[VogsHoock]

Awsome post ! Spoken like a true prodigy. (refrence to Chris Collins post)

[Cxcvvfbgtr]

Next week I have to pick someone up from the airport at around midnight. After all the news on robberies and police abuse I think I will not go in my vehicle but go and come back in a cab. It makes me wonder if I want to stay living here. It shouldn't be that difficult to make those robberies and abuses stop if their would be the will to do it.

[avdddcxnelkaxz]

Guides in DR, tend to have a greater covering within job description, anything from Travel agent, Foreign exchange, drug dealer, pimp, Chauffeur, body guard, best friend, drinking buddy, agony aunt, hair dresser, brick layer, ok im getting a bit carried away now but you get my point. Guides have to have many many contacts as is the nature of their services, they tend to know people, know tricks, often work on back scratching basis. 'Jim'll Fix It' has nothing on some of these guys.
No one can comment on who your guide is, no one knows him, just you and if this was your first bad experience since you've been visiting the country then you haven't been too naive, people ome off far worse far quicker in a worse wy than this. In reality all that happened is they stopped you, had a look around the car, looked at some papers (they could have been anything, something or nothing) and let you go, so it's not really a huge deal, you just got a little freaked out. No need to cast everyone around you as untrustworthy, PN yes but you have common sense, obviously.
I still think you could do with sharpening up a little, you are going to get hurt on your journey because you give people the benefit of the doubt, and that is a huge mistake. When dealing with equal status people you can give the benefit of the doubt until that trust is broken, when dealing with desperate people a bit of a barrier should be up until they prove to you you can let it down somewhat. You'll get it eventually, once you've been hurt a couple of times. But you do need to try to mix with people of a similar status at least some of the time, hanging with poor people ALL the time gives you a false sense of security. They will never hurt you and will protect you as you are to some extent an asset to their lives, this does not mean they don't like YOU becau you are a good guy, but it is wrong to consider all others will hold you with this equal regard, sadly they won't.
You'll work it out once you've been in the picture for longer than vacations. Once your social life kicks off and the Santa Claus visits stop, you'll get sick of the moronic mentality of the simple living people, you need someone to buy you a beer, go to a restaurant, have a nice bottle of wine, some stimulating intelligent conversation, live a life rather than spectate other people from the sidelines.

i feel the same way. when i was pulled over with my friend and they almost spiked the tire of the car because he was still moving i got nervous but when they asked a few questions i knew they just wanted food or beer or pocket money i was like just give them a few dollars and they let us go . im not scared of them at all so i really don't have to give them any thing. i even seen them check other guys for drugs and i ended up pushing them back to the gas station when there bikes give out of gas may be they see that i dont lose sleep over what they do

[Roker]

Well, back from another trip to the DR . This time was not as before, this time I came up against the ugly side of the Policia Nacional.. in La Urena.. travelling with a friend in his nice car at 5 30pm after late lunch, on the main Las Americas highway , we are flagged down, rudely, to stop. In the middle of traffic. in the middle of multitudes of people. They come straight to my passenger side and tell me to get out and they were loud and impatient. My driver, a tour guide who works in Punta Cana but lives in that part of town, starts reaching for his licence and they tell him to get out. Outside, they rifle the car with flashlights, even demanding to know what was in my sunscreen. Then demand I empty my pockets, which were full of cash... maybe 8000 pesos , my wallet and camera. Their eyes bulged. They did not say what they wanted. My friend showed them all the right paperwork, but they got harsher and harsher. Then , and I dont know what happened, but my friend showed them a letter . They immediately backed off and said we can go. I was trembling I am not ashamed to say. Not because I had done anything wrong, but because I didn t understand the language fully, and it looked serious.... I have never met with this before in the 7 years I have been repeatedly travelling to Santo Domingo and La Caleta. I have come across cops who stop the moto and ask for a few pesos, but nothing ever as scary as this. I even buy cops beers and maybe a sandwich when I see them in la caleta. They never bother me. These guys were awful. I could hear them talking to my friend about " the gringo" . I am not made of glass but this was not part of my dream vacation package.I thought I was going to jail for nothing and was going to lose all my money. All these years I have been walking around the DR thinking I were immune and these things only happen to Dominicans there. I have told people here in the States whio have been scared of travelling in the DR that the police there dont harass tourists. They know better. Well now I know that is not true and it was a very rude awakening for me to come to terms with this. Maybe it s as well In find out now before I move there. I still love the DR and the people and a few bent cops are not going to ruin it for me, but I will always from now on be aware of what is going on and will never carry more than 2000 pesos with me in future.
Just putting this out there for all those who maybe were on cloud nine like I used to be, believing the DR to be a perfect paradise for the likes of me....ah well,. readjusting my dreams...

Tourists are prey for all police agencies.

[ZAtlLVos]

Tourists are prey for all police agencies.

