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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)." z& k7 I0 z$ ?2 r$ L- O. ?
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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. . ]0 I4 U2 y! u) I% G
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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.3 l* G  W0 }1 A5 {% x+ @, f
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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.

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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
* z/ L' P5 P. j- v- iinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
! j8 }- {+ l1 ~6 W$ G' ^5 B7 kwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.* U" B/ f3 @! F) |
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
3 `1 l. Y9 [% O+ K) k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
8 M. e& Z5 K9 Z+ F9 [) m5 t3 s' ja very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as$ t) ]. U: V9 E, B7 e* ]
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
0 i7 c4 o/ A8 g' {  [: ]3 H& e8 Lshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
" q9 B6 J1 J: `- Y# m% u) S+ D' fbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
% |" W  n  C" K2 g2 B6 T/ qlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
- l) v5 ]! l. j. O1 awith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
3 I; G* C' T1 d$ }- U+ y" q( z' Q People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but, t8 n, Q* c) o, ]
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ b  Z8 i; N/ }9 m! J7 w
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our9 Q! {+ q5 m% X  P2 ]
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
8 K1 V, u) v) u: \a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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& ~# u! X* i6 [The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
3 L. D0 t, F7 l: c5 ^low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool$ B! {8 b1 c  {
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
, k$ ~) [" w8 l' D7 d$ Uof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
; i) d7 _! |8 ]1 \! J' n# T( Sstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
+ l# N% H& k/ X49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
: v- b2 X+ H% X$ gCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 q$ |0 f) O) m4 l* o
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' F2 s) E( x& J' B; \+ A4 t
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
- D5 E$ t3 P) @: l$ r& k. c4 Rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made* k; u4 Y  ?6 \
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
' N. N: I# T0 Btourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
1 t) `. Q& ]4 d6 R9 e" ya staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
8 p' x: u; }/ c; ~3 adaily 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/ {# x5 }4 \" Q2 j( e2 \) m5 G
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
' R4 b( t  J3 r$ E0 H. ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
$ K& I& }5 ^- M2 {6 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 {9 X1 A$ H; a: b& q
answers to our pointed questions./ G# y8 Z* `8 V; @
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 Y: d3 P) e7 O/ Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; @! M: K5 E/ a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is5 ?4 ]; z9 n9 y$ X  e" I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. u0 `4 f" Z6 [5 v! L) l2 Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 B5 I2 R' {3 e' z' C: k! Z8 p
medical schools./ X9 H; w: ?1 M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( z8 ~* r1 z$ s+ e: J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& @( g5 S( k8 G) ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. d" n$ k) o: d2 ^1 x1 v
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba# o1 {) F$ j2 U- b: U% \. D4 P
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to  A7 g9 @( |3 @2 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There8 O6 d$ h/ ~7 G* Q3 `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" h; u+ B: G3 ]8 t9 v& I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ {$ c( x. y# \& B! p6 d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 ^6 _" @- \2 T* O. V' i+ D3 z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no0 j5 m) \! J. u& r/ J! X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* N, Q' {# ]1 b6 g$ K+ i, Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( \; M9 s) ?6 K( k- i3 T; }have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
* K2 W% n" Z+ F" w5 mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ G  r' a; D  _  Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, r* L/ o" [- v5 O. |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% @5 L; O7 b1 q5 p4 t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When4 I! `/ @/ F) s! n/ m6 T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 Z/ n& Y( C& q2 o
charge the fee defined by the state.1 x% v  M4 x9 N; U7 y/ b7 [
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" q- H/ L$ x8 N( Y# Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, ]- s+ r4 u  x$ z( o5 o( yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! x1 c# E. f  ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
; r! L' f: S! k1 P  b; [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 v; O, S  S- N) `, j9 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" p4 s+ {# K9 P& {' i
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% x  u, ~1 P1 d# U, }3 \% hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people+ f6 d& C2 B' B3 y8 E' @) Q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% l3 s( z$ A9 n8 @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 F2 q! j5 l3 q) B# H7 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" [. l9 _9 T6 M- Q. B+ }, ^
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or( L+ [' C7 r, L3 H& Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) j% w4 O6 s% y' b! S) N9 o& V8 ~9 Kare spaces./ z5 I' C! E3 E. s2 o1 n. |0 Z6 o0 s! v

* i* s  Y( L4 H) l, `There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' w  P/ O4 T: U) ~6 X1 lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 l( ?: j+ _8 N4 c  i3 E: oown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ @( s- @1 k+ V/ a) E- P! V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" {2 _" A) B8 ]4 @+ @+ x% [
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 T# m7 i5 C( E# A. ]% [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few* c1 z# [$ I5 o" a  a& j! ~; g& F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
2 o, I8 a; j% [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& q+ \* |3 A, l' o; C/ w* lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ g/ r% Z+ q# Q; A0 g# }: t 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: I, R0 b% P3 }7 V  P$ {1 t. q
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
' C) k5 y  `+ ?the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
5 c4 P! i$ Q/ u; P, x2 b# ]limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
0 A# f; e6 L) D2 q4 S  X6 Brecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day7 [+ g6 L* e4 R# |7 ?
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of9 Z& t) Y; c# r" o
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms  ?  c/ ^+ L& v  `' {; K  o# O
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
! T4 k3 G1 g2 X. m9 D( G+ stourist area.$ |% k- X: g0 M" s
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's9 n  d) s6 c  t: C; A" k
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).# f8 q% c: ^/ Y2 L) l, [" e
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were# V8 [2 ?: u5 n  {" [& u
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) X' e! z8 n2 \. T
less leader-religious.0 v' |& x9 a) \; h' r0 ]7 Z

; |) s5 R- Q" Q' ~6 QAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba0 j& J6 Z0 X; v5 {- }; ]
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
# Z7 R1 j0 q( v3 b5 x8 _black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
, @% d: ]! ?) u0 Uembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)./ q, h  O. E7 x1 F' i% M3 M* M
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
5 g5 @; i4 J: q+ T- ], hparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
. o2 [" x' j0 x' D6 Mthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1& ~. I. @2 g1 X
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for4 ^9 _4 T% h/ f/ z* X# h
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
  I9 Q$ G3 Q: e+ C4 V(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
  I1 |% ]- P) l' t' i( Qprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the4 m! u7 {9 x2 n
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.+ n2 h: S& Q7 d) `$ f
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local/ ?8 N: ~/ y/ K/ f# V8 x( I( b
or visitors.
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9 V6 @6 c# ?/ q& b  T& L--  The End --

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