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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).5 r9 [6 u2 }, |1 K0 K1 }! k8 |. u9 ^' o
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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. * Z9 E0 f+ [7 `5 S$ J% }# H- R

0 X) x6 V5 y) I- U5 }' P/ \8 `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.3 A! }5 G( t6 l* I4 M$ q
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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.9 j+ H) [0 c% [6 ^
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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& E) D" q& V/ J3 }" `: a
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
: |( o- Y7 v# [1 y2 Pwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
' C* P2 O8 O4 n4 }1 Y+ E) w- g
  P$ S5 P) x0 O* vIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
" c& S4 _- _! d7 I% m2 I, v30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in, E8 X8 \- v8 d7 W9 m
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as7 `5 Z8 H- T# G) [/ {! ]8 }
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
4 f: T& e( R* c' e- I1 Tshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep  I* X5 I  Y; Y; u! _
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
2 n5 V: M/ k: z' q7 f) ^lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
; n4 H4 e# [6 k/ X% d+ w* pwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
% I0 C  V3 i% c  |3 X/ V6 S1 H People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
+ j* E3 e  ]* `5 Snames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
9 g% u; F+ P* q, G7 A6 E) g5 j) k# jexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
& M# x: p; h; fflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
/ v3 N3 E  t6 D2 La roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.; ?3 z/ B, M# B; G* A  V, ]) ]

; p% S; z. P+ t- v  D' c3 lThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,1 O2 W! ~* S: h7 Q' M4 v: x: ?
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
$ X5 y, l+ {. \( F1 x(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
: h# Z6 j$ I. Z% g8 E1 sof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
/ b! w; I" M3 X% N$ qstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
1 j, A" h% R4 b% a* C49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes* ^2 m0 Q' y# N+ C/ c  y6 k& c
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with9 N" q0 a8 E( W" N
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.0 P7 ~; T2 [) w/ }" F! J3 O2 B
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 C" J: b( f" \! S9 d
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
5 X7 Y* S0 K* ^! vfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba
5 J- {; ^- F7 r! U, B6 N8 [- jtourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
9 _7 V1 ], A' O; Ja staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China( H. @( P+ l6 f7 G
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, D% D/ v' g2 a
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
7 a7 a3 k) u5 k$ ?. c& f& Xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
. v. H9 E( b+ a% c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* s1 A5 O' I0 j6 tanswers to our pointed questions.9 ~3 c' @+ d9 W4 g3 t3 K6 y) [
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% t3 N7 s+ @0 A5 G+ [/ h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# g8 p1 \# g& \; oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
) K# D1 Z' A0 U- P/ b( \# h; J4 bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( f6 t  H: i) M+ f% h& M  Y3 J
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 \$ l  U' n# n' ~4 c- ~medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 E0 {2 B: [$ v4 g! @8 c- U* Z) ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 V4 R6 u6 y" b
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; _7 g+ i& D0 J/ h5 |: }; L7 qassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
. S- g- N: Y9 l5 `2 n# |) L2 xis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 |# E/ H. e- y* Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
7 c) O; V( _9 yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; x( d0 j* U3 ^4 [' |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* M0 v0 b; e6 s0 S0 z3 @" Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 N/ e! V8 d. t% R& k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 v  C5 t3 B- X7 Y& X% u

) y1 B% S. o/ t1 \$ a! |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no$ K+ \, n' Y$ e* ]/ n  d$ g
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ k5 @' k- {4 U! `6 l- {7 x
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 g8 F5 h+ n# _
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good3 r, _1 T% G# ]) @8 Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% _& u. `* S6 ^$ ?/ J1 s4 z( k8 `1 d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 S' B) S! [+ m! f% w6 ~$ `* edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! b$ M4 N" R! N" g$ j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
2 k5 Z% o- M# z$ A2 Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only  j1 W" a& O: ~! `- G1 r
charge the fee defined by the state.: y( V. u) g+ v  h0 w

8 [( f/ h/ ^8 ^) i0 g1 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 v4 e6 H8 c( V% N$ V- i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, ^$ W" n$ ~  D" f  L7 ~2 b6 qof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 H8 r) R. v. z, ?% c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
  A- w2 ?- _- y' i% d  C8 E- L( `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' y. e& _$ E! t, P* T# R1 ]! q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% F8 v  }- o$ V& F3 rschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& y" m. ^" k% J- Ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people  }5 c3 h0 K5 k+ Q, y7 e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
  F: D: y( w$ c- ~! lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# M! `% q; p' m
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 j9 a, v  e1 U0 d
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" e- N6 w4 q4 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: U# m0 j, s) eare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* v2 Y- o( k2 T+ N7 p2 @' ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! O0 C9 j# N* j# ^( g3 u
own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. q3 H' _2 h* u4 O. z4 H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 `* ^- a  p; R% Q) r6 _0 Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 z/ M  B9 {% D! |# B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few3 X6 U" r9 E. x
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of) j% e! N6 u' N6 U/ p" X" @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 z  f1 u! w* B* u9 B2 Dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 M! q+ N( ]$ H8 S3 y 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 beautiful3 t) D9 s% [1 P
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
) r: \* f: [4 i8 mthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
0 P! q2 ^/ f9 N! ^& _limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep' z% R* R9 {8 D. f& P
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day8 R! H, M. y3 R; W* L' f3 q
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of) P  \6 J6 \2 F: A0 Y3 q- {
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms: p- E1 f! L. [
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 P: u8 _5 u  N+ J' P5 _
tourist area." _* h8 ^( Q% c4 ~$ A

: }) x7 a: c) `" Y9 [One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's$ Z. Q+ Q2 |  {7 m4 h' l, w
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
# Y. x$ J! Q  j4 G( |Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
$ \; z, [( \* X; d( M3 Ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 E9 v9 e* u, d- W, f
less leader-religious.+ m1 n% M6 p( J& Q) w
" D# ]2 u) e5 r% Q; @- c& L* k" f
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba* l! |) U, ?6 }* T/ x" o# `: m
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big. O- Z" G9 @+ ~& j7 n# N4 M! s
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US) }) w& z- ^, s" S, }: N
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% c4 ~8 r: T3 A4 C

5 Y* T# y8 e' NWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the1 t3 I! R% m0 g. ], L& Z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
, P1 P1 \: d0 y1 Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
# h: z/ w9 k$ ~1 Zconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for/ k5 ~9 o$ Z& S( \! }! g
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
3 u( u$ A  D. q. o0 @4 n' ?(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we7 f; V. o1 E1 n7 l" j3 H; \
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
% h, ?; l$ g4 W9 ]9 R/ J" }" Zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.1 Z) i( O, Z* }9 t2 P# N+ b4 H$ W
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' \" Y* Q) T0 N# L* v* b
or visitors.1 U+ q$ W% N5 T. q

: Q: U$ V+ _. {--  The End --

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