freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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).. p& Y+ Z" ~, A- Y7 r  K% r- h
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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.
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! C7 c/ u! u5 e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.0 r6 u' E. i) o, D
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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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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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very
# o4 C  a- r. O* ?/ yinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 k( q$ W7 s2 b: o3 d
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.; n4 g' R. z( _) a+ M

8 t  r& ^9 l6 n+ i/ F1 q' P: QIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
  c0 t# E! ]; |( X; ?$ |2 i+ a30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
1 T: y* o5 S& s- v) Qa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) i7 m5 T( q5 L
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 p! v& m, }) z7 `" {" K
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 e" t; ^3 a7 E3 Q: b5 }& l
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
4 f7 V6 E" G3 m- g8 ]! _( xlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* ?# V: b1 y# \. F7 e8 @2 M
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 h& L- l3 v. v7 n4 z6 N8 p
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
. [- n% X5 b/ n' c4 knames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
4 r- p* s/ g$ `$ G  D! o9 L" }  ^' Jexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our+ o* g% q. k5 b5 B# M3 K% E
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
* J6 ~: B- U8 w3 {1 A! R5 va roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# ^2 ^& i/ b1 `
# w' x# I+ T( p  Z9 c4 s1 }
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 C3 Z  E) c' s! N
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool% u4 U4 B% A/ M2 S! F* [
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top7 s8 w1 D% d3 F' |- o4 o4 g- V
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
) s, M$ s6 P, {9 nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ V/ ~& j+ F( H$ N6 x0 i3 f; d$ S
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
* \8 @3 `8 q- _3 UCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
4 v3 K0 e5 j7 `$ M2 tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are6 n6 }. C9 g; S& H
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
  S4 P) y# u) R; ^8 v( W0 Wfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba2 g2 x# a* ^2 G2 v2 m
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
  D) M. s: M) m1 u% oa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China3 ^2 X# U; U( V1 t/ G
daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
& d6 p( J; B2 |2 ~& E! Lstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went- ^% k2 _# p( r5 N% ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide," o. M  ^6 l3 m# u+ ]8 v! r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 C6 Y7 m. ?/ z1 ranswers to our pointed questions.8 x; T) m) D$ M4 _( J
3 w, q7 W( S- F& U* w) @
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 B7 L8 j: K' S9 B9 S  l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand  E) s0 W7 E) N4 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
5 O9 ]7 V6 I; y0 r" ^5 jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! M/ c. h: f' R6 j8 y% _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* h9 Q! P2 Z! Ymedical schools.& Z, {; b' i6 t0 U; j+ j5 N

( \. h) R2 i: _) W6 BEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% C3 P* o; }5 C3 f! h2 f: E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ E& n$ _# ]* h( b$ q4 C( Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! T& r+ o) I* Q
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba4 R6 r+ c# }2 t7 z
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) k5 `, ~7 q( n1 Z+ Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
+ \/ A8 Y9 N$ M. _8 H$ {, S8 Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! b! I8 W$ V7 I& [4 O  ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; o- k2 d+ f4 I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ I+ i* c* W! ~: G3 o+ b9 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 j) [9 H" ]6 Y

9 ~3 C6 M% `9 \6 d" GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
- S; _& _; g% |0 cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 t% r  v8 Z  C& D$ c! rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. n; |# }' ^9 e6 I! {4 H( ihave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
# `9 ^$ w- E) Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: i+ a# D6 o. F5 i+ j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
  g7 X) X# W# r( i+ F1 Qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 l" y  U! ]* pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When* n$ m9 |! w0 v- l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 T1 W* x& \* ?& D7 ~
charge the fee defined by the state.
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4 B" d6 B3 M- Y4 S" {. O& d6 Y2 z* F; DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 Z7 J9 r2 p# fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ `* h2 U" a7 M7 A" C/ F! cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big  |9 R; Q0 Q% q3 H: |# ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
; `; s+ ^- L- a7 i' @' Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 C, k. _! d# a9 zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 v( v  _3 P0 C/ w8 Z3 @schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ q- P$ U5 P& z& g# I+ i* hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people( O' \) O+ U! `  W9 K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 l% i: V7 B* v  B5 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- \! R5 W& w' j, {. vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 t. d# Q% s& Y3 [: o6 Zto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 h  D9 e. n, g' v( |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" p. ]' M6 P  Z, c5 p3 y' kare spaces.6 A. F4 Z7 l; G
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! R- X# J# A# i, L0 N' ?7 b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 S; ]8 m7 l0 D' b* Town a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 p2 Q* y" z( F2 @, J, B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 g3 m( A$ ^5 A# tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 A/ Z) \' w0 r+ y4 V" O7 I# y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
5 s! g, K; P$ j! T0 w7 fnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
9 V# I) ^! U' B4 Q. {car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ Q6 j, j; m9 p% h. k, eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ P  Q, O8 z9 t7 R6 @9 i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful( o  q- ]5 C* o
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all9 k" B5 m& S) P. F0 O
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
" Q0 F, M) G" A% I% s$ |6 Slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
- E2 G6 L  F: _( E1 r1 ~recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day% w% `1 V8 k! ?% \( p  i4 Q% k
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ R* w' l' r) m- A% T
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
# \  Q6 u1 o, S- {have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
5 f/ B( e% ?" C$ d5 ?7 otourist area.1 E1 x4 q# a# z  G' o6 g

8 J2 A5 b3 |) O1 P9 l. E1 jOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
8 n/ J& ^1 ^! s( v4 [- Tpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
3 O: h% x; ~1 Z7 W, ?& HCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
/ b5 H1 V: [# K7 M2 M0 zeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 8 c. S9 x; |7 c: _" h3 M$ X: {
less leader-religious.7 K% o$ @/ ~* W1 d$ m4 C

1 F7 c: z7 q' I9 T* {About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
# W5 o8 o3 a; ]# b# N9 fgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big( |1 Z* S: k! P9 k/ y
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
) b: G9 a+ w, _' K$ H) Qembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).: w& g2 H) j& X: O

8 J6 j- V* f* W, GWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the5 n* ?9 k9 D6 ?+ D
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; g8 u" Y: g# l  v. H- b
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $12 Y( `& o' d: d* g1 ^- J
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for' T$ @% V3 z' J
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars# p. P$ u; A3 H# i/ j# j
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we2 v/ X, R" a" [& q
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
8 V& \% L) k/ I, M# g) X0 Rreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
0 x4 x$ g( H  i, s8 N% W9 YAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local/ q% X/ |4 G( }) J2 t
or visitors.
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--  The End --