Haiti/Departure

The more observant will realise that unless I illegally crossed the border into a country in which we have no embassy, I must have received an affirmative to my previous question. Well not right away. I got up in the morning and gave the passport office the requisite hour or so I figured they would need to receive the passport from DHL. Eventually I rock up and its not there. Fucking hell. Apparently it does not always arrive until after the embassy shuts for the day. At least the girl at the counter was willing to check delivery time if I could bring her the DHL code. I turned to get this and walked right into DHL. Fucking bastards, but at least it had arrived probably. The woman confirmed it was my passport, I kissed the new passport and set off to catch a bus to Dajabon.

As Lonely Planet does not cover this border crossing I will do a play by play for the important parts. The bus to Dajabon cost 280 pesos and this border town appears to have only one hotel, but direction to it are plastered everywhere and on all the walls. The route passed through some nice farmland and mountain scenery. The hotel was 500 pesos for the night and is a good place with cable and a powerful shower. I headed out for an internet place and all the computers were full, seemingly of people playing the card game patience. The first computer to be free broke down and this place strained my patience. I ate an ok dinner in the hotel restaurant. The place is called Super Hotel Brisol. In the evening I began to fear crossing the border the next day. I think if it was a Spanish speaking or English speaking country with the reputation that Haiti has I would be less intimidated but I spoke no French.

I had $100 of Dominican Pesos for the border and drew another 3,000 pesos as backup (I ended up using 500 pesos of this, though I think the trip can be done on $100). Change up your cash beforehand as the border exchange rate is not good. The border also opens at 9am Dominican time, 8am Haitian. I paid one guy 100 pesos to help me through all the procedures, but that is not necessary if you follow this. Make sure you have $46 in US dollars as it is $25 to leave the Dominican Republic, $1 to enter Haiti, $10 for a Haitian card and $10 to return to the Dominican Republic. This has to be paid in dollars as well. When you go through the gate, the exit formalities are done on the left. Then walk across the bridge and through the UN throngs (the other side of the river is quite muddy and there is a border market there). Go through the hustle of the market and 200m further on is a hut. Left room does the $1 formalities, the room to the right is where you pay the $10. This is all doable yourself. I found I used 70% Spanish and 30% English in Haiti so French is not needed but you may want some Spanish if you don't speak it. I then paid 50 gourdes (Its almost 1:1 exchange rate) for a motoconcho (yes I finally used one) to get to the buses for Cap Haitian. You don't have to do this as its a 1km walk round the road into town until you get where they depart from so its up to you. Its walkable but not close, but I was testing it.

The bus I was loaded into was a van with standing on the back, but I got a place in the cabin. It should cost 75 gourdes to Cap Haitian. The drive is really pretty, passing through some small towns and scenic countryside, past the ubiquitous white UN vehicles. It was not as decrepid as I was led to believe. After an hour and a half we arrived in Cap Haitian. I was not sure if that was it and when you get to a place you may think is it, it is it. Once they dropped me off I was carted into a taxi that charged me 150 gourdes to get to the downtown and Hotel Nacional. You should not pay more than 25 gourdes, but I had no map and did not know where I was. If you don't want to pay anything you get to the old town by crossing the bridge in front of you and turning right. Thats road A and the city is on a grid system. Go about 500m and you will find yourself in old town. They go 1 to 25 perpendicular to the seafront and A through at least L parallel to the sea. Hotel National I paid 750 gourdes for the night, although as a two it will be cheaper and its on B and 17 I think from memory. Cap Haitian itself is a funky rabble city. Its got mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Its dusty and dirty, but also pretty, A river cuts through it with boast strewn up like I imagine south east asia to look and the buildings are French colonial style (like New Orleans but with more rough edges). Safety is not a problem here. I never felt threatened even at night when I came back from the Citadelle and it was dark. Many Haitians said only Port Au Prince after dark is really dangerous.

The taxi driver who had ripped me off offered to take me to the Citadelle and back for $80. He can fuck off. I ended up negotiating my room in Spanish. I used Spanish a lot due to the lack of French and it is more commonly spoken than English. To protect my depleted Gourdes I eventually settled on a price of 500 Dominican Pesos and 300 Haitian Gourdes after persuading him I did not need a tv or air conditioning. Afterwards I grabbed a taxi to the taptap stop for Milot (All the taptaps go from the same place as the initial one from the border drops you off, so again there is no need once you know this). He charged me 5 Haitian dollars (the correct fair. One Haitian dollar equals 5 Gourdes, but I fucked up thinking it was 25 and paid him 125 gourdes. A 400% tip. Ah well. You live and learn). The tap tap to Milot was 15 gourdes each way (So much for his $80 offer). It was less than a coke each way and very cheap. The road is bumpy as hell though and you will ricochet all over the place.

Once you are dropped off in Milot, you just keep walking up the highstreet until you reach Sans Souci (the remains of a palace once as grand as Versailles). Its interesting but not amazing. Kind of cool to have bits of the landscape growing through the ruins though. Guides will pounce on you from all sides and want $35 for entrance and visit. The entrance is only 200 gourdes ($5) and eventually when I said I did not have much money they offered to take me for $10 so you can really haggle down. I settled for 300 gourdes and got a tour of Sans Souci but did Citadelle myself. The guide was friendly and his name was Jean Jacqueline 38300940. Thats his phone number. You will need the code. There was a guy on the way back down named Jackson and he seemed cool (He had broken his foot and had to stope guiding for a month and no he did not ask for money). Really friendly, really funny. I reckon he would be the best guide. The path for the Citadelle starts at the back of Sans Souci and is pretty straight forward. It is however a real bitch. 5km of constant 30-40 degree climbing is tough going. Took me just over an hour, but was exhausting. I got accosted many times by kids with the phrases 'oi blanco, give me some money' and its 50-50 between those who want money and those who want to chat generally. A group of school kids grabbed me halfway up and kept holding my hand and wanting my bottle. Never had to watch my pockets though. Got chatting with one 14 year old kid in Spanish and he guided me round the fort in the end though I had told him I had no money. His mate arrived and thought I was Spanish because thats what we were using. Nice compliment for my improvements in the language, but most people said they preferred Spanish so I stuck to it. On the whole the Haitians seem less likely yo rip you off than in Dominica and less pushy with tourists. Begging is more common in Haiti though. It seems most locals are keen to dispel the reputation that their country has.

