A taxi from the international airport in Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, a small town in southern Haiti, will cost you USD 150 (the minimum quote I could get by bargaining was USD 130). So I went for the cheaper option: took a bus (or rather a minivan) from the P-a-P city center to Jacmel. When I searched travel forums on whether the 3-hour journey would be safe, most people were saying it was NOT safe, not because of potential kidnappings or muggings but because the likelihood of getting yourself killed in a traffic accident was quite high. I now can confirm with pleasure that they are not kidding. Let me try to describe you what is a good driving in Haiti: When you drive through an S-shape road around the mountains, you would make turns right? Ha! A Haitian driver wouldnt. He would keep both lanes of the road to himself and go diagonally straight inside each turn of the S. Why? Because he knows geometry --> the shortest way between two points is a straight line (not a U turn you idiot). Hence, in my first road travel experience in Haiti, I came across a traffic accident. Poor me, I wasnt aware that this was just the beginning. When we arrived to Jacmel, there was a crowd that encircled the minivan within seconds. Outside, dozens of faces stuck on the windows of the car, mouths shouting something, and inside, silence before the storm. All passengers seemed to be getting ready for a battle. The driver went outside.He opened the sliding door of the car. And the battle burst. Within a millisecond, passengers in the minivan and dozens of Haitian guys outside started to shout to each other. (At that moment the only thing I had in my mind was whether it would be rude to film them while they are doing this strange shouting battle or not.) Anyway, we finally dared stepping outside the car, and I couldnt count but probably 4-5 motor-taxi drivers started to pull me in various directions. One of them could finally get my attention. Within that shouting crowd and while I was still being pulled away by some hands, we somehow managed to agree on a price. I tried to hire one more motor-taxi since we were two people, but the driver was too greedy to share his passangers. This is how I had the opportunity to realise that it was technically possible to fit three people and one luggage on a small motorbike. And I was the one sitting at the very back, half of my buttocks in the air. So, during the 10-minute journey I might have become a little bit more religious than normal :)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 08:16:06 +0000
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