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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).. p3 B8 `, o" b
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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.
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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.0 d! }. B. G, e( m7 A

2 S, c: H+ \! o/ ^' _9 A" T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.2 x* e3 e  O6 c8 b( h
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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 very7 r, I( j5 V  r
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we9 l& Q. n+ b9 A
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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4 U' l$ {9 q- M1 f! ~3 CIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
% _7 e. q! F( S7 x+ f1 Y30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in- M) P& {5 m% D* N
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
" j& R. K" l: B3 Q+ f8 A: ~1 H+ Opossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort; X& p% L4 Z7 {, @- @
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep) x8 P6 ?% F7 s: |, i* j
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the9 v3 A( u( M2 u/ O0 ~  G1 z
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,. z" z/ _& X/ _6 y! v! q
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 C: C- o) U9 p! k5 f( ~5 z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. m( [; H5 ^5 ?/ ^
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not8 p# J! ^4 I( S
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
# A6 V3 G1 m. V# T8 E3 o9 r3 hflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 ^8 ]' ]  L1 L3 J* @* p) X( d
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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6 P, q% s7 H/ ~" e4 k) hThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,) k8 f5 x; R5 p8 G& T3 v
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool6 |. j% ]! x* g' g
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
% N, c* F  g0 e6 Y1 w5 sof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
: s, M' _1 R$ {- J7 \' Tstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
; |+ E& T8 M+ D6 Y5 a/ _* Q" Q& ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
# j8 b& o% r+ FCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
7 Z3 J7 Y* o# n" w7 yfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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7 L8 n. N$ ^3 S3 bThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ j8 I7 u- ?/ N& {* f7 p6 U
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
2 R9 Z8 G: Y/ Y" f' N$ r. U  c7 V; T& Xfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* _  `- q* Q7 ?0 n- R  Y
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
- K1 z, y8 t' j) A% R' X2 Va staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China5 y$ F9 k, B6 N& x* v
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
5 Y' S5 \! i! v+ n9 L9 {9 sstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
0 W1 `5 h4 B; f* ?- @* C) r  Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
. Y3 c! Y* z3 D2 r( `, Z. i"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& R/ @  P0 v4 Y- c% K( u
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; h* s1 @& g& h! A5 j" v! O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 v% ~; B8 [8 [# k4 Q" \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is" x) D6 n& ^9 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; r* c: a( X% m8 g0 U7 S# b8 z8 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 K; a- \" Q7 W- b1 ?; `9 J3 kmedical schools.5 ]( V$ Z* U6 Z$ V

% X8 n( E' v7 JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) B- S8 V3 K, J; {0 z6 E# F7 y( y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 o. U) e: z: T" \$ nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ A' B% j$ ]+ ?( Bassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba( Z5 R% ?' n5 \, u, ?
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* ~% d1 j2 v, f1 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There2 Y1 k) R9 [3 R5 d3 Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 i  n- k- b. E! f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! u" x. X+ ~+ W- `: V# B7 T$ O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 q* T  A( b$ w# i  o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no; h0 x; H, n' G6 c( i7 T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* }3 m+ i5 c" u, S' ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) E# M- k+ l6 f
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good' P8 d( z  X( ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: B" `& p) ]1 D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 ?1 P5 o4 I$ mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ V+ V& B: X# yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
8 F# p# ^+ }+ }$ [% va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% U3 h1 x+ B9 U' c& s) J. n6 w' ]charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* k8 J3 Y, P0 K. b: w6 f2 `! Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# g6 v7 w4 n+ g+ oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ h1 ~% x7 B* ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel9 K8 F0 X! J" F% t5 x) ^. v  [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 ?: M8 d: B; k: C9 k0 @% L! a
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! T( g5 k$ W4 C& F/ X6 y
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 G: x0 u9 a7 i& G0 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
/ G  K7 B( `5 |3 \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; F/ ]: q' g; U- F5 N% d# f& ]! S+ W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' u2 C% l% M0 z0 I, J* {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- k& g6 F8 h( t! \0 v8 Y6 ]1 a
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 T0 G: \3 f5 J2 o6 c1 \1 r5 h% J( o' z9 |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) W* p" v  v. ?& ?) vare spaces.
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- L# K8 J0 j2 [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" s( V- l' W! F) M5 O- _. pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& }5 H# F* F% n
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( }& D/ p- ]; a$ h2 q1 L+ z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# H/ l# K0 R6 N4 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 i. E4 z$ F- w( w0 tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
& i' H6 r: l3 i; I, K1 }7 s; gnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of8 j& I4 S6 i5 p& B" {2 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: e, m) G9 h# q/ F3 Y: q% ?& w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 u# P. t, ]2 ?. x' R
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
5 x% z4 Y9 B8 y( N* T7 e) Kspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all7 @) l7 u% f" ^! k' i
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very4 O% T/ F, M' I
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
: w' P: ^! D4 ]! z: ~6 Hrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
" S4 m1 g+ s! @$ n4 t( ^! F  Ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of4 r& W8 i0 e- z3 O6 g+ i% ]+ _/ D
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
: E: t- c6 t7 U' I8 I/ K) A) hhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
  G( V7 E% H, c" s. Ttourist area.* x0 a! w  }4 l5 @0 \5 Y% k! [

. e8 H0 ?. m9 @/ n5 K, o4 vOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's% B3 h5 e! L5 s) ~- \) F' S# ]
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
4 E: m8 R) o! a$ v3 s" FCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
- x. b2 r: j; h. ?5 i" ^7 d- x/ {everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
! Q2 ~  I& n& Q5 A% Vless leader-religious.1 S. f/ N3 Y, R/ g0 m( Y
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
- X# c$ x) a# `# x% ]! ~government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big9 m* U( s2 w) G5 ^* C' [" I( ^% T
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
9 @/ d- ]* R* h1 Wembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 t8 o9 R  d& ^

2 y% w3 d5 H0 _1 P  GWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
  F; F0 c' t# j0 A3 iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
$ ^' q+ f, m" g# H  dthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
. ^5 x' h! h0 A8 x( H9 H" Jconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
* C5 y2 r) I' l- j4 ^. Qforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars, a- R. |* ?) V1 P8 |! I
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ w/ B- }! V6 H1 h6 f4 d& d
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 v# W4 U/ i8 i6 c+ L
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
% R- }$ ]  Q* ]3 I5 ?9 Q. OAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
  w7 N* j9 X0 z; eor visitors.$ e0 u- p8 r3 N% G9 y; K' k( U- G
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--  The End --

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