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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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0 b6 K6 x. F  a) @$ ?, L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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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.' e$ m2 L9 Y+ L1 N  \8 K
& i" Y& H  s: \/ ?
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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. z/ W  K, J. T' K9 ^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
9 K: ?3 o1 J, _4 A* Cinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
) N( q8 @) o5 j7 L/ Cwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.1 S: k/ J7 _' O$ ]1 D' V

: D% B+ o& U! i" K: DIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,* W0 B* V, Y+ g6 ^
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
& Y, N! G: l+ ]4 \$ k/ Aa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
% i* f+ b9 N: E1 s- [0 b, \8 B1 Mpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
% K8 K+ v7 v) l5 i4 Qshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep& }0 y1 |5 e; x4 f5 ^3 K
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" G7 g* O* Y6 |5 |4 y  c
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
7 ^9 t, _4 b- U& {with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
5 y9 {6 _, t) n2 @) D' J People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but3 T, ^. I  p& Y8 o/ W: ^5 E+ M& U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
' h; s. A9 i# o4 d( Iexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our9 E: W% m/ k6 \6 _2 q
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ ^/ k0 o  l# v) h$ I
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.' J: h9 P8 ?4 Q

$ r0 ?& K: e  Y3 jThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ `* s4 U* Z5 Q7 d
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
7 D# m/ r, W& o  b+ F5 c& k(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
' l' I. d& z) ?& ?; t  Aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
& U9 Y2 n5 F$ K7 k5 J3 cstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
2 ]6 P* ]# \4 w# g1 Q' N49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes. }! K2 \, H4 z
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
/ t# f' |2 c( p; Cfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.. M! }$ q3 T3 G2 T
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
9 |2 V2 E5 u) k" @just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made: J; L8 r# v) [: F% V, @' o, j0 h" U
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba0 e9 l/ B1 Q6 W; L8 ?
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having2 l( ]. [$ w8 J- h5 P2 z/ c$ C
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China# |0 Q5 |- a9 p5 s' d4 P: ?
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
: s: a7 X7 s' q5 {+ _2 Ustandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went, ~7 E9 ?. z7 H$ I
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,( K5 P, c- [$ Y8 x" l. {
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 E4 N+ V2 P0 w0 v8 s
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 l2 w2 i5 W8 C7 R) C1 {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% _* L/ r- o+ F9 Z; |0 tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is9 [! \" e1 X/ U' `  i  R; c- P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. _1 \' z$ b* U" Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 a8 n& t  Y3 V5 e1 v
medical schools.: Q% `4 Z2 L7 p: \+ M* I6 ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 K# A3 h6 p2 ?0 p' hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, w5 ]/ R5 [+ Q. u7 b' T. U) ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
0 K: F/ A! c2 R" a8 _8 sassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
) u/ R* F/ x) ?/ |is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ G+ C3 C9 o! }8 ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There3 S: r/ Z; G; o- M! j! S( N% Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 h; y8 P; X8 Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 J& o( G3 t4 n0 B, r# y/ Z/ s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; C6 C' k3 M6 _) Z. Y2 a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 J4 U, w- C* }5 n

3 `( b) f  D4 a2 iThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
7 n8 W/ z1 y. A4 W; M0 `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 Q/ `. s9 a9 D# \; Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# R5 E4 c' Z1 P2 E. b/ R0 zhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good& _0 C% o) R* J1 W0 s- U( {# T) a% H& U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- R8 F: f$ e  p. g2 vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& @2 R  P$ b3 E3 Q* Q, pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 q" T; q, _" c0 Q% @! ?  A: W0 R/ j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
# Y- ?1 i( ~& p5 m  pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 Q% K! `/ D8 U+ G% Y3 Z
charge the fee defined by the state.+ h* ?$ _* ^. x6 T! E3 y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# n& F& S) v  Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 |0 C, T% U2 O$ t  y& Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: V) q. F7 ~9 P/ ^: B' ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
7 C2 \* k  `* o/ Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- t8 I+ v* U! c! }1 M; k5 @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: W. s& U* z0 z1 r# D
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ E- ~  b: [$ Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
6 Y0 b0 \9 y  b2 I: H5 }1 n/ Ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 c* B4 ^6 m% f% B3 E, ?3 w1 y- J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& W9 B' x: N* G1 m
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 _9 p. o  I6 y! F$ k7 j2 Ito go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) h0 A( o/ a4 L! M; Ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 G. }  q" r8 uare spaces.
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) U) W6 l1 \: ^( r0 t$ H1 kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 V  E& k, h# n! ]7 f6 w
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) q$ S. u/ r% `6 u6 qown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; f' V) Q/ Z( \- i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; c+ a% a! M& A1 [) o: o: e
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) |% r; O+ a; D8 Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
- T% D2 J- v8 P% m1 O8 [1 B" ~8 T$ {nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
- v1 j! q% L, k( E) @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 R$ N% f6 b/ H. cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* H0 e1 N. \+ O( O! K$ ?* Q9 }  ]( Q7 X 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$ N* a$ Z" o; t; m5 I
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
; `2 O% O6 N) ?* b5 zthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
$ e( @/ J% i" Q0 Z8 C6 [limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 L* |5 N/ W3 G$ o* Z) K9 J) R
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day6 V' o" J1 Y+ G% W
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of# ~# _/ q6 o! G& Q+ Y- x, Z
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms$ e2 \! R) G& ]& [7 E# I5 |
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the6 ?, O. S7 X1 q
tourist area.) D( g5 S+ x  {+ A) f

0 ]$ ]; m+ f3 ~/ J% R& S: }9 ]One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
6 o3 b+ @( X4 j& ]) Vpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).4 A9 P' E3 `3 f4 D+ D5 E
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were! h0 T3 e$ z0 k: U
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps , n, M7 l; S7 R  u; N0 R  _
less leader-religious." W7 ?/ D  x4 j. `3 P

+ m4 n% d0 M6 Y  u0 [! BAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
9 M' A$ [7 \) U5 s0 R- u$ bgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big
- g5 n  U+ m4 q$ |+ {+ V$ m1 H9 Lblack flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US2 C; r# T! M0 y7 }8 \, `: X% ?- y
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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) U& O1 L2 `2 s( k- gWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
4 Z, v* H5 M& ?5 N  cparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; x6 A1 P$ |% V3 w- D
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
# n" V: I1 j/ W2 ^, p; {convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
/ n7 M  h9 E8 wforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
% ?  G. W) l" a  @) o+ @3 j(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
; _3 j  q. n) p5 P; q8 H, o" Vprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the$ m1 C3 n/ h! J  F6 N/ }7 V
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
( W' k2 {- ?7 o. Y  lAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local1 s9 Z+ a# v( P& X8 Z
or visitors." F; G" e7 B7 I# F( ]

. T6 ]0 O( ?# x--  The End --

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