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Motel gone! I see no other motels up or down the main drag so I hit the freeway bypass around Santiago blasting on looking for anything. I see nothing so just take an exit and start searching. I ask some dude in front of a small market if he knows of any motels near. He hollers at another dude down the block. We all get together, the guy from down the block assures me he knows of a place, all of this is in Spanish. I motion for him to jump on the bike, he does and off we go. Down the road and a couple side streets we stop in front of a building. My buddy gets off and walks over to the door and knocks. A guy behind the door looks through a caged hole and talks. A thumbs up. I confirm, a room starting now all night until 8 AM tomorrow, just me. There is gated private parking and beer on site, unreal what a score! I’ve used these by-the-hour rooms often when traveling Latin America. If it’s not real busy, staying the entire night is usually not a problem and the bike security is always top notch, for obvious reasons (wink).
I slip several dollars in Pesos to my helper and offer to take him back to where I found him. He says no, he lives just up the block and he’s stopping for food first. Super happy friendly dude.
The motel guy opens the metal gate. By the time I park the bike and chain it to a pole he has a chair setup for me incase I want to hangout outside in the courtyard. Perfect, my room is clean, the bike is right outside, there’s a frig with cold beer and it’s a beautiful night…

The next morning starts with fog and a drizzle. I stop to look for food and hydration at the same market I found my helpers at yesterday.

Empanadas! This with water and coffee is a perfect way to start any ride.



More people waiting out the rain. Our conversations our lively no matter how bad my Spanish is.


More rain and another abandoned building shelter opportunity, good stuff, me and some chickens. You need to pay special good attention on these roads especially when parking. Even cars will not be happy if they veer too far off the road.

Looking for more road coffee, a favorite part of biking for me.

Good spot.

I love the hanging meat in the DR.

Taking the back way to Puerto Plata. This is the first time I’ve seen it paved. It still has its charm and I love it and the improvement for the people must be huge.


More shoulders to be careful of. But at least it’s paved and hopefully future tropical torrents won’t destroy the shoulder and road.



A good end to the day, Puerto Plata Malecon always a favorite.


Cruise ships now dock near town and people get bused in. It seems the cleanliness the security and the general bling of the area is up. I like it but will always miss the day when local food and drink karts lined the Malecon. I just don’t miss the garbage on the beach back then. In a perfect world you would have both. Maybe local food cart make cruise ship tourists nervous? It’s a wild atmosphere, I can see that. Again both would be ideal.



Puerto Plata upscale coffee spots on the ‘land side’ of the Malecon keeps getting better. The former discos now seaside café are all fun places to sit drinking coffee or whatever and or eating and watching the world go by, just great

The back country between Puerto Plata and Sabaneta is super cool so that’s what today is all about, before I return the bike.




I never saw this bike running again after the crossing. Based on where I think the carburetor is, not good. I turn around although I can hear a big event happening across the way! Another time…

República Dominicana.


Hang on, more is on the way!