From San Jose de Ocoa to Maimon

[...Living & Travelling in Dominican Republic with less than 1,000$/ month...]

So I finally leave San Jose de Ocoa and go to Maimon. "Early" - around 10 am. I remember as i avoided as possible the road Constanza - San Jose de Ocoa, due to its really bad quality. Guess what...The road from San Jose de Ocoa to Maimon (Pedra Blanca to speak exactly) is in similary bad condition....50 kilometres of unpvaved road, with more potholes than actual road.

I will try my luck then. Unfortunately for me - its raining, so the unpaved road changes itself to some kind of mix of the road with MUD. A lot of mud. Mud, stones and gravel. All together to make it "unforgetable journey". The road passes through wilderness and abandonded terrain - I am actually glad that nothing wrong happened. But it havent.
I make a stop in Rancho Ariba. Just to drink some water. I start to talk with people. They tell me that there is no "public" electricity in their village - there are no cables, no electric poles and they are not connected to power grid at all. So how they live here ? Most of the people here have solar panels installed - 25,000 pesos of installment fee, some economic and smart lightbulbes (5 Watt each one) and you are ready to go. But what if you want to do some laundry and so on ? Then you need power generator...

road from san jose de ocoa to piedra blancaThe road from San Jose de Ocoa to Piedra Blanca

Few days later

So I'm in Maimon. Being here as a part of my tour - "revisiting favorite places in Dominican Republic" 😉
I remember being here in January and I was delighted by the picturesque lake - presa de Hatillo. Unfortunately - Maimon during rainy season is a completely different place. The bridge leading from town to the lake is flooded now completely by the water. The people go there by boats, not by cars or motorcycles. And since I have only motorcycle...;-) I wont visit it again, unfortunately.
I have few activities here last days. One of them is visiting doctors...Bacterias, once again. Gram negative - once again. Luckily I feel much better now.... What else ? I met some 35 years old girl here who remembers me from my last January's visit here. She works in the hotel where I stay. And how she lives ? Average dominican life, which means: rented house for 3,000 pesos/ month (bad standard) and the salary of 4,000 pesos. 2 kids to feed...Of course - she has some support from her family, but still... 4,000 pesos for 150 hours of work per month ? That's 25 pesos / hour, which is not even 0,5 usd/ hour... For one hour of her work she may buy one imported apple..Not so good.:-//

[...Backpacking & cheap living in Dominican Republic - Best Online Guide...]