Haitian market day Dajabon anyone been there?

amstellite- where have you been? Been a long time since I read a post from you. Don't know anything about the market.

Lindsey

easy to get a bus from the Capital and i am sure that there are gua guas that run from Santiago to Monte Christi and then to Dajabon. Which. along with Anse a pitres and Elias Pina are well.. my favorites.. Market is not much except for used clothing and pots and pans and the wonderful scenery of it.

but for a really great trip stay over in Dajabon

get a concho to take you to Monte Christi

swim the Massacre river

there are three or four good hotels in Dajabon

the Gran Hotel Rydan is the business mans

the Massacre is the poets place

the Bonanza.. on the south side of the road as you come into town

has the only swimming pool in town and is where the action is on Sunday..

get there Saturday afternoon and stay for the action on Sunday

get up very early and get down to the river at day break

your camera will thank me

if you want a great road trip plan another night in Monte Christi at the Forrestall or something.. it runs at close to 2k a night but SOOOOO worth it. You can find a good concho driver in town .. or stay in town if your budget does not go above the 300 peso mark. But you have to go the beach called El Moro.. it is a salt flat. There is a mangrove swamp you can hire a boat to take you out to the islands. I have had the best fish in my life on the beach there .. beyond the salt flas

avoid the frenchman's hotel to the left.. there are no screens on the windows

and the mosquitos in Monti Christi trained with the US Air Force Bombedier Units.. or perhaps it was the French..

anyway they do not get many tourists and they will be hungry

the place on the hill is the best best

but in town the rooms are sealed..... pretty much

i love the border region

i think it is the most beautiful of all

The market is a must see in the DR. I was there in July of 2010 and again in 2011. Stay at El Brisol. The owner (Tomas) used to live and run a bodega in Brooklyn and he and his wife are very nice people and run a clean, safe hotel. The prices are ridiculously cheap something like $15 a night w/o AC and $20 with it. The food is good in there little restaurant. The best thing is the room I was in looked right at the river and you are only a couple blocks from the old crossing. You can't get any closer. I got up around 4:30 am an went for a walk/run and hung around the two crossing watching some very strange behavior. I posted about it before. Went back and took a shower, ate breakfast and went back to complete chaos which is completely organized. It is very difficult to figure out who is doing what for what reason. You can go hang out in Quanamenthe for a while and check out the Haitian side. Very interesting to see the difference between the two countries. It you learn a dozen or so creyol or French phrases like sak pase you tend to get by. I was called blanc or gason while I was there. I usually found someone in the group who spoke Spanish due to being close to the border and they became the translator for the moment. The problem was a similar type hotel room on the Haitian side was around $80 due to missionaries and UN troops. I am not sure if is that way still. If you spend the night, you will have to deal with getting back over without getting a visa (because of market day) which may or may not be a problem depending on who happens to be there. Cap Haitian is something I need to do on my next trip.

monte cristi rocks Dajabon is so-so, only if you are interested in shopping

Monte Cristi is famous for its salt flats so that could be them. I blogged on going to the market.

What about your saucepans?: The market in Dajabon (never again)

Matilda

I haven't been there for 5 years but think the market is a bit more organised these days. But certainly wprth a visit. IMO you would be better off staying in Monticrisri which is worth a stay in its own right. Small town but with some beautiful late 19th and early 20th century architecture - commercial buildings, houses etc. + small musuem to Maximo Gomez.