Adios a La Repubilica Dominicana

Today is May 21sh, 2018. I am currently traveling through the Dominican Republic in pursuit of my goal of world travel. I’ve started this blog in order to document my experience.

My trip has gone full circle and I am back in Santo Domingo where my journey began a little under a month ago. I’m also staying in the same hotel that I stayed in when I arrived, Santo Domingo Bed and Breakfast. However, instead of looking for things to do in Zona Colonial, this time I am biding my time until tomorrow when my flight leaves for the United States.

Going back to the rest of my time in Punta Cana, the beach (called Playa Bibijagua) next to the White Sands Bed and Breakfast turned out to be pretty solid. There was actually free beach chair available for people to use and a certain portion of the water was roped off so that people could swim without the fear of getting run over by a motorboat. I spent a few solid hours bathing in the sun during my last day in Punta Cana. I also explored the downtown village where I found a nice Indian Restaurant where I ate dinner. However, the $20 check cost more than a week of eating dinner at the local comedors. As I was leaving yesterday, I almost got in a second physical altercation with a moto driver. It happened when I went back to Fruisa to catch the bus back to Santo Domingo. I had bought my ticket at the bus station and realized I had about half an hour before the bus left. I had an issue in that I had about $700 DPO ($140 USD) that I would eventually need to change back over to US dollars. However, if I waited until I got to the airport, I would be forced to pay the unfavorable exchange rate. I decided to walk up the street about 600 meters to the money changing place across my first hotel, Hotel 2 Bavaro, and take care of it there. After successfully changing my money out, I was aggressively approached by a moto driver as I walked out. Normally I just ignore them, but I had 10 DPO (.15 cents) in my hand and I offered it to him if he gave me a ride back to the bus terminal. It was an easily walkable distance, but I had my backpack and I needed to catch the bus. Well, it turns out the offer offended him and he kind of pushed my backpack in an aggressive manner. There’s a lot of things that people do to me that I can overlook such as being scammed, not giving me the correct change, and being constantly catcalled. However, the minute someone puts their hands on me, the gloves come off. I turned back and asked if he meant to push me or if it was an accident. When he didn’t answer, I asked again as I walked towards him. The guy around him must have since something was up because he started to get between us. The only thing that stopped me from putting his face into the cement was the fact I already paid for my ticket for a bus that was going to leave in 10 minutes. I walked away and caught my bus.

Although it was on the exact same bus, this bus ride was a lot more comfortable than my last one. I intentionally sat in an aisle seat and put my bag in the overhead compartment so that, when the bus did eventually fill up, I had plenty of leg room. I arrived back in Santo Domingo about 1 PM and unloaded my stuff at the hotel. Later that afternoon, I walked to the boardwalk where I came upon what looked like a street racing gathering from a Fast and Furious movie. There was music blaring and people were gathered around several cars while were revving their engines. It wasn’t the cars that attracted me to this gathering but actually the food trucks as I was looking for dinner. I ended up settling for a burrito and french fries. I was able to sit at a table that was set right at the edge of the cliff and while the weather wasn’t great, it still provided a decent view of the Santo Domingo Coast. After dinner, I went back to the hotel and settled in for the night. I really don’t plan on doing anything else as far as traveling goes. Today, I will reactivate my Facebook account and officially launch the blog.
I hope you enjoyed reading the blog as much as I enjoyed being in the Dominican Republic. But as the popular saying goes “all good things must come to an end” and so must this trip. It certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility that I may return here one day. However, there is so much more to see and do, that day won’t be anytime soon. I’m not sure when I will go on another trip like this but be sure to check out the other content I have posted from past trips. Thank you for taking the time to follow my experience.

Robert Brown