Santiago

Today (Saturday) I took the bus to Santiago. In the morning, I'll be heading back home. I didn't spend much time in Santiago on the advisement of a friend from South Caicos. Santiago is a real working city, and there's not much in the way tourism. It's the sort of place where you can really get the feel for contemporary Dominican life, but it doesn't showcase much of its history or culture in museums or monuments. It was nice for the day, though.

I spent the afternoon walking around seeing what there was to see. There were a lot of open air markets where people sell fruits and vegetables, shoes, clothes, and other essential things. I spent a while looking for a pair of earrings made from pieces of coconut shell (a special request from Jessee), but I couldn't find the ones she wanted (sorry!). It's the sort of thing they sell to tourists. And there are no tourists here!

A Haitian woman selling produce. This picture is from Sosúa, but they walk everywhere selling things this way (I bought two bananas almost every morning). It's practical, really. Imagine how your back would hurt holding all that food in your arms out in front of you.

I visited Duarte Park, Fort San Luis, and the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration of the Republic - just about exhausting what there was to see in central Santiago. I had two full (and delecious) meals for a grand total of 215 pesos ($5.97), and I'm staying in a hotel that costs 480 pesos for the night ($13.33). The low prices are one benefit of non-touristic cities.

Catedral de Santiago Apóstol from Parque Duarte

Fortaleza San Luis

Monumento a los Héros de la Restauración de la República