To fly or not to fly again to the Dominican Republic? There is no single answer
From December 24.2016 to January 03.2017, our long-awaited first visit to the Dominican Republic, or rather its northern part of Puerto Plata, took place. The tour was organized by Pegas, charter support was provided by the company "Northern Wind". Immediately I want to ask Rostourism why it constantly scares tourists about situations in the countries of a popular tourist destination? But it ignores the activity of delivering tourists on charters and does not provide explanatory information that the main task of Russian tour operators is to get more money from tourists with a minimum of effort to ensure their comfortable stay.
So, in order, the departure was from Sheremetyevo Terminal C, the North Wind company. We were put on the plane on time according to the schedule, but then something went wrong and we sat on the plane for almost two hours before takeoff. As the pilot explained, he could not start the engines, because. the local car broke down and we are waiting for the car from the main terminals. The Boeing 777-220 plane is a very old year of manufacture, antiquity wafted from it for several miles. None of the buttons on the armrests worked. The food is very conditional so that for 13 hours of flight to avoid hungry swoons among tourists. When they began to land, the pilot asked to forgive, understand and accept that now water would pour from the ceiling, as a result of entering from cold to warm layers of the atmosphere. After a long-haul flight on a regular flight, I had to experience a slight shock from a long-haul charter. But if you do not have problems with the ability to sleep sitting up, then a night flight can be easily transferred in a dream.
Morning Dominican Republic met with rain. As it turned out, almost the entire plane of about 350 people Pegasus is taking to one Riu Merengue Mambo hotel, which is part of a complex of three Riu Merengue hotels: Bachato, Garden and Village (Mambo). The seating and departure of buses was also delayed by about two hours. Our bus was the last to arrive at the hotel and the line to get the room keys was intimidating. While driving to the hotel for about 40 minutes, the local Pegasus guide Alexander told us what awaits us and how lucky we were with our hotel, inserting through each sentence that it is not recommended to leave the hotel, as tourists represent an easy and illegal way of enrichment for local residents who are allowed to carry firearms and bladed weapons. I would like to note right away that all his words must be divided by ten at least, including the presentation of excursions in the future. And as it turned out our hotel is the oldest and worst of the three. The best Bachato, then Garden.
We were settled in the 26th building, the most distant and largest, as they say, it is the only one and, as it turned out, the oldest. All ten days of staying in it, every day, whatever it was, they repaired it. In general, the whole holiday we were accompanied by local plumbers and electricians. There was a feeling that this building was originally intended for staff, and not for tourists. What can I say about the room, the usual standard room with moderately old furniture. I was upset by the pressure of the water, very, very weak, and its alternate absence of either cold or hot. In general, judging by this building, this hotel is not supposed to have more than three stars, not to mention its five declared ones. Actually, there is nothing more to write about the hotel. All sorts of different drinks without restrictions, food is enough and varied throughout the day. Normal coffee is brewed only in bar coffee machines. In Bachato, such a coffee machine is freely available from 12 to 17 in the street cafeteria. The trouble with tea is not tasty at all and it’s not clear which one.
The fact that there will be no white sand and azure water in the north was known for the early and were ready for it. Indeed, this was compensated by the chic nature and the surrounding mountains, which, as they say, is not in Puerto Cana.
About excursions with Pegasus, everything is as usual: for all, not quite complete and reliable information is given with a rather high cost. We took four: to the capital of Santo Domingo, Samana, VIP Paradise Island and Mega Extreme Tour, in this order. Santo Domingo, since the drive is about two or three hours one way, and the capital with traffic jams, as usual there is little time to explore and visit the main attractions, there are not so many of them and you still don’t visit all the iconic ones. The second to Samana is one of the most expensive and longest departures at 5-30 and return not at 20-00, as Pegasus representatives say, but at 22-00, presented as an ecotour with incredible impressions of the northern nature of the Dominican Republic, which eventually turns into a rum alcohol tour !! ! Because absolutely "raw", not thought out and not organized from the point of view of safety, first of all!!!?? ? The first drawback, silent by the representative of Pegasus, is the travel time, it takes about 5-6 hours to go one way. Upon arrival at the so-called ranch, you are seated without explanation on half-dead horses and with the Dominican owners of these nags are sent on a half-hour one-way walk to the waterfall, during which you have to enjoy the wild nature. There is one thing, but if you have not ridden a horse before, then it will be difficult to enjoy. Since, besides the fact that the horse is tortured, the road, a meter wide with barbed wire stretched along the edges, is a series of steep descents and ascents. And all this is mixed with a half-meter layer of clay mud, with stones of various not small sizes. In general, indescribable sensations and emotions will experience it for sure, but not the ones that are promised. After such a walk, from lunch, rum begins to flow like a river to smooth out negative emotions from an improperly organized ecotour. Even after lunch, they are brought to the island with white sand and azure water for 1.5 hours. The third tour of the VIP paradise island went as promised, except for one. The Pegasus company has a very strange concept of VIP, which is a full bus of 50 people, and not about 20 people, as happens on such excursions with access to the sea. The final excursion Mega extreme tour is the best of the four both in terms of content and emotions, but again not without a flaw on the part of the organizer. We were the only Russian couple, the rest were Canadians and Americans. Of course, as the representative of Pegasus said, it is not necessary to speak English at a good level on it. Only now the safety precautions were told in English, with all the consequences, and you sign for it, that you understand everything!?
We also had an outing on the first of January to the Puerto Plata supermarket, as the guide accompanying us to the paradise island assured us, he would work that day. We went out to catch the car on the track, because. cash came to an end, but I really wanted to get there for a small price. On the one hand, we were lucky, an animator from our hotel was driving home for lunch and stopped without any problems and took us back and forth. Only now all the supermarkets in the amount of two pieces were closed. As a result, we stayed for about an hour in the quarter where the animator lives, waiting for him to complete his business. We met with his family and friends. Look at the local way of life. No one showed us hostile intentions with the aim of robbing J.
The flight back could not end without incident, and they did happen. There were no rows from 13 to 19 on the plane, i. e. about 70 people came in and found themselves without a seat. Moreover, the representative of Pegasus sold for $ 70 on the second day of arrival for everyone who wanted a seat on the plane. Those who took advantage of this option on the go before boarding had to transfer their seats by hand, while everyone else had to spend waiting for when and where they would be put. It is expected that someone with someone quarreled in a raised voice. Two not young men even waved their hands, the stewardess separated them when there were stewardes who were not small and impressive in size J. Once again I would like to draw the attention of the Federal Tourism Agency and check the legality of the additional sale of seats on the plane. And there is only one question for Pegasus, why organize tours as if you knew beforehand that tourists would no longer want to take advantage of your tempting offers! ?
