РАЙ! PARADISE!

So, this is my first flight abroad, although everyone told me that I shouldn’t start from such distant countries, but still . . A friend from work rested there in October 2010 and showed photos, and that’s it, I fell in love and decided - only Dominican Republic. She flew with her mother, she, too, had never been anywhere (even on our seas), having arrived, she told her father that she had been to Paradise.
I'll start with the flight, flew Transaero, there 12, back 11 hours. Before that, I read a lot of abusive reviews that they say it’s cold there, they don’t give blankets, etc. From this, we immediately picked up as many as two pieces, which remained unopened in packages. It was warm. The only negative - a bit crowded, of course, but what to do - economy class... They also fed normally (for women), for a man, of course, lunch will be small. But my mom and I ate.
Upon arrival in Punta Cana, we immediately felt incredible humidity, we immediately became wet, our hair began to curl))) We also thought, how do people wash and dry here, because the laundry will not dry))) in general, after a couple of days they got used to to this they no longer noticed (and the linen really does not dry, only if under the sun).

We flew with the Tez Tour operator, we immediately found a counter, the boy explained to us where to go, which bus, and we were quickly taken to the hotels (ours, apparently the very first on the route, arrived quickly). At the reception we were given the keys to the room, and we went to check in. I would like to warn tourists: they have building number 10, it's just a nightmare! That's where we got to in the first place. Maybe they would have stayed there, but my friend warned me in advance which buildings are better to settle in: 13.12, 26. There is a fresh renovation. Therefore, we began to wait the next morning, our representative Tez Tura Irina came, we described the situation to her, that we did not like the room (ground floor, access to the balcony does not close, the lock is broken, the shower is rusty), she went to the reception and we were moved after dinner to building 24 (also excellent) on the 3rd floor. The difference between the numbers is huge! Now you can rest! We rented a safe lock ($40 for 10 days).
Now about excursions:
Caribbean Festival.
Half day tour, even less. At noon we were already returned to the hotel. They take out on trucks for 15-20 minutes, to natural pools in the ocean, they swam in masks with snorkels, watched sharks, fish, stingrays (you can’t take pictures with stingrays on your camera, only on them, $ 10, photos are given at the end of the tour) . We sailed back on a catamaran with animation, a bar and dancing. Overall, it's fun and unobtrusive. We liked.
I forgot to write. we were filmed all the way and you could buy it for $35. We bought a disc, when we arrived we looked, I was horrified - the quality is zero, my camera in video mode shoots even better. So money wasted : (
Saona Island and the city of artists Altos de Chavon.
Full day trip. For party lovers. We didn't like it very much. First they brought us to Altos de Chavon, we wandered around the city, took pictures, then we raced along the river for about 45 minutes in high-speed boats to the Caribbean Sea, where we swam with starfish (poor fellows, how they must have been tortured by tourists, they are probably already not alive ), then we boarded a catamaran and sailed to Saona Island (really the Bounty Island), where we swam for 2 hours, sunbathed, ate lunch and sailed back all the way on a catamaran, this is 1.5 hours. Dancing, drinking, dancing... We boarded the bus, visited the shops and drove home to the hut. The road is tiring and takes a lot of time.
Jeep safari or Dominican outback.

This tour was our favorite! Very informative and interesting. For all day. From the hotel we went by truck to the base with jeeps, there we moved into cars (those who know how to drive - they rule themselves, but there were three women, we don’t know how to drive, we were taken by a local driver, which we never regretted, he knows the roads and he drives skillfully, and stopped us wherever we needed to take a photo! ) We saw how coffee and cocoa grow, they gave us everything to try, rode horses, on a bungee, ate a Creole lunch. They listened to interesting stories about the life of the Dominicans. In the end, we went to a wild beach, showed us the place where they filmed the movie "Blue Lagoon". A very beautiful place.
Now about the hotel.
Of course, we have nothing to compare with, but everything suited us. True, the maid is still that skin... In theory, she should put coffee every day, but until you leave a tip - she apparently "forgets".
Oh, I also wanted to write about one moment. In the first days you will receive a VIP invitation under the door. We fools go. They killed three hours of their precious vacation for stories about the country, there are Russian-speaking representatives who will then offer and show VIP rooms, how you could relax if you purchased cards from them. In short, complete heresy, do not even listen, unless of course you want to join their club for 13 thousand bucks and then pay another $ 250 every year. This was already explained to us by the financial director who came, an unpleasant person. brainwashed for a long time. I was surprised, but how expensive is it for you ?? ? at first we didn’t seem to speak directly, but then I couldn’t stand it and said: we are not interested. He immediately turned around and left without saying goodbye.
Prices for souvenirs, coffee and rum.
Here are the minimum prices that we saw.
Rum imperial - 21-23$ (duty free punta cana - 45! )
Coffee (0.5 or 1 libra) - $4-5
Casual cigars (popular with tourists) - 10 pieces per pack about $35. bargaining is appropriate
Cigar Romeo and Juliet - 1 piece about $10
Paintings by local artists - small from $6
Keychains - from 3$
Amber that glows in ultraviolet, I bought a silver fish with an insert - $ 35
Larimar - not store-bought, not in silver, a set of bracelet, beads and earrings cost $40
Simple faceless dolls - $6
I had to buy a hat (mother had to buy it, but it’s better to take it from home) for $ 10. although they asked for 21 initially, you need to bargain.
Departure.

Check-out at 12 o'clock, it was convenient for us, because. the bus came for us at 13.40 and we went to the airport. (For reference, if you have a late flight, the hotel can be extended for $ 10 per hour) Regarding weight: luggage - 20 kg, hand luggage - 5 kg. Winter things do not count : ) And if you suddenly have an advantage, "stick" to someone who is underweight, say that you are relatives. and then your luggage will be summed up and everything will be fine. That's what we did : )
The plane was delayed for an hour, but in general the flight went perfectly, though there was constant turbulence back!
Have a nice holiday everyone!! ! The Dominican Republic is a Paradise on earth and happy people! Despite the fact that there is poverty, they are always friendly, waving their hands along the road, from young to old! This country is in 2nd place in terms of happiness in the world! (Russia was told to us at 129)