I officially ended my Workaway and dreamy Caribbean surfing experience. Somehow I regretted I became quite anti-social throughout the month pondering about life. I did miss out tons of laughter bouncing around the ever-lively castle (Laguna Park Hostel). As soon as I had finished packing, I stepped out discreetly and indifferently. After all, I had locked my soul in this place for 1 whole month, I couldn't deny the indelible imprint it engraved in my path. I hate goodbyes, that explains why I rarely do short trips in different countries.
This very supposedly last week from the day I left the castle(if you read the previous post, you will know what terrifying event happened to me in Dominican Republic next), I decided to pay visits to various cities along the coast.
Destination #1: Puerto Plata (less than 40 minutes from Cabarete)
Transportation: La guagua (public bus) from Cabarete to Puerto Plata terminal ($50Pesos) DON'T get ripped off. *To Sosúa ($25Pesos)
Lodging: I then took a motor taxi ($40-50 Pesos) to Hotel Kevin. I talked the price down to $13USD per night for a private room with a Queen-size bed and a private bath room. There is a small chilling area with a hammock and a dinning table on the second floor where all the rooms are located. It felt comforting to relax on the hammock after a long tiring day.
Hotel Kelvin is 2 minutes away from Parque independencia where old men read newspaper, women cradled babies, teenagers hung out, and kids played with pigeon.
My favorite Austrian bakery- Mariposa, is right across the street from Parque Independencia.
Rum Chocolate Balls
I spent a day full of adventures of 6 hours straight physical activities. I promise, I had to drag my legs back to the room by the end of the day!
10:00am- I took Javier bus at the bus terminal ($50pesos) to the 27 Waterfall (La cascata/ 27 Charcos) for about 40 minutes. I was the only person that went SOLO. I intended to do all 27 waterfalls, but the temperature of water did not permit so, so I paid for 12 waterfalls ($340Pesos including a guide and helmet). They divided all the visitors into groups, and I was in a group with half Dominicans and half Americans. It was such a pity that I was not able to capture all these unexpected exciting men VS wild moments as I did not have a GoPro or any kind of waterproofed camera. Unexpected, because I had believed it was solely some hiking and sightseeing, yet it turned out to be an hour hike and some thrilling cliff jumping! Certainly, there were adventurers that cowardice in face of the height got the better of them, but well, there is no point of turning back!
This video I found on youtube speaks best of the scenario:
Doubtlessly, traveling alone is the time when you make new friends. By the time the entire adventure (roughly 2.5 hours) was over, fortunately I was invited to catch a ride with those Americans who were on a tour. I hopped on and had some Dominican Rum and Mamajuana. One of them said ' 30 years ago, when we were traveling alone in Europe at your age, strangers treated us well, now 30 years later, we are paying back.' After we had said goodbye, I instantly took a motor taxi to the Cable car (Teleférico). Again, out of expectation, I decided to do an hike all the way to the top of the mountain, so I hired a private guide for $700Pesos(about $15USD). It turned out to be a 3hours+ hike! I thought I was going to pass out (with the Rum in my blood system still), but guess what? I made it with extraordinarily strong mind!
It was a foggy day, but nothing can affect my mood to explore :)
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