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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).. L* v/ Z8 q- K: v. ]+ X/ u/ q
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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. , R( f3 @2 k5 E$ d' C

  x9 B0 X  E) Z9 T1 s, n9 B/ C( N: h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.: r  A8 |) J) U" s- [

" c  J! g2 H) z, 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., |7 v2 T- t% D5 U
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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
1 R" C) {8 M# r6 l9 minteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we  ~# r3 N* E( B( ?2 w) m/ N
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.7 z" y* B2 W$ F  n& j% n

6 }( g: S1 _- J, l# M8 A& qIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,1 h- R9 S' c. J  Q
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
& ?! n, ]* F0 s2 J- |8 ba very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as' v2 b6 \$ m) ]9 C9 d" d
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
: U0 u, n9 s2 m2 n( l" ~, A, i3 Vshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 y# b/ t7 [1 R2 L
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the8 l0 U% E+ M5 Q& _; Z/ E3 h
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
" w7 w3 b5 O% Rwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.( H$ `) f$ ^4 U0 K
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but  N( _4 ^/ F6 q+ I2 G# @3 x
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
0 G. s8 j  z, Wexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
- @+ Q9 X5 |% a* k6 q; k( sflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
  ?  `5 \% Y7 h* `" m: H# F3 oa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.9 A) k$ _+ Q6 A' H4 v% L

" m  I# Z* ~9 v4 k" D3 X' ?The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
$ P; }' N/ e( ~, e% `' ~9 \8 llow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool+ ?/ ~/ W* L1 M
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top/ [& Z  _! _6 H& g" H- s* N: Z, ~  d
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
. d0 z  p3 H* c: i* [( Estars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
3 j# T. M3 F1 y3 [: ~+ n49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
6 D) B) q- Z- H  e# o  `Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
4 s5 m; o1 o. H; @" M. Q" O! a2 I9 [fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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# {8 t8 N. _  _  h3 F3 H; eThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
5 ?8 e1 a  g* |+ gjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
$ `2 v2 q3 Y5 d5 `6 P+ O' Rfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba  ^$ g; v# f: X# e( ?4 T: Q
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
7 V5 j3 J" E" W5 {2 \  la staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China, b% E. Q3 ^5 s
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( A. |/ z5 Q3 a# C; j. K
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went7 [$ G& X2 p, U6 W2 |4 K$ ~1 ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,1 w4 L$ i6 Q( Y/ J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give  \2 H4 c( h) a/ p2 z8 b8 \
answers to our pointed questions.2 g" M' x7 G$ K; A' q
9 A$ ]1 x& B# G9 o
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ l) t, U% d( d- f) x( M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand  E! k& I& H" u' x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is6 A( N& ]# U9 Q( B0 F, t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 X; f5 t/ ]; a, q4 T: vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 e0 m8 m! J. m, {
medical schools.; t' j% G+ M& l- T# w0 R* M5 m- c

( U( A* [- n, ~; l9 _( R; \' iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 F0 g2 S3 X( R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# U. t. ?" e' {* L; [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 n4 s* o) S# }3 Massigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
/ e# H; E6 [( u/ V9 `' Z; xis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 g9 f7 ^6 j# F- ^7 z4 V7 g1 }2 b2 iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There5 ?' y  a- a9 b6 [4 G# [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 K. L" j3 r9 x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 y, [, [: l0 C8 \1 j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ Q4 M- F1 n0 X% csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 _) ]- e# ]6 Z. p2 t4 H+ L

$ f  R+ u3 s) F: t. }) `6 G" \1 aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
$ J# J# W) d6 {" H/ wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ A' R; g  u2 @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* p4 p" \0 O+ y: \* B! d
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
0 w6 l- o) z: }0 N8 i2 K! Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 B' t: `. o) A0 N2 b+ K4 j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 n* W) ]. _+ W- t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; r0 U4 l' _% qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
1 F* l% @6 C! Q2 Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 k# @0 u/ J8 D& @2 e# z
charge the fee defined by the state.. K2 [( f  h% Y" \) G
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 @, `# ]* N* y7 H0 ]+ d$ b: l7 G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; |. l; E( K" x  g/ H; s2 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, ~8 l6 g; e5 z# K) x7 h; @$ ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
5 P  s: }- h7 nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 @( H% n! R8 x3 @/ y9 wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ D3 |: W0 k1 F: o% H1 U( z8 [
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% `" v6 a; ^- u; x3 v8 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
9 j( }) O7 q. }% G4 [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& m6 U, x; ?) C" Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; I3 k! g/ H/ Q9 o% |people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& p  ~6 T7 r. j: D4 w4 jto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or* I. s3 x* F) C" z4 G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# J7 B# w; a( c% j9 F2 V8 p
are spaces.% h8 e7 S/ }. o# b& @, `3 P
  O! z* b: @, ?" {, `1 G  |: o/ j
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' L1 e* t5 G$ H& r2 ~2 v4 z; |) rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( F/ f# T2 U8 Q: A1 C$ x7 t/ ?1 wown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& Y5 y( P! t7 A( |8 M" C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* h$ f- L  ]  r. r, H# Z5 S$ F1 _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 H2 L1 V. v; t6 q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few7 B$ w* |5 i$ y# I4 M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of+ ?1 ^0 `& a: S7 N8 n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. ]- d3 ]6 _4 h6 @- z2 c2 g- Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 {  e6 C- U  f+ 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
# X* T, L$ Z2 D  Wspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all4 b8 q4 Z  n# Y. k8 y# ~  ~
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very2 ?. O# N+ C7 q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
$ D  F$ Q5 i/ B$ M4 Nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
. M# P* d7 @# y6 Msupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of5 n3 z6 i$ {; H% t+ F- G
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
) D/ b& ~% v+ Q& m+ Ihave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& a, @; W2 D. c9 P; Y
tourist area.
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0 B7 A: J2 `2 \. G& a( tOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's: t. N& R9 T" Q/ \4 w/ Y0 c- G
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
1 f$ |6 B1 z  \9 vCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
/ A" l/ g8 g+ y6 `- Severywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
5 v+ Y/ Z( T" U% v2 k/ Jless leader-religious.2 U. N, x+ i5 z' S

) b* X' T( _9 v; {* J( ?About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba2 y9 i: @2 |" n& I
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big  y+ O7 W" w9 ~3 k
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US# S. u* h% }% K6 o5 @- p
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the2 f' y0 y2 F3 Q; a* F/ {
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
. ~% Y2 a6 q9 C7 }/ k( T& Q7 [the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 N. c: t3 Q' u' y5 V# b: y
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
  r3 X3 x- B' @  F, E) dforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
0 R: w3 Q) d* {) p- A( g* C4 J+ b9 C* {(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
- z6 J* x- P* m% A2 r/ Z8 p7 ?) iprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
4 r. {* B3 A, I5 U) x$ l+ zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
! @7 F/ T+ a( O0 L  i9 S) ?$ gAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
/ y6 O* x8 S7 I, mor visitors.+ G% q# [- {2 L

# r9 H8 b8 K- P& H% E5 Y0 I3 N--  The End --

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