"Chi" as in "chi chi" the motoconcho

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
Well it looks like I've finally found my niche; I'm a motoconcho at heart. :)

Since my project started in Sosua abouth 3 weeks ago I have been making daily trips and get flagged down quite frequently on the Tourist highway from Santiago. As long as I'm not super pressed for time I try to stop if flagged down. Mostly I pick up kids going to school or laborers and they generally tell me "gracias" and I respond "siempre" or "Dios le bendiga". Needless to say I spend most of the time praying to God I don't wreck. :)
 

agw

Member
Feb 14, 2010
156
2
18
Do you have a license? There is a person who frequents this board who will turn you in if she can for the crime of charging people for rides if you don't have a license.
Der Fish

But where does he say he charges them? When we are inclined and don't have a full backseat, we've picked up people on the side of the road as well... all we charge is a little conversation!
 

DOMINCAN JOE

Bronze
Aug 15, 2006
1,992
38
0
But where does he say he charges them? When we are inclined and don't have a full backseat, we've picked up people on the side of the road as well... all we charge is a little conversation!
Is this Chip
When we are inclined and don't have a full backseat,
Picture602.jpg
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Chip's a good man...how ,many here pick up hitchhikers?
 
Dec 26, 2011
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Mostly I pick up kids going to school or laborers and they generally tell me "gracias" and I respond "siempre" or "Dios le bendiga".

Sounds like they pay with a "gracias" only. People helping people.
 

Castle

Silver
Sep 1, 2012
2,982
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Chip, I really hope you meant you were a motoconchista, instead of a motoconcho, right?
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
Chip's a good man...how ,many here pick up hitchhikers?

Mr. AE will stop for guys in uniform, and we stopped last trip for a couple with a child waiting for a bus near our house [in the rain], but that's about it. Can be dangerous.
 

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
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Used to be you could get a "bola" anywhere you went when I was growing up. We never paid to go to college, just hitchhike. Once I got a car I also would give rides to people all the time, but nowadays this has become a dangerous thing to do. Motoconcho is probable one of the most dangerous professions in The DR. They get robbed and killed all the time by people wanting to take their motorcycle, etc...Imagine you're pretty much at the mercy of someone riding behind you.

I still do pick up hitchhikers, but on a very selective basis and only if I'm accompanied by family and/or friends. Even picking up girls hitching a ride can be problematic as sometimes they have their male friends waiting in the bushes or there have been cases of the women themselves doing the robbing.

Sad that it has come to this, but it's the reality of the world nowadays.
 
Dec 26, 2011
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Sad that it has come to this, but it's the reality of the world nowadays.

It's nothing unique to our time. Stories have been told for thousands of years about the dangers of travel. Luke 10:30.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
Used to be you could get a "bola" anywhere you went when I was growing up. We never paid to go to college, just hitchhike. Once I got a car I also would give rides to people all the time, but nowadays this has become a dangerous thing to do. Motoconcho is probable one of the most dangerous professions in The DR. They get robbed and killed all the time by people wanting to take their motorcycle, etc...Imagine you're pretty much at the mercy of someone riding behind you.

I still do pick up hitchhikers, but on a very selective basis and only if I'm accompanied by family and/or friends. Even picking up girls hitching a ride can be problematic as sometimes they have their male friends waiting in the bushes or there have been cases of the women themselves doing the robbing.

Sad that it has come to this, but it's the reality of the world nowadays.

You're right. I should clarify that we usually pick up the young guys in uniform who are looking for a ride at the end of their shift at the turn-off for San Cristobal on 27 de Feb. when we're going home from SD. There always seem to be several of them on the ramp, I guess our schedules are similar :)
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
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i traveled by hitchhiking in poland for many years, since the age of 15. always wanted to return the favour but miesposo won't stop and alone i am a bit worried. maybe one day when i have my dream L200 sportero and i passengers can be in the back and not inside the cabin :)

i had my share of crazy drivers but most were super nice, many gave me food and some would even take me to the train station and pay for my ticket if they could not drive me further towards my destination. world is full of good people :)
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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i had my share of crazy drivers but most were super nice, many gave me food and some would even take me to the train station and pay for my ticket if they could not drive me further towards my destination. world is full of good people :)
Ditto. On one occasion, hitchhiking with two friends in France, a woman who gave us a lift gave us the keys to her apartment and said, help yourself to coffee in the morning, there's a bakery downstairs, and went off to spend the night at her mother's. There were one or two uncomfortable situations but they were outnumbered by the kindness of strangers :)
We always exercise caution when giving lifts here, for obvious reasons.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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i had few people give me a bola here as well, from costambar into the city. i used to walk all the way to the city center before i got my own car. the drivers would always chat about where i come from, what am i doing here and who am i related too. and damn this, it always turned out they knew my in laws. maybe they were spies sent by my mother in law who was always petrified of me walking to places :)
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
I normally don't dare to give people rides, only once, in the late afternoon there was an Amet asking for a ride on the road from La Romano to San Pedro de Macoris, where you turn to take the highway to Santo Domingo.

He happened to be a fellow Christian, and we had a nice conversation on the way to Santo Domingo.