Day 3-029
3 hrs, 1 .6 kms

There's is a touristy beach farther south, but I'm not that interested. I'm here to see the "real" Dominican Republic. And unfortunately the "real" Dominican Republic beaches suck. Instead I'm going to head inland towards the Haitian border. I plan to stay the night near the border so I can get an early start takin on the Haitian challenge tomorrow.

This section of the country feels quite different... very quiet and kind of forgotten. It's rich farmland--and there's even an old rail line once used to haul sugar can to the port. But farming doesn't seem to have brought much prosperity to the local populance.

Even the wa wa driver seems in no hurry to reach our destination--unlike the frenzied driving between the cities on the Santo Domingo-San Juan stretch.

We reach the sleepy town of Neyba. It's hotter here than in the mountainous center, and pretty much everything shuts down. Not even a decent place to eat--just a Chinese run cafeteria with a few pieces of greasy chicken left. I walk up and down the quiet streets, enjoying the more traditional architecture of brightly painted wooden slat houses with tin roofs--some even with palm leaf roofs.

I'm liking this area. It feels like I'm discovering something new. The other towns just felt too familiar.