On Sunday, 16 September 2018 I took Expreso Liniero from Santiago to Dajabón. It was an uncomfortable ride as the only seats were above the rear wheel and so I was stuck with my knees up for much of the time. The bus goes through Montecristi but I don’t know if that is your best route if you are driving, since you are not in the business of picking up and dropping off persons on the way. The ride was about 3 hours 20 minutes to a stop in Dajabón where it looked like everybody was getting out, so I got out. It turns out it was still short of the terminal. I was on the main drag, at the corner of the street that leads to Dominican customs, the Mercado Binacional and, yes, the bridge to Haiti. Because of my pending case I could not leave DR or I’d blow my residency application, since my permiso de reentrada has expired. I did approach the border and also visited Mercado Binacional . It is like a big flea market, and many of the dealers were closed because of Sunday. I never saw a lady riding a motorcycle through an indoor flea market before, though.
I also observed people selling booze on the street. I suspect they are allowed a small amount through customs and so they make a few pesos with that allowance. I was also assured that if I wanted a bus to Port-au-Prince I would have to arrive early in the day, and take one from the Haitian side. I am considering when I return to my country going through Haiti and flying out of PAP just for variety since I have never been to Haiti.
The return trip to Santiago was different. I arrived at the terminal and walked up to the bus and asked where you buy a ticket, and was told to board. The fare is collected on board, same as the westbound trip. The difference is (a) I boarded a big, comfortable Expreso Liniero motorcoach; (b) a uniformed Migración officer stood at the door to review the skin colours of persons boarding the bus; and (c) there were seven mandatory stops at law enforcement stations. At all seven, some persons were told to produce their papers. At none of these stations was I questioned. The first three stations were between Dajabón and Monecristi, the other four after Montecristi. After the fifth station, I said to the guy sitting next to me, cinco paradas mandatorias y nadie dice nada a nosotros. Of course, we don’t wear that tell-tale dark skin. I joked that it must be my Aguilas cap assuring the bureaucrats that I am obviously Dominican; that the Haitians should wear such caps, too.
The only excitement was at the third stop, where the guy pulled a gym bag out from under a seat, unzipped it, and found contraband. He did not say a word, simply gave the lady a dirty look and took the three bags of garlic to the station. Garlic is expensiver in DR because the less-expensive Haitian-grown garlic is illegal to import. This law protects Dominican producers, but robs the Dominican consumers by forcing them to pay the higher Dominican price instead of being able to buy Haitian-grown garlic, and also robs Haitian growers by preventing them from benefiting from the higher Dominican price.
I also observed people selling booze on the street. I suspect they are allowed a small amount through customs and so they make a few pesos with that allowance. I was also assured that if I wanted a bus to Port-au-Prince I would have to arrive early in the day, and take one from the Haitian side. I am considering when I return to my country going through Haiti and flying out of PAP just for variety since I have never been to Haiti.
The return trip to Santiago was different. I arrived at the terminal and walked up to the bus and asked where you buy a ticket, and was told to board. The fare is collected on board, same as the westbound trip. The difference is (a) I boarded a big, comfortable Expreso Liniero motorcoach; (b) a uniformed Migración officer stood at the door to review the skin colours of persons boarding the bus; and (c) there were seven mandatory stops at law enforcement stations. At all seven, some persons were told to produce their papers. At none of these stations was I questioned. The first three stations were between Dajabón and Monecristi, the other four after Montecristi. After the fifth station, I said to the guy sitting next to me, cinco paradas mandatorias y nadie dice nada a nosotros. Of course, we don’t wear that tell-tale dark skin. I joked that it must be my Aguilas cap assuring the bureaucrats that I am obviously Dominican; that the Haitians should wear such caps, too.
The only excitement was at the third stop, where the guy pulled a gym bag out from under a seat, unzipped it, and found contraband. He did not say a word, simply gave the lady a dirty look and took the three bags of garlic to the station. Garlic is expensiver in DR because the less-expensive Haitian-grown garlic is illegal to import. This law protects Dominican producers, but robs the Dominican consumers by forcing them to pay the higher Dominican price instead of being able to buy Haitian-grown garlic, and also robs Haitian growers by preventing them from benefiting from the higher Dominican price.