For some pics from the past week go to this link.
We went to Puerto Plata on Tuesday. Actually its full name is San Felipe de Puerto Plata, and it's the capital city of the province of Puerto Plata. It is about 30 kilometers west of us. The trip took two buses, one to Sosua and then a large air-conditioned one from Sosua to Puerto Plata. The whole trip cost about $3.50 each, and once we get the connections nailed down, it will be easier to do once in a while.
The city itself was busy but not too crowded. We walked from the bus station to the downtown shopping area. There are a few “tiendas”, department stores, which sell a variety of clothing, which we browsed through. Lots of beggars outside the shops, little kids or older women.
The downtown area is in the midst of some reconstruction because of an earthquake. The old church of San Felipe is not open to the public until the repairs are finished, and the central park square is also under reconstruction. Too bad because the church and square are important sites of interest.
A tourist guide latched onto us outside Tienda Jimenez. He was very informative and aggressive, stopping traffic whenever we needed to cross the street. We think the yellow shirt with the Agencia Turista symbol gave him more power than we would have assumed. He showed us to the Laramar factory where they produce the blue stone jewels that make this area famous and we watched the workers grind and polish the raw materials to create a shiny finished product. The gems in this shop were much more highly priced than other shops in Cabarete, which is understandable when you watch the tourist groups file through the building.
He also guided us to the Amber Museum, where we said our goodbyes. He was reluctant to take us anyplace that didn't sell something, so we headed out on our own. The Amber Museum displays the other semi-precious material which the region is famous for. Jurassic Park's Dinosaurs are “recreated” from the dinosaur DNA found in blood sucking insects, trapped in the sticky sap eons ago, before it hardened into a gem-like state. Much of the amber in the museum contained mosquitoes, flies centipedes, or other insects. Real amber turns blue under a black light, which is one way to tell the real thing from “plastic”.
On Sunday we returned to Puerto Plata for a second time, to check out the cable car to the top of Isabel de Torres mountain. The views are spectacular, and the ride was quite cheap, only $7 each. There is a botanical garden at the top of the mountain, and we spent an hour walking through the tropical vegetation on paved pathways. There is also a replica of the statue of Christ the Redeemer that is found at the top of the mountain near Rio de Janeiro. Very large, it dominates the entrance to the gardens, sits atop a domed building and is Christ spreading his arms in greeting/blessing. We got there early to avoid the crowds, and really enjoyed the morning.
We had intended to go to Santiago this week, but never made it. We booked an excursion through a tour agency, but the bus failed to pick us up at the designated stop. We waited for an hour on Thursday morning, but eventually had to head back to the tour office to get a refund. Actually, we got a discount on the tour instead, and are scheduled to take the tour another day.
Cold enough to wear a sweater here yesterday, +23C...:-)
Dunc & Kris
