There are very few times that I have felt a complete change of culture as I did when crossing from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
People were light skinned instead of black, spoke Spanish instead of French, it was quiet and clean instead of messy and chaotic. Prices were higher and the roads were better. This was a place for having a holiday.
When checking in at my hostel I was told that there was an outdoor salsa concert going on at the San Fransisco ruins, and just an hour later I was heading there together with a group of new friends who I had just met at the hostel.
I got to explore the old city and Zona Colonial a lot with my pennyboard while being there. The streets were so smooth that it almost felt that they were made for skateboarding. The second evening we went to a “…..” which is like a small grocery store with beer, booze and all kinds of snacks where also the locals go for a cheap drink and watch baseball games.
Santo Domingo is a place that I think have a good balance of safety, price, familiarity and friendliness and is a place I would love to live in for a couple of months if I ever manage to find a job that I can do on the road
