WorldWideKittyGlassesProject : Santo Domingo DR to Carrefour Haiti

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Santo Domingo DR to Carrefour Haiti

When I got on the bus at Santo Domingo to go to Port-au-Prince Haiti I was really impressed. The seats were super comfortable and there was free WIFI on the bus. Plus they gave us a big lunch, bottle of water, and a bottle of soda. I went with Caribe Tours and the ticket was $40, plus $30 for the border into Haiti and another 600 pesos. As I was waiting for the bus, I noticed only one other "tourist". We chatted and ended up sitting next to each other on the bus. It was great to be with someone who was experiencing everything for the first time as well. There was a HUGE difference between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Once we got to the border things changed drastically. I was surprised that we were on the same island. The big thing I noticed was the trash, so much of it. Also, once we crossed into Haiti, the WIFI on the bus didn't work anymore. Luckily my backpacker friend had a great phone plan, so he let me call my friend's cousin to inform the cousin that I was arriving to the bus terminal soon. Once I got to the terminal I said bye to my bus companion and was on my way to my friend's cousin's house. I couldn't believe the amount of trash and traffic I saw. The roads were terrible and it was just so crazy how different Haiti was to the Dominican Republic. I finally got to the house and we went for dinner at a hotel. (Something I never do, I was expecting to just eat in the house). After dinner we went back to the house and I got to properly meet the others who lived in the house. The house I stayed in didn't have running water and I had to pay for the water I was going to use. I had to pay $30 just for water.......... No warm showers for me, it was just going to be cold bucket showers and throwing water down a toilet. Plus the house only had electricity from 10pm until around 5-6am.