Port au Prince to Santo Domingo overland

Caribe Tours have a daily bus ( Caribe Tours C. Por A. ) so it must be relatively safe, otherwise they would not make the trip regularly.

portauprince said:

Is the country safe enough for a Chinese guy to venture outside of the capital and into DR?

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I'm a bit puzzled, do you live in Port-au-Prince, visiting it for tourism?
Anyway, the trickiest places in Haiti in terms of safety are in the capital, not outside it. The bus lines to SD leaving from Petionville, Caribetours and Terra, are safe enough.

portauprince said:

Thanks guys. I'm going to visit in December as a tourist.

I am researching places to go. What parts of Haiti are no go even during the day?

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You are going to get conflicting views on safety in Haiti.
Of course, the big cities are the worst, and of course, we all recognize that most Haitians are as nice as the next person, but the bottom line is that Haiti is the poorest and most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere, and desperation often leads to desperate crimes.

Once you get out of Port-au-Prince, things are reasonably normal. I do some work for an organisation with a strong presence in Haiti and they have very strict security guidelines for P-au-P - not really supposed to go anywhere without a Haitian colleague, and usually don't go out at night. Some of the hotels we used to stay in are now out of bounds and we have to stay in the Petionville district. I recommend Kinam for security and comfort at a reasonable price, and the more offbeat Oloffson nearer the downtown area is definitely worth a visit.

In other cities like Cap-Haitien we can go out more or less without restrictions. Of course you still have to exercise the usual common sense precautions, because you will stand out as a foreigner. Recommended hotels are the Roi Christophe, Mont Joli and another French-owned place further along the sea front.

The real no-go areas, the two 'red zones', are Cit? Soleil to the North and Martissant to the South-West of the city. Petionville is generally considered safe during the day, but down-town Port-au-Prince isn't really as ready for tourism as other Hatian cities are.

I made the trip overland from Petionville to Santo Domingo in June with Caribetours, if you want detailed information send me a pm

portauprince said:

Thanks for all your help. It seems having a local friend would be essential. I like meeting other college students in foreign countries, so the university would be the first location on my itinerary, but I will be in Port au Prince on Christmas Day. If the uni is closed where will I find college kids?

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If it's like the DR, they will be at home with their families.

portauprince said:

No doubt. :-\ But I will be in Haiti until New Year's Eve when I move onto SD.

I want to witness Vodou. Any advice?

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Voodoo ceremonies are fairly common and you need only ask around to find them.
As for how real they are, well......