Finally....
after 18 months I was back! 2005 was a very bad year and I couldn't get away, 3 deaths in my family...my Dad, Brother-in-law, and my ex-wife,but now I had returned and I was on a mission!
The plane from Toronto (large Airbus A-310) arrived approx. 6:35pm Friday June 2'nd. Baggage and customs was a breeze and found the "Sunquest" bus outside. We were stopping at several resorts to drop people off and made our way to Sosua. The large tour bus drove right past "Rocky's".....I knew I would be going there later in the week so I had my face glued to the window to take a peek inside. I don't know how those huge buses can manouver down all the narrow, congested streets and I give the drivers a lot of credit.
After dropping a couple off at the first hotel the bus broke down. The power steering line broke and there was fluid all over the street. The rep. called her office and said a replacement bus would be along in about 10 minutes ( Yeah...Right!) and to stay on the bus because it wasn't safe to get off.
Well, I practically had to arm wrestle her to get off the damn bus! I wanted a smoke. The bus driver did his best to fix the problem....even using his own money to send someone to buy power steering fluid. I walked across the road and bought a beer at some bar (can't remember the name), came back and sat on the curb enjoying the evening and people watching. The tour rep just glared at me through the front window of the bus.No-one else got off.
Replacement bus arrived 11/2 hours later. No further problems....I was the only person going to Paraiso del Sol and was only person on the bus for the last 20 minutes because it was the last stop.
My "mission" this trip was to see a girl I met last time ( I know, I know..),and spend a few days with her away from the hotel. She works there....but it's 18 months later so who knows? Also, I brought my old laptop computer with wireless internet adapter to give to a young student who was going to study engineering at the university in Santiago. I really wanted to see her too....and "Hillbilly" from DR1 had very generously offered his assistance in trying to locate her in Santago. I needed her full name .....so, that's what I tried to find out the next day by locating her family.
Paraiso del Sol is a tired hotel but functional. 3 pools and a decent resaurant. Service at the main pool bar in the evenings was terrible!!! They had 1 bartender for over a hundred people waiting for drinks. He just stood behind the bar "dancing" by himself and virtually refused to serve anyone. A barmaid on holiday from England went behind the bar and started pouring draught beer for those that wanted it (over his protestations). Apparently, later in the week a large group of people couldn't stand his arrogant behaviour and lack of service.....so they went en masse to the hotel lobby to complain. I heard there was a lot of yelling and screaming and security had to get involved. I don't know if the police were called.
The girl I had hoped to spend some time with said her Mother had an operation and she needed to be with her....yadda, yadda, yadda. I gave up then and there and pretty much avoided her for the rest of the week. She was the only reason I chose this hotel....and now I was stuck here.When I said good-bye on the last day she couldn't understand why I was leaving....GEEZ.
A public road bisects the hotel property. There are what I call "hooker bars" located at either end of the short street with a few businesses in between. There's a couple of doctor's offices, licquor store, craft store, Freddy Tours and retail store. Also, 2 internet cafes.
The restaurant where the student and her aunt worked was no longer in business so I took Hillbilly's advice and tried to locate her family. I also had pictures I promised to deliver to some people whose company I had enjoyed on my previous visit....so, I loaded my knapsack with bottled water, photographs, camera and a towel from the hotel and set off walking into the barrio of Islabon. It was so friggin hot I felt like I was walking on the surface of the sun. I had to stop every few minutes and use the towel to wipe the sweat from my face and head.
My first stop was at a little tienda on a tiny dirt road near some decaying shacks, closed shops and a small bar. It's a very poor area....but not as bad as what I saw later in the week.
I showed a picture of Iris and her aunt to the store owner and asked if he knew them. He showed it to some people that were hanging around and refused to give the picture back to me! While I was trying to decide what to do, he ran outside and yelled to someone up the road. A fat guy on a motorcycle came chugging up to the store and after looking at the photo said he knew where the "aunt" lived and offered to take me there. I asked how much and he said "nothing". He wasn't a motoconcho. I got on...and off we went to the"aunt's" house. She wasn't home, but a neighbour told him where she worked and off we went again...sort of. I told you he was fat and that left me with about 5 inches of seating space on the back of his moto. It was a little precarious and I slipped off the seat while going over some kind of speed bump thing.I landed on my feet and was able to keep my balance and avoided getting "road rash". I took several moto's after that incident and always checked the size of the driver before getting on! haha!
He drove me out of Islabon and back to my starting point near the hotel. Half a block away we found Iris' aunt working at an internet cafe. I could have found her myself just by walking down the street! Lol. This guy also used his cell phone to call Iris and then passed it to me. I don't speak much Spanish so I gave it to Don ( owner of the cafe) to translate for me. She was in Bavaro, they told me it was an 8 hour drive...on some kind of work term or something.(She's studing architecture at university) and couldn't get back until Friday...the day I was leaving. I made arrangements to leave the computer with Don later in the week and Iris could come and get it. The moto guy refused any kind of payment saying he was happy to help, but it took a couple of hours of his time and I wanted to do something to say thanks. I put 200 pesos in his pocket as he was leaving....and thanked him again for his help.
Two of the 3 pools at Paraiso del sol are shallow and have flat bottoms....I found out the hard way that the third pool doesn't. I wasn't around the hotel much.....but i cooled off in the pool for a while everyday. Sitting on the edge dangling your legs in the water, you just hop in and stand in water about chest high ( maybe 41/2 or 5 feet deep).No need to hold your breath.
One day I went to the 3'rd pool near the beach where my former "almost" girlfriend was working and following the same procedure....just hopped in. I sank like a stone, inhaling water on the way down.....it was DEEP!! I spluttered to the surface, gasping and choking.....my lungs felt like they were on fire! I clung to the side of the pool hoping that some of the pretty, topless German chicks would come to my rescue....but no such luck. I could hardly breathe and felt like crap for a couple of hours. My ears were plugged and I couldn't hear anything for a day.You don't miss things until you don't have them. I ended up going to the Doctor at STAT Medical Clinic...down the street from the hotel. Ear Flush....$40.00 USD. .....but I could hear perfectly...what a GREAT feeling!
The next part of the story(trip report) is a little more serious, two sets of sisters and tragedy... but I'll have to get to that tomorrow.
continued...