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
4 z; A# H# G; |4 Z, z$ Cnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not3 ]3 i0 G. f3 p; d
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
8 m4 K! z4 a* ?flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through& G' B" _/ g1 n1 H# `- d
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# i$ h1 _$ d' U4 k+ S4 F) F
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
& f8 l8 g/ i6 [$ c$ I7 v: hlow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool1 w% G. `( ^) s0 z, V2 j
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
# ]$ _5 m; Z; y0 v7 h3 fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
2 `7 ^  c& A9 p3 r9 ustars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ @% U( r+ K0 ^% ~  H
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
& j; }3 o: P& h% OCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
7 x7 ?0 S. k" b8 A. k4 i( Z/ Ifingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.2 a# h: k* G, _  E7 d
( @& K2 x. g8 B  L* b; j5 \
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- Q7 e8 C, m/ U$ ^- s4 M& n
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made. w5 @) q  @6 m% E. _* p
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
  ?. |$ z+ f: H& atourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
8 ~7 N' p$ S" u% r  a% k1 f( `a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
5 A: x1 U; u+ _; P3 e- P) Y0 n  Mdaily 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, living6 |* Z" ?& v% S% J( {9 D
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went) C$ q5 q/ i) }4 l" H% c4 x. I
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,8 p/ w! E+ f# j; M8 V  V2 F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ l+ B; h5 j6 |, [$ Z: V# `answers to our pointed questions.
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9 y- t% d5 M% Z" ~0 Y; G2 @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, e8 C7 e! b, M; n, U& ?  I8 e4 S# _
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% G& c! b' T/ W3 ^$ F! vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
# x7 \$ w* M7 y1 vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. O7 D6 J. S/ }& H- u; N3 d/ b3 Xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 w' _; r6 v: C) a; }
medical schools.0 j5 b, O) n8 u$ f. z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 |6 c8 d, H6 w7 |- Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 d4 B; {! q8 J% }
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, z+ ^, N  Z) w5 j3 ?8 e, f
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba7 N( x+ r8 ^5 f9 D. ?
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" Y, e( d* @, r% l, Q3 `4 Y; [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There) l! w. [. @& J8 m+ V8 }3 |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 w( o- w3 J* `  x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 ?0 F$ P; X; T! q% S) d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' v3 z1 w8 d% f: M% y. u; U( ]
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 _- m2 V7 A7 n9 W) q8 M
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no& J* w& l% z( w: D' R+ E! c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 X8 H3 r; r, X5 z/ x0 b$ t% c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, T+ I; `# v0 n, Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
: h4 T2 T( U& h/ C/ j/ A1 `8 uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% Q. ~( B1 u6 B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 C0 X. n( R1 o9 d* J
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; _) Q) r5 _3 N) E7 L% X1 k( h, K$ vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
. Y. D4 H( K+ Q/ p/ Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ Q; t9 L. z& S6 H: O  V) g
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# \- a# v! U& K1 P4 q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' s6 y/ b6 ~! A" R$ R  Bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 G( N: ^) U# T2 }( U, {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
) V2 @( M. O$ f: i8 d* N! a, T  v% xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) \, m% t: s; s& c+ tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 u3 `6 o( ^7 F/ b6 Vschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ @8 O4 ^. R5 M* e  f! G9 Q, i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people, G) T! h' r) U) I8 R3 Z* P# O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" b1 o/ v) R# |( p8 P/ Q2 y- d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" Q% F& e& g% E* T5 ~' q( |2 Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" z) u% ?: ^; B6 \1 R) @" {to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ [% O/ k( L$ h. S0 _( v, Y; M
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: |8 k9 C- @4 T/ dare spaces.: Q' G; k  m, k, _# I/ {

" h) j% X# K& OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, {2 g  b& ?# k3 k) b  Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 w5 C* O/ E, Z$ O. _own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 A1 g; E; G) T3 p! f5 |! G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& ~4 B+ _$ b$ u/ d+ ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- l& }, q: r  X5 y7 _4 u/ l' mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few1 O# p( ^) ^/ ~
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
; \) O) ^) [6 i3 b+ Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 C/ X9 N. x( s9 J# h" `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 C' }. R- g5 i. Y 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& y) U5 h2 }, }& _- n
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
, ~) M9 N& S5 v. ~$ G! B0 _/ @% G8 i4 _the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
+ V$ ^5 E2 T; X1 Qlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
! V! j' C& I8 f: z6 Q9 U3 {recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day+ W1 C5 {5 e# Z9 j/ Q( V& L
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of( J1 c* }/ Z# ?* y6 E
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms  ^) k8 l2 s6 H) |
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the( o1 E% X( {6 \, c6 t
tourist area.0 f" n2 p  {% o' r) h

! @8 _' N8 F0 M: M) B6 v9 ^" pOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; t5 [$ [  _7 k" D' y
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
& z7 I2 l( T- J/ f3 }! C% K% KCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
* |0 A* N  {, |/ a! ^everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 8 M; N$ M2 B  B7 H
less leader-religious.& [/ N. ]6 o; l2 A$ ]. R

, S# ^- Z$ s0 vAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba9 g; o+ c$ J- I* R/ n6 H
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big" z$ \4 f: z# ^! E3 _
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US0 C  m. d! `& P1 S# v
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 y/ K0 y( q; u) \0 `$ q0 P. ]

- t" d& W  @  V" V; qWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the7 D5 k4 X0 j3 S
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not! H/ Z7 U2 T: P% G- _8 w3 K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
; S6 |1 U1 Q/ E0 Uconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
8 f0 x. C) H2 ?, ~  T6 Lforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
, ]+ S  R- B% G(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we- [8 Z6 R  C8 V8 n" l" U
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 y# G4 H- k1 A
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.9 p8 H" R# S2 f5 l3 h2 o+ ]
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
6 J. t, ~) i& A) zor visitors.
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& z/ Y1 R" d# y" `( k6 ^1 k--  The End --

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