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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& l& o. N3 h6 `# {" Y- v. G
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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. % h) e+ u- k$ E: A$ k" H

! `) z& Y* M' ?- v4 W* t8 Q0 m5 l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.
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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, _2 b' e& `/ t* h! a" ]) O+ [
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
/ ]4 P. V4 J' W( _: Y& Nwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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* b6 O9 M/ K! T' ~! x3 o- kIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,8 R5 n2 U- ?9 o- u, z  D
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in, E, r+ p) @- t7 z' I" U6 M
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as0 H. C$ \4 l; S/ ]! I4 D% g
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort6 m" @, N$ f" T" j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
  q6 E$ r/ s8 z; J: b: V3 S5 Xbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
; n# V( P/ H- r; d+ j% }5 Vlobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,4 Z2 X+ l) p- y' R
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there./ X, z. H0 i4 N. @
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but$ w" k0 a( \1 ?8 k
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not: I  g! K& c8 s& p- c* O
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
6 K% J2 J, G. o1 v) J# X6 uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 Z) C0 g$ x! o
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.' X8 [+ m0 T" H

6 ?5 t4 ]# T1 Q1 \! J, S0 wThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
1 R* v% s- e$ h% E9 ~/ flow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool/ e* e7 C) b2 F% {' g( Q; X- O' p
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top; [, a0 ?! Z0 [0 W$ _# b
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
3 |3 o! Y" r. L5 [% m1 i% _stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from6 A! b8 `9 v$ p# ?& |6 t) H
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes
$ E, L# c1 x& g. O: g! V# dCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
8 U4 K6 b* s6 ]! [. t- F$ y# xfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.2 s1 G& f# q' O0 U/ x; t

' T& C, K% ?8 o2 b5 tThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are
8 W  R& C0 |- x) k" K* k4 Ijust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" e6 w$ O9 A  G0 K
for us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* m: ?' l" f# i+ t
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having, G! y6 j8 x9 X; p
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China; W+ h# f" J6 u7 i7 M7 ~
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
# H: [- H* O. b. F; zstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went3 {, O; O4 Z& z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,
; W) K, g" t% f3 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 c8 X8 n# H: ^% O5 t$ V% Qanswers to our pointed questions.0 h% f* ]# @, X: G9 z1 V

, k9 H/ g/ J2 A, H+ _7 p8 H; L1 w( RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. l3 J" w, O4 D  a0 C: p3 y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# e/ \4 B6 k" L% c, p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is. Y  `2 q0 ]. n) g9 R2 l& M0 U, k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams  C# g, C9 E- Y" p5 e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& M! t& d+ P5 |! d& P- V! |1 r% {medical schools.- n: w6 v+ X4 b4 `2 v( B8 I& N

8 _/ i* L4 B9 EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 }$ H, _, Y7 ?0 b+ [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# a+ ?( f4 u9 B0 s+ e* a3 `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) I$ ]& h% A9 S- @/ U! lassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
/ J' c# ~) _+ c$ N* Uis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) S$ _  p3 i  V" iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There2 g# H# v. g) }* \1 Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# i& z7 s5 S- G% ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; x5 Y7 C( S) f  K8 `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 C+ x  r1 `4 o  F- O% N' wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# c0 y* q) P& c3 h: g

9 W. n5 D! |& F* IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no5 p$ w) v' c5 h5 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, M8 l# f) G/ A  a6 [" ]
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' Z: `  u, A% r- q* U  L, C; Y7 x
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good' v% t5 t. w+ C- u) U7 }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 h$ I+ M9 w! X% n. I4 e$ csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 a) G- F5 T7 Q3 [$ p$ K
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." q, l& O+ {2 n; L' t# u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When+ h0 a& b( w0 T0 Z# R' a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* K& A$ E8 t9 i! F
charge the fee defined by the state.
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0 f, |8 ?  d7 q& u0 ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ r) {6 _* r7 t  \' hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; v- }: n. |( {! [of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! n, l/ s& |( ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
3 O5 _7 ?, g* Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" h$ O) G" F. G7 O, V- s7 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; A% n, y" [& n0 w% T. U
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 T3 k5 z2 v0 F3 P* R* @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
, D% S1 O4 r: Q' Y# \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% z. y; a- b( e5 O) n: c+ Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; p. j/ J' F1 E. ~5 W2 s6 c: F+ Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 U/ b, y- C# z9 t2 ?9 G- H1 Cto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ {8 M3 I0 p$ P& q6 i  Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 o: j2 H" z+ D6 {8 @
are spaces.
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+ ~5 g9 Q  `8 q, Z0 H. qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ ~% B# o9 F  F6 B% h$ xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' G3 Q5 \2 M$ j; S$ ?own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& j! e$ w- A+ z, T# X. m" h' }1 J
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ a% R9 ?- y2 p6 Q" `( \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 \. x3 [, T- i  w1 p: b+ u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few4 y& S& O2 z# r% ~
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of8 j# Q7 V  r4 U( Z- {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ e' b% R. I5 H6 Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., O) m) H, c5 N  T9 i. y, n+ f0 K
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; }3 i+ D* W) d% r
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all# A/ x2 |, ]; K# X; z2 U  Z
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
! N& `2 O! y- {% f; _3 ~limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 _: T( h" X: F1 Q9 v6 c) I1 j
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day
, ]0 f5 i& V0 c# {: y+ P& ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
. {& f8 Z, k9 ^, f7 Ythem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
3 G) j4 @% n6 g- H# v9 G# t! {" ~( @) whave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& @# r' W& B! q  K" {* X  |
tourist area.: o- @) D( I5 R0 j1 s4 A# o: L4 _
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's
8 S7 G( D0 i) |$ E. spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).& d( V( L* ?8 X! ?( ~) f3 h) K
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were% J% t+ ~; {9 }  b! l/ z% d- b
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
, e& a, C  u" J6 E: V& nless leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba: p7 {" J$ h3 H0 \; a$ r1 z
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big# \6 p  H, k+ k" c' G4 U" H0 {' Y
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US: a5 [0 i8 ]1 @& t  Y% L
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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! f: y& c% p, [2 l& J" J/ ^0 a5 rWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the
! S8 }" A, U0 O' \  I  U8 sparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not. B. u+ g: B# U4 p2 \; Z2 J8 d5 g0 ~
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
0 _" G1 Z2 u! C. |convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for( U8 w+ S) J! W" f7 F
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 }- I5 R5 `' s  R; r" u& ]
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we* A) T# H; f6 B; ?) M
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
& h/ x) W8 g) G3 Z0 Wreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.; K. j" }' W; {* K$ f/ W1 k
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local  z7 n/ r) D# M8 p5 y0 c
or visitors.
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--  The End --

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