I was returning to USA and thought I might for variety pass through Haiti and PAP this time.
I took Espreso Liniero from Santiago to Dajabón. They stopped dropping people at that corner where the other street leads to the bridge. Lots of men offered to ferry me on their motorcycles, which I declined.
I thought as I approached the bridge that I would be able to report that there was no Dominican opposition to my departure. People do walk from Ouanaminthe to Dajabón or from Dajabón to Ouanaminthe with no obstruction. The bureaucrats use their discretion and as long as you are only going into the border area they let you walk through.
I had never been to Haiti. I walked across into Haiti with no Dominican obstacle. Now I had been to Haiti once. I knew I would need Haitian immigration clearance or I might not make it to the airport, and even if I did, I would have to present my passport to board a USA-bound flight, so I took the detour to the port of entry. Most people simply walk on by.
At the port, the bureaucrat found that my passport lacked any Dominican exit stamp. There was some guy I will call Buddy, I think he is a bureaucrat, and he helps people crossing the border. He escorted me back to the bridge and Dominicana, and I took the detour to the Dominican port of entry, where I was told to pay an exit fee of US$20.00. Yes, the Haitians co-operate with the Dominicans on this. This is not a way to escape overstay fees or Dominican arrest warrants. As Steely Dan would say, they catch you at the border, you go back, Jack...
There is a window at the Dominican port, under a sign that says DIVISAS but they do not accept Haitian money. Nay, they have to exchange their Haitian gourdes for U.S. dollars and enter Dominicana with those. I got a receipt and a stamp on my passport.
Once my passport had the required Dominican stamp I walked across again. Now I have been to Haiti twice.
At the Haitian port, I had to pay a fee of US$7.00 or 600 gourdes, and the 600 gourdes is more money but I do have this thing about paying with the money of the country I am in, so I paid 600 gourdes from what I bought from the peddlers, and I got a receipt. Buddy then directed my to taxis that would take me to the bus station, which was too far to walk. I saw buses nearby but I guess they aren’t for ticketing passengers.
The only available taxis were men on motorcycles. This is not a good way to travel and the driver put my luggage onto the handle bars and I rode without a helmet a good distance through the streets of Ouanaminthe, where the business signs were in French but everybody except me spoke Creole. At the bus depot, I was directed to a bus but after they put my luggage on the roof I was told it was a bus to Cap-Haitien and not to Port-au-Prince. There would be a connection and I would arrive at night in Port-au-Prince. They told me buses to Port-au-Prince leave at midnight and at 6 a.m.
I decided to take the quicker route through STI, so I insisted on getting my luggage back and rode on the motorcycle (with no plate) to the bridge, where they recognised me as the guy Buddy had escorted. A Dominican bureaucrat on the bridge asked for my passport, and finding no Haitian exit stamp, directed me to a Haitian bureaucrat on the bridge, who directed me back to the port to pay a US$10.00 fee. The motorcycle driver suggested I should simply give the guy something but I explained that I am opposed to corruption.
At the port I paid US$10.00 for the Haitian exit stamp and when I asked for a receipt, they did what they always do whenever somebody asks for a receipt. They directed me to the office, where a bureaucrat stamped a pre-printed receipt in French attesting that I paid the equivalent of ten U.S. dollars. Poor darlings, they have to put the money in the cash register when that happens.
Then I rode to the bridge and the driver dropped me off half way between the two riversides. I proceeded to the Dominican side, took the detour through the port of entry, where I presented my residencia temporal and my cédula and my USA passport, and I got a passport stamp.
As I walked away I was directed through a turnstile area where I had to open my luggage, outdoors, and I was cleared.
On the way back to Santiago on Espreso Liniero, BTW, there was a surprise checkpoint where everybody was stunned to have the bureaucrat demand papers and customs receipts for the US$20.00 entry fee. About seven persons were removed, including one guy who protested he had a residencia which he displayed.
A safer way to reach Port-au-Prince would have been to take Metro Tours from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince. Riding a motorcycle with luggage on the handlebars and wearing no helmet is unsafe.
