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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).
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3 S1 U4 A. R: p7 h' c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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' I* C- j8 B3 }" g0 O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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5 ]' k, D* p9 O* d" y8 ^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 very1 U+ r% b6 G, |2 s7 e9 b! h' r
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we
: @# t2 _, ^7 f2 r- G5 {wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,
4 h) `7 [' V! V' k6 H# `30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in) \- k$ ~/ f* n8 \) S' A
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) S6 y/ z7 v2 E! A
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort5 A" @6 I! N! h: p( }. G3 v6 F6 y
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; d; a$ g, S, l- H% _
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the( q6 B7 U- F4 w( z" C
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
% @1 v) ~2 o. Z3 `& o3 o+ S; D2 \/ {with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there./ V/ w/ z' F9 U% G8 A# ~, X0 u
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
* H& L7 D7 c+ ]0 I6 ]names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
* e+ q8 ?5 N" v, H. Iexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
, N+ B/ x) D7 p/ vflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through* Q( |! v3 A3 n: U" r+ O' B
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.
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3 M7 \5 V! v" a- t8 K; {* ?& CThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
  q5 [: M6 r! Q+ I& H/ Klow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
" s/ V/ w( b% z2 t+ V(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 r  S- W( E# L/ ^# m3 @
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the% Q( b& N0 \9 e! M; }
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ d/ V3 _- z8 `4 a
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes2 D9 H$ ~! L; p8 i; U
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
8 z* q. H# G  o- ^2 I3 J+ k$ Y4 Pfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.1 S* y8 S; M$ W) C' V
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are; ~' _# q' S/ t) @* c
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
6 q; {7 }# z7 L8 H& |# s! V' H- Xfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba$ t. s0 V$ ]. C+ y& h* @
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
1 N) x; X, u+ f* Da staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
, j1 F7 ], L6 V' U- @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, living4 b4 E, B5 R; F. }/ s
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went- L* q6 R) Q9 O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,) n" n1 k# T- }% H% e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! F7 x1 ?7 T' k( E% I9 \answers to our pointed questions." p1 {+ ~( t! i, J! d
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ H. R1 r/ u2 x1 p7 R* h; `. H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) ?. p9 C# [  p5 V( D% C5 ]out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is
, D* P' K: [  K& i6 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" `/ T2 E8 W3 e7 b) p4 J. o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 @9 g5 v: t6 l9 ?2 umedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* d3 R, g% E* s- _+ `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: t) z0 A, V1 tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' k+ {/ [* ^" Dassigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
8 V  j# y3 L2 E' @( O7 K5 Xis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' x3 s  A$ \6 f& v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
8 C/ _! O, w$ t( Q0 J: Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 m2 S. @# W6 E0 v0 J' cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 i/ b  f1 J# E6 @6 ?shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* q5 L) o* b% c1 a" E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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  c! a% l1 {  N% g$ G& vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no. ^7 y8 |* D  U* u( v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% J8 m) i9 v, s6 P9 W1 O- Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& ~* t. s! T3 D. U8 P9 t* O
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good2 y! d5 H6 x, v; y* I- }, D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 S$ ]! l' T( p1 m' G: v( r5 ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( Y" _  n% |5 L% l* K7 [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; k  N3 h" g3 w7 S* q4 V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
8 W, ]- c8 F, R# v+ E* o, a- Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 Q# T! Q& x8 d- ?charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 Y' m5 ?2 U: j% r; von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! o/ a# a' S! z4 Q8 X" |$ ^7 F$ D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) V% L7 e4 p6 C) {7 Z4 r0 ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
9 r- K$ z; X. [+ i+ j1 ?; s: j; K: wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 T% J- d9 c% k7 V" Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 f: u+ v8 f& X/ O/ k$ f5 ~schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 r; W) h$ U8 \0 Y4 Q  L* o5 Oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
) R1 a0 g/ Q: q* N8 {8 D' F4 otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& e* T; i: N& L' B. @  Q6 f1 Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& q9 W* g! _, o/ K/ I4 C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 n4 h4 ~1 u( q) Pto go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& O3 N4 u+ c) `, i+ H) ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- @" t# M  W( k1 O8 h
are spaces.
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3 R  D4 ^+ ~! a7 o, m& iThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* Z. B3 ]+ b" U1 u7 \, A! ]6 `# i# L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 m; ~" J/ g6 t( s+ xown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ m* R4 o/ Q6 [( m6 h9 ]' I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) N1 }$ U! w( y; w: T; F
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 p" X" G$ e% f0 {
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few
3 y- T% _# y; ~1 S  r0 J" j1 o8 Qnice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of
8 h' g1 V, Q# |/ c6 S0 zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 m8 y; c# q2 x) iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" r7 j7 \. ]& G, 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
, T1 L" j9 r; P$ @$ L* L$ w9 v6 Mspots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 o" n/ i( s) P& k1 N& z. Z
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very
0 z. X6 e& t8 P: @. E4 blimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep" o5 ?- w+ J0 O4 H1 Y; \
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day) V- g* o2 S6 ^; ]7 r* F" c
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of& L/ q$ a* o4 m' @
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms7 D; Q. |) i2 Z8 H" n. z$ y
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 s0 L* j1 {0 Y( o+ `
tourist area.
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's& {& d& a) I8 A' W* q/ E1 N
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).& o' A+ ]' c" Y
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
, C) I, a* B4 i4 z; Q& n* neverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
/ T; ]; X7 v8 r" tless leader-religious.
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
; S  Q9 b8 z" ~( ]  d* f. d2 {government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big5 w% t- i7 e% b8 N
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US2 A( }1 a6 r# y1 ~1 c  b+ e% N
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 the
9 T/ x* e+ r& o. }6 @parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 b2 y) E  }. M4 M+ a" O) R
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1
4 s  ^! y8 v8 n: F4 tconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for* W; ?# {) L* j. n- n$ ]. N5 d  \
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars8 Y; @) e7 u" u. |. {2 s5 ^- Z
(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
* ?1 O! A2 h9 {" `: H0 tprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the* O1 l' n& y* S. |& E+ a2 ~+ L! o
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
, p' m, b- N* k; x8 i4 eAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local% b9 o6 Z, n& D1 a
or visitors.
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8 s' E) u# h: W7 R) u& |--  The End --

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