发新话题
打印

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.

TOP

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.

TOP

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).
8 H" m% F, m# H1 ^1 B
8 }. o2 e0 s/ N- s  z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. $ q' R% p4 Q' G8 P/ ?6 f# a
; ?; e% m, G) R/ h) t7 ^# l8 b
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., P' X* G7 x* H, ~3 u

: H/ z; n, r+ R+ E6 \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.
1 g+ h% V; v8 u6 ?7 Z) M( P  V+ e2 r1 f# `" L" ]1 X
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.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (一)

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very
/ H* V6 C+ {- _4 jinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
( p8 w0 b3 G9 f0 p9 ]wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- ?4 \) U8 q. `' S/ ~' q1 j
0 g" E" t5 X$ _, Y% K
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 T' N* ^( f: ~9 E
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in8 ]% K$ b0 Q2 j) b+ h
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
4 F! m+ O3 H2 H' R( ^possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
5 W# c. k. w! }show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
! U4 X& |1 \: n9 u" @+ Abetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the1 e$ R7 k# F+ y( a. l' x
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
3 m$ Y8 ?8 q+ |. z6 gwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
; S/ T9 j4 K& B% x$ {/ O People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
0 i; V% ?0 P. ]names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not+ V: u& f' G3 Y" a. B
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our; [( g7 a: z3 H
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) g/ K8 _3 p/ h( w/ d" T% R+ I. w) Z! O
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
1 [$ u  d9 a+ j4 I# d+ W! M$ B7 w' t1 I9 S( s; L
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
+ U. ~) f& u* E# r" f: Q9 e! S' Y) Alow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
  b2 D' t5 N: n3 k% {. z" ^5 _& t4 j(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
  w7 `1 a! l4 o' c: p: iof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the" }% y, F3 p3 o. k$ u% a- D1 q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
$ N/ U. e, t) e1 I  ?( T49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
- ]# l3 F7 \1 I+ @% @- aCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
. d$ Z: z$ a5 ]- J0 U. F' e4 {* Wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
2 Y* `& y$ X3 n; A3 J0 O* A- c+ ]$ e) J8 O8 ?
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are% G+ u6 F! c9 o, i. R* u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
% g/ i  ~# @9 K3 w/ u5 ^( wfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba, ]9 u/ F) e* o% z9 f
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having+ l! n& I4 c2 c2 b
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
/ ]3 k2 p2 x4 m& u) a; z4 `daily political studies.

TOP

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! Q9 j$ i% A, e3 g# U7 v+ c& E
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
5 g" R* F& h# g! T2 x" W8 Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,: D$ _, ?  P2 D* s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ H$ v5 @- i, K! W5 Xanswers to our pointed questions.
6 j+ T- T8 p4 G8 d4 D; J$ l. k! U) _& I
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, x) \' y' k4 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( O$ F2 o: v$ D7 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is; J% J( k& R. p4 G+ q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* ~' `- @7 U3 ^7 y8 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 H$ X4 q7 S' w% z% Dmedical schools.: `- Y# Q3 m" v9 c- y$ X

& W  S5 U! C: N2 E5 @8 U4 LEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) ^) H, k- F& b7 L. W4 ]0 Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 c# j0 j( f  i' c" sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 a( q) ?7 h& p) x2 w1 _assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
- r! y8 Y# H3 n! @is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 W- D* R6 D6 Y; R4 A8 v2 y4 Z; Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
2 |+ E3 ?1 \7 {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: _+ k9 {' |2 M, v  Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 h3 _& B, U5 c3 t0 z) c% f- @$ @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# B, ]/ \% _3 _, `, z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ a" P$ @% U" x$ f$ C$ R
( R2 d8 Q  j& G- O6 u6 l
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
$ i3 j: c6 Z" U6 Y$ C' [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 u7 q4 p  R# L0 ?: hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. p+ M/ G/ b" }) I& l  T
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
1 a: L9 t$ [3 h: L) P* c& \7 v6 }9 Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. K+ w& M( |$ q- _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 h8 L% V% |$ |$ [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 I5 @5 C1 Z$ W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When, a1 ~; x# Q$ U: D. O' c( l% d) K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ V1 T1 x5 L& w) zcharge the fee defined by the state.
& c* V+ }0 |' n6 d. V+ z/ @
9 o& `* v3 E7 ^  ]4 F5 U& _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ c+ N8 I: J5 Z( H# A6 \6 }! S1 u7 t% q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, O$ V# |4 L* I0 ^1 R% Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- @- ~) e5 L6 _( z7 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel1 K- T/ w0 U9 x! J3 W5 X; Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' r! ?8 K+ v7 @" H! G; u7 d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on  q9 Z. w% [2 z( S# x8 [/ ]/ v& @
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& k" T) ~5 L! z7 V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people% B+ O5 Y- r0 Z5 x- B& V
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% U9 i0 S. t0 A' K6 \, Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 ^6 \4 B7 y. Z, b% Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( h8 s+ @0 I, Oto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 J3 i+ f2 [+ d  [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 ^' X. s. ~; U. L
are spaces.0 |/ l: `! m+ o, t5 V' U+ L

8 T" ~6 f6 ~& F' [1 H7 A" ?' |3 R& p$ XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, c4 S! R: [  G  m' [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. T3 m) Y0 E3 ?( t& n, Gown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. l' V8 j+ x: V3 {8 ~4 {+ X* \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 a% o' R+ R+ I* m9 r, q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! T0 o9 d  e( }- |7 j5 E( ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few/ _1 A2 b, `! p5 H8 c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of' c) ^% i6 Q1 D0 _& m4 _) A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) T9 P) g3 E; Z7 Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; ]7 }1 |( N# K2 e, f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

TOP

我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful
9 I* L+ x+ X* Q$ w: gspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all
4 s( [/ ~* Z7 l# e' |1 t% jthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
& c$ E" s6 f3 |; T! I# k6 ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep
. d- }% |5 }8 C  v& Orecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day) \1 F( D$ d  K- ]# m+ f+ b
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of. c" ?! K) e3 A- [, S) P( @
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
6 a, o9 @! l2 F- Ghave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 ^: o' ~/ y- k) }5 ]
tourist area., d2 h0 h: k5 R3 e. U
; F' ]: ?. _! o( Y
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
) p+ r. e& E6 o3 f% _9 o( C4 fpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
9 k- E% [/ E( `6 C( J) ICompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were% k& i7 h% f1 S- Z/ g
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
% l. ^7 Z- K  z2 `8 t5 U4 {- e, Tless leader-religious./ E  h6 `# X5 y- j  E3 A: \" U4 L
; v; e- ~3 i' f8 U5 L; B
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
1 ]! D+ U& u8 l& Qgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big  Q& E: s/ U( j' J. v' G+ e- r( m) \5 F
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US: F  t; h3 _& p: M/ z
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
& ]) m$ U# f3 X. _# g6 z7 P
( L# W, K- B  Z6 e7 qWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the, j4 k6 @0 ^9 T9 e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not" \3 _& o6 ?, q2 A  g, P+ _
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
: }+ H9 }, q, _convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
8 L" x' e" \' |. ~4 ^; {foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
4 D* T9 K" y8 _! \(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
  \; o9 Q7 s' ~% V( gprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 a7 A, R; r7 J" H8 @
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
# d( m& j6 I3 H+ wAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local
4 P7 V# q4 P+ N2 b6 P* J# J9 Nor visitors.
; S6 Z( p# M7 ]0 `4 A/ v
* z, T# _/ t& ^9 o7 u/ b8 H5 n--  The End --

TOP

发新话题