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).) I" H- {9 R" `

( r/ W) B( z& g3 |) i% A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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! X% {+ ?* N, s  b+ M. t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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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.
) C/ i% V& j3 Q
& h) B3 O  s* P8 z" q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 very0 N( t) W* ]  v. _, w6 t& n
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we$ J  P8 F: `2 e7 `0 ]
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible." Z% ?. z2 T0 z9 H
3 r" d7 [  o4 B, d( |. a
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,$ d  n: E, R1 ?4 N; G4 s( U
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in9 k; ~( f% {" h$ v# O
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
" S" o" U# x+ Ipossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort) w- I/ W2 `% [! G4 f' i
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
, ]: s9 {# a0 M6 z5 _5 Y: O# Tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
  }0 G; X& k, M7 e# g  p; P2 Mlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
6 n& d/ p0 H% W! bwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.+ s& A+ Z  `, Z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
$ `. J; Z. l6 O; Znames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not, `$ M% r0 c& e
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
1 A% T, y9 Q2 T& h( pflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
( [/ @  v% o$ g7 Ga roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., B! x" h4 V+ S; j8 X$ ?9 N

8 C( Q* M' s. X  z" D& aThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
' u! S& ~- [- l1 klow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
* \$ w& r- ^3 ]% p7 Z0 v8 O(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top" t# o5 e! k: m0 }
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
' ^; v: S3 k8 s) Z( J) Cstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
2 a* ^7 p$ `. E) r49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
0 M" e5 l; Z* [7 R5 U$ x! q0 pCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
  K2 M% {/ z" Z6 C/ h& ~  h) Qfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
- y$ m1 a. N5 y2 [
- n* `, ^6 o: t/ XThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 Z$ h9 z9 x: m. N1 c% h! V8 H
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made1 K; o4 e8 n, x5 U8 V6 w5 A
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
: \' I9 a/ z$ Xtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
* H2 I3 W0 F( p& l& d2 H) ea staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
4 q# Y7 W! }; Odaily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living* s$ ]& d- B% w5 _
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
, B6 }7 X' G, {8 Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
( n. H# h# H, Z+ M: w" Y2 h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. R6 l  J* q( I: u& H: I- v/ \answers to our pointed questions.: \/ D" O. Q. M/ [% y+ D

# X- a9 h4 J% m, m! nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 {" a. P; b+ F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- u1 f6 s: C" o. J4 v7 lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
$ {0 y; h' L% r% p8 c( L% s% bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: q' K) r6 _- u- f' i$ l+ \: ~( s( n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 u$ J% W; w; x' U9 b1 [medical schools.
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1 ]+ P! C5 B* _* }$ T9 t4 p0 A8 iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 Y  R7 U$ \- g' p; R- p' j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 p1 G) |6 B5 qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- T/ ?4 p) a/ qassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba9 ^+ U* X* E  W/ G: w
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 N" f3 E( e, ~& F1 Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
/ S: n8 `' P& @5 P$ nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ @+ C3 J% b! T" r7 vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 i$ J8 `% L: `- U0 D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" b. p+ l- e1 R& t7 g2 q$ [
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 z# f  X- s/ o& {+ z

* F% y0 A. f9 ?5 p7 Y" Z! y' `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
; F8 r3 }  w7 _& Bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& N! B) W& s# z& u/ o, w$ Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ P8 y( x. D& x* u2 ]6 a- g; J$ Rhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
* [7 e0 w+ d  i9 R" F# V* Othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 g2 u! b0 y! q+ m* Q. W
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 d  _' W3 k0 |" l& b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' D* R! c6 V4 `4 d9 UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
! l' W0 Y- Q/ ]6 }a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 }4 R- h! k. X% E( g0 y7 l$ Jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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( }& v$ d6 Z& Y, HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" [; }( ?- a' Z0 g+ k; }- @6 r1 h
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ D# K  I9 S5 A8 M0 {/ U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% a1 e2 {, i! `+ T, S5 |truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
/ g' D6 y+ H' D$ z8 Z' l+ ^0 Kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 @: L. V3 ?* O1 J3 rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 m% e4 K* _; Z8 c( qschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! ?, N& |0 W( {  Q9 E: t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people+ Q& e0 K2 l: N8 W* s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. C2 b5 N  \# G7 I3 |9 D5 Mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
  _* v* h! m( j& X$ r& jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 ~3 q! ]1 R- P8 D& g4 M1 V
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or- v: L+ }: T% i, i' W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! |, C) m& Q$ c7 V1 X
are spaces.* w. B; C7 j9 N; J0 g

/ h* x4 j: F! `# aThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# r6 i  ~7 E$ c' |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ D8 D0 c7 P% w2 m: _own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 [9 W" _. s5 a) ~5 f
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 Y; I: `! J# ^, L0 H3 T5 i" J9 Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ w- ~+ a5 E8 x  z  _/ v  Zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
; b- ^8 w3 M% y8 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of: @, }/ t# H) e2 G5 C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 p8 ]) S" k! ?4 U( V; ]) a; w# @8 ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' |7 z% p! ?# O& k  }
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) i8 ~! z. `% M- E) A/ d# n1 S
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all+ X+ ~; {3 p$ ]1 r$ ^) O) P
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very# a. q# G' a0 j: S9 X
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
, y# U+ Q4 R8 ]1 crecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day1 s. c1 J  \1 z7 p2 O% S/ m
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
3 t/ Q; D& J, M( z6 y& Jthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
0 G6 X  F4 S% vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
# Q& O3 I" w1 x/ |5 R4 Mtourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 ^5 d$ {" H) z8 T9 A
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).2 {0 v( H. c0 [
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
  B+ C" J9 V4 r# n; Jeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " F% K' r3 w6 |* Q2 V$ b  T
less leader-religious.9 @, p0 G; d; M

2 n/ q2 ^3 c: M. i6 AAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
0 ~. X$ N# m; b! Ygovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big" X- v7 w, ?3 z8 p+ ^# L7 ^& }6 s
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US$ T3 n, d/ v: S7 R1 @
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
4 s: ^* z2 a! C
4 |6 E9 D* C5 l3 n1 S7 [- ZWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
; |. h# ?! _  c4 Xparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not/ R3 ^5 H1 K8 t0 T
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1* ]/ O" d) K% V( p. A' h: e
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
, [& j. {4 O7 q/ l, y) \0 T" ?$ Bforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars% C# A$ ~9 q- L9 Z/ \
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
( ^3 ~2 A: S# \6 X5 Z( [% E, {probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
0 _& J% u' [& `real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.: P: _6 E; [# W% |: ]
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local6 z/ p" F$ p. h8 ^8 L" z/ h
or visitors.
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--  The End --