I left Puerto Plata (Port Silver) by bus with my friend to go her city, which was the capital of Santo Domingo.
The island has no trains, so it was either bus, fly or take a long boat round the island.
The trip down the island was almost 5 hours long, although the coast itself was surprisingly confortable and offered some welcome respite from the heat.
All the way down we passed through long stretched of shanty towns which had sprung up , im guessing, due to their location to the road.
I couldn't see any other reason why they would be there.
Every now and again we would pass something that looked like it was a modern building, only for it to be surrounded by many broken down and falling buildings, even the roads were coming away in such large chunks that it would be easier and quicker to just replace them than try to repair them.
Once we got to Santo Domingo the story was a little better, as it looked like Old Spain. Plenty of fancy architecture, cathedrals, proper plazas, roads, and taxis that were cars and not motorbikes.
It seems that to go anywhere in this country the quickest way is by taxi, and too it is also cheap if you are a local. With my friends help I have taken over a dozen rides in taxis which have cost almost nothing, but I am sure that if I was on my own or with other 'non-local' tourists the price would have been through the roof.
The hotel here in Santo Domingo was central to the main highstreet, thus ideal for travelling but also due to the heat (as the construction included many open air vents) very loud during the day.
By the end of the second day I have to admit that all the Spanish talk is now just overly loud noise as my brain have given up taking in anything new for awhile.
It will be great to just laze on a beach and catch a bit of a tan tomorrow.
Apparently there is a law that is very sexist, in that no local women are allowed to enter a hotel (futher than the reception) without identification.
It seems that in an effort to curb its own criminal elements problem, a male guest can only invite a local woman into their room once per visit and only if they have the proper ID - which gets attached to the guests file until they leave.
The law is suppose to stop men from preying on local women night after night and also to protect them from theiving local pickpocketers who run off with their wallets, passports, cameras or whatever they could get their hands on.
For me, all it has done is prevent my friend from accompanying me into my room at the end of each days travel to discuss the next day. Plus of course we can't just escape from the heat and watch a movie with a pizza or anything.
It may be the law, but I find it very irritating.
There are also only 3 McDonalds in the entire capital city of Santo Domingo and about only 7 on the entire island, and its much the same story with Burger King, Taco Bell or Pizza Hut. The McDonald wasn't worth it (the burger salad was a huge and pathetic looking lettice leaf) and the inside decoration was naff as well.
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