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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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  Y. d" H, S3 ]% a$ ~! x9 q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. $ `6 d, \  \0 r$ X9 U* y. j4 |- W  Z
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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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- e3 Y( F) T9 e# [/ @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
$ L0 d0 Q- g) Z0 yinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we+ l) {5 m% [9 Q1 Y- r  A
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.# F# @( i& u* O+ v" y5 B4 I
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
! Z; d* Z2 m- k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in* [: i7 I: r5 t- g/ a: c
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as' b3 z( a0 w1 J, ?
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
7 n( v7 w# Q# D9 X% t( e' U! mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep& O/ ?5 l1 U  K& N% `2 D) e
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
- O" G7 a2 t9 }: \/ E: }lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
# N+ u7 e3 d7 C9 y2 g+ Q' Hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.) t2 J' H4 n$ g& `
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
, u$ Z' v7 E; `0 onames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
/ \; K/ c# }" v, {# \% uexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our& ]6 @1 W/ ]& [& B# N, t
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
) V; Y! L! q0 n0 la roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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* b# D. ~( t2 f" }The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,8 {3 S+ A7 N$ T1 i
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
  w1 T% I# H! z* G, z- c% p& ?(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top. K$ s# L4 m/ Y* O
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
$ E; Z2 @9 N  T$ H' x* Tstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from. W3 X" z, w# O1 o2 j1 @& d
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes  R8 R  P$ z+ J0 j% C( N
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
: y% a) ?2 ?6 w" p* kfingers, 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 are& B* @5 T' N& _( }( U! V; K! C
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
/ \/ ~8 M# @) }9 c" Kfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba0 h9 J7 `6 L. o3 {6 b
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
. @1 F) a1 _' _' |! `+ Y2 ia staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
: ~8 S% c: A' D9 a3 o" V3 U+ hdaily 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
/ f9 g* Q+ r5 q1 e0 I+ [/ wstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
. N$ j  v  e. ]& m' [' _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,. S2 A1 s) p+ b7 V& {9 i5 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
  n9 c. M- \7 E1 C; g! @. Banswers to our pointed questions.
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% U4 P; o/ y% [5 T8 M0 x5 y% ~, {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% A  s; c$ Y" T- ?3 d+ m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 a; Y4 U! M% g3 C) ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
2 m" F# j9 v! Q: h# g, Yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) J& q* R$ z3 r9 e% l* u0 i/ \: ]& ~# zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* v6 Q. _- X! j6 b" ]' y, q
medical schools.
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- E0 Q/ k' \4 j; W0 a: v3 MEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
  G  C, O8 c9 u) v+ N) h" y& hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! r$ P' {( B% o& F2 p, d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ ^$ D  w- a0 G' p4 [4 Bassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba. K6 H( h" w* {' K' Z/ Q
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! |0 n8 \5 i( i) f/ c/ c8 g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
6 m. @. m% H: {7 aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 I/ V% I  Y9 |+ z" A1 C/ nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ q* z8 g0 X9 n5 g4 _# d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some  @! U& O: \$ y2 `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 T9 e0 e9 u  _5 o6 j* D7 }3 W
$ z" U4 I8 u5 T2 C0 s* y0 B
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no( |& C# W, {8 _/ e* H, h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ C/ s" R, D1 c3 X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 O- ~+ h% b& A" D3 H+ r' |have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good  r' g/ T( P$ l4 X+ Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& T' n- H/ H* n, psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 }3 w! e! {9 q5 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; [. E( R: o0 }: E) QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When" q1 F4 z' I! o6 p4 J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) g" J8 e+ N5 [. l$ B% Z
charge the fee defined by the state.' [  ?1 k. [0 `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# U9 \& w. l2 a/ J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- L; p1 H2 M: }* P% e, Q* Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 Q, Y% t' g" p% n/ d. Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel7 v9 G. W* a: z! W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. H0 Y  D/ \+ I: c' j9 I, q7 G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ f( i8 i9 g$ E
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! M* X/ p1 r" n3 m' y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people* I- o& e$ A% v, T" a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, u# ?' ]) W- h+ x5 {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: J- c+ e/ S9 g( V( X, ?4 Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% D  W5 S) Z1 _7 W) vto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or, r" d7 D) u: n/ o# ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; B% c  C* _4 p2 E- x4 I2 L
are spaces.# g2 U( e, J2 W% b* u* v3 S" E8 U8 b
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) k% b4 t$ t5 `% {8 F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' p  i2 L: m& C
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& C, F% p+ X' j7 E2 @
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" w" F" f0 D! J) d/ t, s' l: K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" {7 u9 E4 H8 z" L3 |- |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few/ @5 p0 V; j$ m9 Y8 N
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of- D( ?& |( J7 G' q+ Q4 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* K& _& k, h) T" A8 y' Y8 t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 ^7 r9 I! |# s 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: g4 L4 r9 i1 Q- b- ~  M! Q4 R
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all' q. G3 m0 @' y4 g! @7 d
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
4 n6 Q0 n% e6 ^limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
& u# a! U5 @6 [recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day3 b) H! W2 I) i9 M" \; A4 m
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
5 S% R0 }2 \0 R7 U" T4 kthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
( w6 v% p, i' o6 G  Thave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
  Z, q4 V, i% n, }tourist area.
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' _! E) y4 c2 r  c; b) c% w. X  ?5 n2 ROne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's0 ~0 v# I1 n. E: J+ U- k% m* c
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).% q+ T( B9 P! |
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were/ U( N- q/ T$ z- p& X8 @
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
0 m; _0 G/ G" I' hless leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba9 O& i+ U5 u9 N" A8 p
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big/ `* E& F6 s) m- }% g
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US3 ^0 Y! Z" c- Q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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+ }; `& a- V1 Q8 E$ L3 G+ QWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
- l" z/ A: J+ J3 H  M9 yparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not  Y2 G9 T/ j: ]$ d2 B" s, i; {0 l
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1* I2 I8 z# e- U0 r, l/ [' u8 _
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for  l- f: m1 v9 a0 M& ^9 ^
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
- |" R3 b8 F! X, M+ u(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we- a  M9 j6 @2 k' `
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% V8 D6 a9 R" s' N3 ~
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
) M2 v) r: R* n, G* A  hAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
8 |  D/ e* r# n0 Por visitors.
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# k- V3 a8 w$ e--  The End --

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