Despite the path up being brutal it is spectacularly rewarding and worth it. Look up images on google. Its breathtaking at the top. The views are awesome for miles in every direction and the fort itself is as impressive as a UNESCO building usually is. I think UNESCO must be the best stamp of quality outside of Time Out. At the top were misty views and you an climb all inside the fort. On the roof I was literally in the clouds and the whole view was white. I doubt this fort could have been stormed easily. We spent some time up there in awe of the view and then descended down a quick back way that was steep. Got some coke and bread on the way down, before bantering in 3 languages with people all the way down the hill. At the bottom Jean took me to see Maurice who runs Lakou Lakay. His numbers are 36676070 and 36142485. Its in Lonely Planet but the numbers have changed. He will do a double room for 1,500 gourdes though I think you can haggle him down with numbers and they supply a lunch with music etc for $10 per person.

On the way back to Cap Haitian I was crammed into a van and ended up with a Haitian lady sitting on my lap, which prompted much mirth for the locals, but it was in French so I only got bits of it. Some guys were hanging off the back of the truck as normal and was an amusing ride. I got back in late and found a Creole restaurant. Was almost out of Gourdes but the guy fucked about with prices and would not give me change until I ate, but I refused to eat until I got change as needed 65 gourdes for the bus the next day (I was wrong it was 75). After arguing for a while stupidly, I got some Creole fish dish, with a malt drink and rice gravy (fucking superb as all Creole food always is). I miss New Orleans. Then I headed to the hotel for an early night and counted at least 3 power cuts in the middle of the night.

In the morning, covered in bites, I headed to the taptap place with my 65 gourdes. Only halfway to the border did they tell me it was 75. Shit. I thought they would chuck me off, but I must instead be the only foreigner in history to pay less than the locals did. At the other end I fended off motoconcho riders who did not believe I had no money and got back across the border. Grabbed a bus from Dajabon at 1pm (were stopped by immigration police but noone was arrested this time) and arrived in Santo Domingo. Met Jose and headed back to his. Some thoughts on the French language. Oo a looks stupid, but the counting is moronic. Four twenties and a ten. Why don't they just invent words for seventy, eighty and ninety like every other normal country. It was on the bus back that I decided to shift my plans as well. I would not fly to Cancun as that entailed another $25 entrance tax and more travel in an expensive country. Could not be bothered with more beaches in Playa Del Carmen and Cancun, plus I had heard Tulum was overrated. Looked into Guatemala City and it was cheap. San Salvador was cheaper though and I could loop back up into Guatemala, so I decided to head for El Salvador and country number 36.

In the morning I got up and walked two hours into town to meet Laura for lunch. We had a good 3.5 hour lunch that just flew by and then I headed back with Jose to prepare for leaving drinks. Jose fell asleep for longer than he anticipated though so we only ended up heading out around quarter to eleven. We met the Colombians at Hard Rock Cafe (as overpriced here as it was in Texas) and Mathias later on. Laura sadly did not make it because we rang her too late and four of us ended up drinking in Parque Duarte in front of my old hotel where it had all started and where the man lived who was my proof to the world through my passport that I was who I say I am. What a ridiculous situation. Mathias even got a shut shop to open for more beer. Eventually we got back and crashed. Tomorrow I leave the island after all the good times and the hassles. Felt kind of weird but I was reinvigorated for the travel after the enforced break and normalcy of being in one place for two weeks.

The next day the taxi driver arrived at 1pm after Spurs were beaten by a late goal after a wasted comeback against Bolton. Really struggling at the moment. It was the night before taxi driver's uncle, who turned out to be Jose's old landlord. Jose's sister cooked a really good final meal and I was very indebted to the whole family. The uncle took me to the airport via some random dirt track to avoid paying the toll. I arrived at the airport, bought Foreign Policy and had more food (I had been informed the 1000 pesos I had for departure tax was irrelevent as its included in the flight) and changed up the remainder of my money. I was the only person going through security so it was the fastest ever. The airports were fucking expensive with $10 for a Lindt bar. On the first flight to Panama City (I had deliberately avoided flying through the US because I lost a 10 year visa and have to do a proper report which I have not done and I feared detention and missing my connection. Will sort it now I am safe on land) I was stuck with a man who kept sneezing on me, a deaf girl exhasperated because I could not understand her Spanish and she could not lip read my accent and a drunk woman who kept abusing everyone. Not good company for a bumpy flight that frayed my nerves a bit. The pilot also sucked with a poor approach and landing. That had me rattled for the second flight where I was sat next to a big, fat sweating man and tried to sleep through it. Eventually I arrived in San Salvador (It was dark so I had not managed to catch sight of the Panama Canal sadly. Also seemed odd I would be travelling back through past that airport in 2 months or so). I landed and went through customs. The bus in the morning would be 73 cents, the taxis wanted 25 dollars. So I opted to sleep at the airport, but apparently that was illegal and I had to report my passport into security before being allowed to sleep behind the security desk. At least I had first class security for my sleep and I was now in El Salvador.