freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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.

freedom_2008

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).
* \9 s4 s3 i4 T+ S, r; ~
( ?9 T5 n2 p3 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. 4 d4 d3 }4 _1 P+ @' F1 i; W

1 ~+ ^% Q# f1 A1 H8 f! X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.9 ~* h+ z& {; A( q1 y

9 K, D$ G2 H5 }; y9 q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.- h+ K4 ]6 f  f2 P: ~5 l2 Z+ `" Q
. e, }' w6 S- p: y6 R! M* r
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.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very3 ]! [8 t" f% J7 t
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we: X: s8 o! v, A/ f0 z3 W
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.; M1 N% K& o+ u) ^, `8 o

+ f( F& _0 s1 `, l4 CIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 ~: B" k, |. R: b/ T& J7 i, _  T
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
, M) M6 S1 A. v; N5 \+ \7 ^a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
  h  L- Y0 |( i' O8 p0 C9 Npossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort
3 w; a, z6 z) U. w0 q- Oshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
7 ]0 \2 B1 V! W- U" e# F9 r6 X+ Q. ibetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the
. y6 F/ Y: e/ P3 Clobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
  S* u9 Y- M; R/ t* rwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.
- l* g1 D! H- o/ h6 S' k+ k People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but
* B4 l: ^  d+ Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not
! ~% y6 Z* x5 Q* f* iexchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our3 N( X% k* ?# x
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through
2 y5 T, y4 K" P8 pa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.% U8 n- _9 O0 k$ z: w' G

# s* a6 T, C) \+ z9 [The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,6 M" ^) R/ O8 u0 v3 f2 t- f& T7 l/ p
low 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
$ O$ T0 U* Q- U  d  g(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
, @& ]' `* M$ C/ H/ j# pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: ?( L; M7 Z- N, m1 g
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from
( F  o3 E) g& i" k" \49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes4 D  Z+ D- h- @6 m: _
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
) c; n1 z) N% y* e% tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
. n  l+ S+ w+ z4 k! Z/ _& `) r5 Z, C
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ p' V* i: Y' ?' ]8 \
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
& m$ V2 p5 |, Yfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* V: j6 h" P5 B2 v3 J4 ^/ l
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
- q  N1 w3 o& [8 B2 T  _# Ca staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China5 I5 ^* Q! ^, F# ~3 u1 q$ J
daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 ~3 P7 B9 k, n/ d1 A! S' ^+ S  Y
standard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
6 |- T5 s/ b- ]$ {( Q9 C; u' pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,: `8 n# d4 b$ ^# u' y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. ~, h. b6 x  T
answers to our pointed questions.( p2 Y" q: I4 c/ c" f

5 l3 A. ]- F# }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: V3 c. w6 h& M$ ]+ h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. T8 w% M$ ^% C: Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is4 H: \% d5 @3 O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, |4 Z, |5 g0 h$ R- A/ F. M3 eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) _9 n4 U$ o4 [medical schools.
4 w, A; U, A: a) l# H7 B! S9 |9 g, b  d% N2 ?
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; j' E" `; M4 r( `& P; I5 s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 h$ T! j# L( ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
  d" H- C$ }' D  G) U2 ^assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba. V& T9 ^" k6 v7 }2 v: l4 X
is from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 J9 @) ]0 T! [& h" Z  n& m7 \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
' I4 N, H  h) H2 b1 T( l) Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and  |4 k( Q8 G( Z. t/ B3 i& I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 g( @& L9 E' s! B4 Hshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 X0 T* T5 B& K5 n9 l1 T$ T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
3 t3 |3 ~2 ~- L4 R- W) w
' j. ]7 Z$ t' M3 z. aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no
0 C* ^. \9 Z" \  O- C# z  W) @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' u/ ~% P' ^3 O; ^+ }) }3 V! r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 _3 }* n$ j( ~" F7 c
have to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good. d) S# n8 l- j/ O7 v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ D( T2 d, a5 U, tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 i  e  v9 p3 _6 W9 m5 N5 ~$ ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ k1 v( a' f0 j/ y6 J8 bDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
" A" G1 ^; @! H0 s  ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ t3 T" M7 r7 P& U* J. \; zcharge the fee defined by the state.5 ?. G$ L$ y4 Q8 X
5 Q8 C" s, n4 ]
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ y5 M# c4 d) q, A6 ?9 R6 aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 |4 f! X# O* \2 c9 O, ]/ L1 ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 ]! g1 v6 d3 I# ^& Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel$ m+ O( M' f: o! M" X6 c2 [6 n
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! f( C  d& d9 ?  Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 `, `2 j! k' k' nschedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: h4 o* l9 x" I/ p; ?, N8 ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people
8 e0 u" I0 k2 V- L" {" b) Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, h, ]5 k9 d3 ^8 K5 `& x; B; W8 hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 P% {& w* J! Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 E+ m; h0 [& w1 S9 g
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ U; e+ {6 g- U; W3 Cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 D0 j0 Z: O! E5 O0 G$ k9 A6 X
are spaces.4 K  `5 A) `: G& y/ f) ~0 K8 r+ d

6 K$ {- k0 G: B4 t/ dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# Q3 A- t5 P! w4 }, T9 i, mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! p, E: x' _6 a9 `# U; Gown a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 K0 y: M' [; g/ y, u6 k: E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 _+ q2 x9 l& _9 W( W+ o5 D
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 _# W4 f* `8 m1 e2 R7 c+ s, nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few1 W& m5 D2 g; h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of+ n9 q3 D! N5 o4 f! r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ {; c+ M4 ]3 B: Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" r6 N7 h8 B9 J- d) i3 a9 b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful( E) i& ]; R! j" }5 O: e
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all- M# N0 B1 H  f$ C; Q, g/ S
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very1 x- E# o8 o: F6 R) ?$ N0 `
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep  u9 m2 d3 Q  ~$ P, C3 n
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day  l, j3 {# C& A, \
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of) Y- o- c# z" z4 u! J" j: k& u2 r
them are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms
5 B4 W( u* D$ _2 B; Ahave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ x: C" c5 f( B! e
tourist area.
, _# f% ^/ X) t6 |
  w! X# Q# r+ M" A& wOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 r5 V4 X% L( g  t" g7 }1 Q
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) m( K5 J  a0 D
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were
/ g  ^0 m$ E% W9 K# W" Q9 m2 Meverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
" `" O- r$ @# \8 M0 ^less leader-religious.
$ `  l/ u# ~. N0 k0 L2 z
9 O7 r; K# D8 G: `! CAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba
6 B8 \& E& E3 Y" h3 A) m# e/ V9 hgovernment slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big/ P( [# ^+ ]) K  n/ I2 u' ?% r
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US8 Z* c3 ?6 |; v6 t8 D- g
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
/ a; g  c! V- ?- l$ ?8 G2 p
6 Z6 `* ?* x1 J& c& _' _1 KWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the7 V6 e1 P. @/ P+ A
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not5 U" E2 H+ _/ N6 {- O
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $19 T! S4 D3 t# K% y  C
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
3 y% K4 i3 Z  C4 s0 Uforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
  x# x6 C7 a' o$ }3 X2 F; \(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we
- n% v) u! k2 Sprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
$ }% L7 T1 U, areal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.- ^/ \) V( y$ R) `, @2 S8 V
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local  Y3 A0 H* C0 c" d
or visitors.! C& r5 ?, b8 y
5 ^  l1 G" q2 o7 L; B9 ~2 l$ S+ ]: \) ]
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