I'm not a huge fan of conchos. I can't figure the routes out and I hate being squeezed into the back seat. I prefer to walk in the city, if at all possible. I've been in conchos that supposedly are on the same route that go different ways and end up at the same place. I've gotten lost two times now and there was a day when the concho driver forgot about me.
To get to and from my community, walking is not an option. It's about a 25 minute concho ride. On my way home from my community today, I saw a concho driver waiting to have a full car to head back to Santiago. I was the last one to get in the front seat. I tried to close the door and it wouldn't close. The driver said "No, like this", and motioned for me to hold the door shut by putting my arm out the window and holding it at the top.
He started the car and we left. The first thing that I noticed was the gas gauge. It was on empty. And the fuel light was on. And we had 25 minutes to go.
At 15 minutes into the ride, I looked at the speedometer, and we were going 65 mph on a road that was probably meant to be 35 mph (Not that there are speed limits posted or anything). I'm still holding the door on.
At 20 minutes into the ride, the driver turned right when we were supposed to be going straight. I got really concerned that I was going to end up lost again, but then he U-turned to turn right again onto the original road. He didn't want to wait for the light.
I couldn't get my money out to pay the driver during the trip because I was too busy holding the door on. When I tried to give it to him when we arrived, he said he didn't want it because I held the door on and that was good enough for him.
We arrived, in one piece, in Santiago after one of the scariest concho rides of my life. I spent have the time praying that we wouldn't run out of gas before we got back to Santiago and the other half praying that the door wouldn't fall off. It was a free trip, but it took a few minutes for my nerves to recover afterwards.
7 comments:
And now you gotta admit that my truck looks good in comparison!
Don't know that she'll go that far!
You know, at least if you had run out of gas, you might have been able to slip into a seat not by the door once the concho was running again.
Too bad you didn't have a free bungee cord to give to the driver in exchange for your free ride. :)
OMG!!! you have made me laugh so much..I am dominican and i can really understand your experience..I am so happy you are having such a good time in DR
Conchos use GAS, not Gasoline, i'ts cheaper! and if you were Dominican, you would have to pay either you were holding the door or not.......
hi!! im from the dominican republic and i just wanted to let u know that conchos RARELY run on gasoline.. it runs on propane gas!!! if u dont believe me check the trunk next time u get on a concho!
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