Monday, November 06, 2006
A Weekend Away: Installment #1
This post may need to be split into two installments - we'll see how it goes.
Today, Monday, November 6, is a national holiday here in the Dominican Republic, which means there was no school today. We decided a long time ago that we need to take advantage of the few three day weekends that we have to travel a little further from home.
This past weekend, we (the Roths plus Sonya) went from Santo Domingo (on the south coast) all the way up to the northeast corner of the country to a place called Samana. Samana the town was nothing special, but the ocean and the series of small islands around that area are lovely. We expected a four hour bus ride, but we had no idea how much of a pain it would be to get there.
Saturday morning, we left our apartment at 6:30 am to go to Carribe Tours bus depot where we planned to catch the 7 am bus to Samana. When our cab driver said (in Spanish) "Carribe Tours? We better go fast because there are tons of people there right now," we should have taken the hint. To make a long story short, we didn't make the 7 bus because it was already full when we arrived, but we did make the 8:30 bus, so we sat in the bus station for two hours waiting for our bus to leave. (It sounds so simple to just get on the bus to Samana at the bus station, but it's really very difficult to make sure you're getting on the right bus at the right time, that your luggage is in the right place, and that you get a seat together - very stressful!)
John and I both had upset tummies on the bus ride, which was absolutely horrible. I (Claire) have had an upset stomach ever since we moved here, and John goes through stages, but there is nothing worse than being stuck on a bus when you have to go. Once again, to make a long story short, the expected four hours we had planned to spend on the bus ended up being six hours. That's way too long to spend on a bus for a weekend trip.
When we finally got to Samana after countless stops along the way, we got dropped off on the side of the road with no bus station in sight. Later, we learned that the bus station was a little way down the road on the other side, and it was easier for the bus to let us off where it did. We found a cab and proceeded on our half hour cab ride from the town to our resort.
To Be Continued.........
PS Tomorrow, we'll put lots of pictures up on the Pictures and Short Videos page.
Today, Monday, November 6, is a national holiday here in the Dominican Republic, which means there was no school today. We decided a long time ago that we need to take advantage of the few three day weekends that we have to travel a little further from home.
This past weekend, we (the Roths plus Sonya) went from Santo Domingo (on the south coast) all the way up to the northeast corner of the country to a place called Samana. Samana the town was nothing special, but the ocean and the series of small islands around that area are lovely. We expected a four hour bus ride, but we had no idea how much of a pain it would be to get there.
Saturday morning, we left our apartment at 6:30 am to go to Carribe Tours bus depot where we planned to catch the 7 am bus to Samana. When our cab driver said (in Spanish) "Carribe Tours? We better go fast because there are tons of people there right now," we should have taken the hint. To make a long story short, we didn't make the 7 bus because it was already full when we arrived, but we did make the 8:30 bus, so we sat in the bus station for two hours waiting for our bus to leave. (It sounds so simple to just get on the bus to Samana at the bus station, but it's really very difficult to make sure you're getting on the right bus at the right time, that your luggage is in the right place, and that you get a seat together - very stressful!)
John and I both had upset tummies on the bus ride, which was absolutely horrible. I (Claire) have had an upset stomach ever since we moved here, and John goes through stages, but there is nothing worse than being stuck on a bus when you have to go. Once again, to make a long story short, the expected four hours we had planned to spend on the bus ended up being six hours. That's way too long to spend on a bus for a weekend trip.
When we finally got to Samana after countless stops along the way, we got dropped off on the side of the road with no bus station in sight. Later, we learned that the bus station was a little way down the road on the other side, and it was easier for the bus to let us off where it did. We found a cab and proceeded on our half hour cab ride from the town to our resort.
To Be Continued.........
PS Tomorrow, we'll put lots of pictures up on the Pictures and Short Videos page.
// posted by The Roths @ 7:48 PM 