It has not always been like that.
From what I hear, in former times the police had orders from highest places to leave "the golden cows" alone.

This seems to have changed and many police are desperate now to get their hands on anything.
Not good that...

donP

[251EPyso]

25 years ago,I walked in the toughest "Barrios" in Santo Domingo, at 3 or 4 in the morning,with a "Snoot Full"!
(Hey,ya gotta go where the "Girls" go!)
No thief in his right mind would ever harm/rob a
Tourista".
If they did,they WOULD be caught,and be taught a lesson they would never forget,if they lived.
Now,the thieves are not in their right minds.They are drug addicts.
Three of the top investing countries (Drug Cartels) in the DR,after Canada,are Mexico,Columbia,and Venezuela.
They (NOT CANADA) just happen to be the three countries now using the DR to trans-ship drugs to North America and Europe.
Do you think they are "investing" here because the DR has a stable corruption free government,economy,a model court system???
Then you better open your eyes,and "Guess Again"!
AND,it ain't gonna get any better!
The DR has the "cleanest" money in the World,because it has been "Laundered" so many times.
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[wvbwxol]

According to a 2011 US gov't report that has been posted here the DR has diminished as far as shipping drugs from SA to the US and has been surpassed by Puerto Rico and the VI.

These are facts not conjecture.

Also, we can thank the "northerners" love of "sex, drugs and rock and roll" for this problem.

[GutleNus]

I'm still convinced this change in aggression and lack of respect and spike in lack of authoritive morals or obligation is all to do with the strong connections with the Mexicans shipping drugs through to Europe now. This relationship between DR (kind of a sheep), now glad of being shepherded by Mexico (everyones big brother in terms of all things violent, ruthless and toxic). Doms can only learn or adapt to bad things from this relationship.

[251EPyso]

Chump,I mean "Chip",not really!
Keep Your "Head-In-The-Sand",you'd be surprised at what you can't see from down there!
And if you ever pull your head out,be sure to have your "Rose Colored Glasses" handy.
You REALLY are a "Dominican".
You always respond to ANY criticism of your beloved DR,by saying:"It's worse someplace else",or "Blaming someplace else for your "Problema".
AND,you always work a "USA Bashing" comment into your misguided diatribe!
Nice to see that some people never learn.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Transparent!
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[GutleNus]

But it's not all negative, the girls are still pretty, the driving is much fun, anything can be had for a price and there is always someone to have a dance with. Keep your head down, mind your own and life is a breeze.

[gniewkoit]

"Also, we can thank the "northerners" love of "sex, drugs and rock and roll" for this problem."

NO, we can thank the powers that be for their love of money and greed. Maybe the DR has fallen in the standings as far as shipping but it ranks right up there as one of the best places to "wash some money".

[VogsHoock]

MR CC, if you should ever become a " Tour Guide" you're hired.

[wvbwxol]

NO, we can thank the powers that be for their love of money and greed.

Classic response of the deadheads as they toke away....

[GutleNus]

There is no reason for this thread to take a dive, is there?






There are some good posts people should get the chance to read.

[ZAtlLVos]

MR CC, if you should ever become a " Tour Guide" you're hired.

The tourist do not want to hear the truth...
So, unless there is something like "Reality Tours, Ltd." CC won't be your man.

donP

[VDAu5p33]

Classic response of the deadheads as they toke away....

Chip, if you are honest and objective, I think the only part of keepcoming's post that is wrong is the "NO". What you said and the rest of his statement are both correct.

[ZAtlLVos]

According to a 2011 US gov't report that has been posted here the DR has diminished as far as shipping drugs from SA to the US and has been surpassed by Puerto Rico and the VI.
These are facts not conjecture.
Also, we can thank the "northerners" love of "sex, drugs and rock and roll" for this problem.

PICHARDO's facts?

All wishful thinking behind rose-coloured glasses and the typical Dominican phrase "No tenemos la culpa."

US Expands Use of Drones to the Caribbean to Combat Drug Trafficking | Fox News Latino
Dominican Official Blames Drug Woes on Foreign Criminal Groups

donP

[fmrcurter]

Classic response of the deadheads as they toke away....

I don't think toking hurts anyone. Cocaine, on the other hand, can ruin lives. If you put the two substances in the same category, you need to inform yourself.

[GutleNus]

Are we talking weed vs coke here? Sorry, not down with the kids jive!

[wvbwxol]

PICHARDO's facts?

All wishful thinking behind rose-coloured glasses and the typical Dominican phrase "No tenemos la culpa."

US Expands Use of Drones to the Caribbean to Combat Drug Trafficking | Fox News Latino
Dominican Official Blames Drug Woes on Foreign Criminal Groups

donP

I've already posted the link already sabeloto.

BTW, the drones are deployed not just to inderdict drug running from the DR, maybe you missed that in your eagerness to paint the DR as the hellhole of the Caribbean.