I took Espreso Liniero from Santiago to Dajabón. They stopped dropping people at that corner where the other street leads to the bridge. Lots of men offered to ferry me on their motorcycles, which I declined.
I thought as I approached the bridge that I would be able to report that there was no Dominican opposition to my departure. People do walk from Ouanaminthe to Dajabón or from Dajabón to Ouanaminthe with no obstruction. The bureaucrats use their discretion and as long as you are only going into the border area they let you walk through.
I had never been to Haiti. I walked across into Haiti with no Dominican obstacle. Now I had been to Haiti once. I knew I would need Haitian immigration clearance or I might not make it to the airport, and even if I did, I would have to present my passport to board a USA-bound flight, so I took the detour to the port of entry. Most people simply walk on by.
At the port, the bureaucrat found that my passport lacked any Dominican exit stamp. There was some guy I will call Buddy, I think he is a bureaucrat, and he helps people crossing the border. He escorted me back to the bridge and Dominicana, and I took the detour to the Dominican port of entry, where I was told to pay an exit fee of US$20.00. Yes, the Haitians co-operate with the Dominicans on this. This is not a way to escape overstay fees or Dominican arrest warrants. As Steely Dan would say, they catch you at the border, you go back, Jack...
There is a window at the Dominican port, under a sign that says DIVISAS but they do not accept Haitian money. Nay, they have to exchange their Haitian gourdes for U.S. dollars and enter Dominicana with those. I got a receipt and a stamp on my passport.
Once my passport had the required Dominican stamp I walked across again. Now I have been to Haiti twice.
At the Haitian port, I had to pay a fee of US$7.00 or 600 gourdes, and the 600 gourdes is more money but I do have this thing about paying with the money of the country I am in, so I paid 600 gourdes from what I bought from the peddlers, and I got a receipt. Buddy then directed my to taxis that would take me to the bus station, which was too far to walk. I saw buses nearby but I guess they aren’t for ticketing passengers.
The only available taxis were men on motorcycles. This is not a good way to travel and the driver put my luggage onto the handle bars and I rode without a helmet a good distance through the streets of Ouanaminthe, where the business signs were in French but everybody except me spoke Creole. At the bus depot, I was directed to a bus but after they put my luggage on the roof I was told it was a bus to Cap-Haitien and not to Port-au-Prince. There would be a connection and I would arrive at night in Port-au-Prince. They told me buses to Port-au-Prince leave at midnight and at 6 a.m.
I decided to take the quicker route through STI, so I insisted on getting my luggage back and rode on the motorcycle (with no plate) to the bridge, where they recognised me as the guy Buddy had escorted. A Dominican bureaucrat on the bridge asked for my passport, and finding no Haitian exit stamp, directed me to a Haitian bureaucrat on the bridge, who directed me back to the port to pay a US$10.00 fee. The motorcycle driver suggested I should simply give the guy something but I explained that I am opposed to corruption.
At the port I paid US$10.00 for the Haitian exit stamp and when I asked for a receipt, they did what they always do whenever somebody asks for a receipt. They directed me to the office, where a bureaucrat stamped a pre-printed receipt in French attesting that I paid the equivalent of ten U.S. dollars. Poor darlings, they have to put the money in the cash register when that happens.
Then I rode to the bridge and the driver dropped me off half way between the two riversides. I proceeded to the Dominican side, took the detour through the port of entry, where I presented my residencia temporal and my cédula and my USA passport, and I got a passport stamp.
As I walked away I was directed through a turnstile area where I had to open my luggage, outdoors, and I was cleared.
On the way back to Santiago on Espreso Liniero, BTW, there was a surprise checkpoint where everybody was stunned to have the bureaucrat demand papers and customs receipts for the US$20.00 entry fee. About seven persons were removed, including one guy who protested he had a residencia which he displayed.
A safer way to reach Port-au-Prince would have been to take Metro Tours from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince. Riding a motorcycle with luggage on the handlebars and wearing no helmet is unsafe.