Los Pinos in Las Terranas
We took the new highway - and then made the mistake of taking the mountain road to Las Terranas. Lordy, I almost had heart failure up there. Around one of the hairpin turns we saw about 20 people peering down into the abyss off the road - a car had driven off. [we learned later that the guy driving only hurt one of his fingers, unbelievable!! - but they still couldn't get the car out]. We stumbled upon a residencia called Los Pinos, owned by an Italian guy who speaks more Italian than Spanish. Nice big room across from the beach, 2 beds, hot water, a/c, nice balcony, free wifi, for $50. We had a wonderful dinner there too - amazing food. The restaurant doesn't serve until 7:30 p.m. Would definitely recommend.
We found out there was another way back, following the coast to Samana, so we did that. I couldn't have stood another rollercoaster ride on that mountain. Someone told us they're building a road that will take you directly to LT at ground level - I wonder how many years THAT will take.
The new hwy is amazing - those miles of Palm trees intrigued me - anyone know why or who planted them???