Dominican Republic

For all those curious to see what I'm experiencing, I'll take over this blog for the next few weeks and post pictures of my stay in Dominican Republic. The first couple pictures are of the resort we are staying in. Its your common all-inclusive resort on the beach. Very pretty, lots of family entertainment and shows, activities, food, and drinks. Surprisingly (at least to me) is that the Dominican Republic (DR) has many mountains.

This is a view of the resort's pool area.
We strolled about a half mile down the beach and took this shot. Notice the mountain in the background. The next couple pictures are from the top of it!

Yesterday we decided to take a trip via cable car up the mountain. It was definitely beautiful but not sure if I would do it again. The thought of being suspended from a tiny metal box that is hooked to wire excelling up the side of mountain is a little insane. You stand inside and don't have anything to hold on to (of course there are 20 others also jammed in as well). Nothing keeps you in really except for a sliding door they shut. I'd have to believe it violates every safety requirement possible.

This is overlooking the city of Puerto Plata where we are staying.

These pictures don't do justice of just how breath-taking the mountains. They went on as far as you could see.

We decided to take a van into the city. It has no side door and so I could stick my leg outside while driving. This is seriously hilarious - at one point there were 14 people in here with me. No lie!! And they kept stopping to pick up more. You really need to laugh out loud about this. Just imagine it a little - its no bigger than a minivan.