ruta A mystery

dv8 · #1 11-24-2007, 07:54 PM

i took a caribe tour (from POP), got off on a stop close to jumbo. i figured out before that ruta A runs just next to it so after visiting jumbo i caught A towards the city centre, making sure he will be passing close to el encanto. mind you, normally i get off at a main stop and take A from there.

to my surprise my A did not pass metro but turned into the maze of streets. i was getting a little confused until we reached la sirena/la opera and i got out (i don't know santiago all that well). i did my shopping and figured out that maybe A goes through the city and THEN towards metro so i got another car - no metro again, he left me next to caribe tours (close to jumbo).

now i am confused. is ruta A so complicated or is there two rutas? no point in asking minovio's friends in santiago, they all have cars and asked for directions they always say: "oh, it''s so far and so complicated". i stopped trusting them when i was told centro leon is "very far" from metro and i "need to take a taxi". it turns out it's a darn walking distance and A goes there too!

Hillbilly · #2 11-24-2007, 09:10 PM

As much as I can understand what happened to you, you got confused between the two routes traveled by Ruta A.
As I think it works, is that one Ruta A goes UP Calle del Sol (past La Sirena), another goes DOWN Calle Restauración (past El Encanto).
The one that goes UP goes past the Caribe Tour/Metro street (Maimon) close to the KFC place and the Supermercado Nacional, and goes out to Centro Leon.
The one that goes DOWN goes past JUMBO in Las Colinas and the Caribe Tours station in Las Colinas.

Does this help??

HB

dv8 · #3 11-25-2007, 12:30 PM

it does help but it makes no sense...
why two rutas A? did they run out of letters in the alphabet?
oh well, as long as i can get around santiago all is fine.
thanks, hillbilly!

Hillbilly · #4 11-25-2007, 05:50 PM

Same route, different directions.
HB

SantiagoDR · #5 11-25-2007, 05:56 PM

The "A car goes basically as Hillbilly saids, the confusion is that there are two directions to most routes. Because of one-way streets, etc, (Del Sol is one way and the main shopping area of Santiago), the "A" to someone not knowing the route would think there are two separate "A" routes.

The "A" you took from Jumbo to the city would come down 27th of Feb, turn right (Very bad turn) to the city, pass the park with the cargated metal around it, a left then right around park, then turn left to go up Del Sol as HB said, then after making a left a few blocks before the Monument, it would past the main Santiago Hospital and turn right on 27th of Feb., just before Nacional supermercado (3blocks?), it would then turn right and then left, thus passing Metro.

The other direction comes down (I believe it is Duarte) (Which becomes one way just past Metro) to the city and turns right on Restaruante and passes El Encanto, makes a right turn to get to 27th of Feb. where it makes a left, and will pass Jumbo and Caribe Tours.

PS: There are TWO Caribe Tours, and unfortunately to add to the confusion they are BOTH on 27th of Feb. One is near Los Colinas and the other is close to Metro.

Hillbilly and I are saying the same thing, I just tried to add a few extra words.

That's the best I can explain without having an actual map handy to name all the streets. LOL

ZEUS · #6 11-25-2007, 10:36 PM

why not grab a cab? Get home safe!!!

zeus

dv8 · #7 11-26-2007, 10:32 AM

cab is always my last option. i am trying to accomodate as much as possible and do as dominicans do. i keep my eyes open every time we drive in santiago so that i know what cars to use when i come alone.
i think this is better than be a gringa who only uses taxis...

i know there are two caribe stops but i had no idea there were on the same street! confusing, innit?

i still looove santiago...

did i say my caribe tour bus hit a truck on a way back to POP? and just when i was thinking those drivers were really good...

SantiagoDR · #8 11-26-2007, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dv8

did i say my caribe tour bus hit a truck on a way back to POP? and just when i was thinking those drivers were really good...

Hey, it takes a lot of practice to aim the bus properly to hit a moving target!

Quote:

Originally Posted by dv8

i know there are two caribe stops but i had no idea there were on the same street! confusing, innit? i still looove santiago...

It's much easier now DV8, before they closed the Pollo Victorina across from Caribe near Los Colinas, there is also a Pollo Victorina across the street from Caribe near Metro. That really added to the confusion. Both Polo Victorina and Caribe across from each other and at both locations on 27th of Feb.

Once I was at the Pollo Victorina near Metro and a couple were waiting to be picked up by their friend and was concerned because he was late. They had told him they were at the Pollo Victorina across from Caribe on 27th of Feb. He had gone to the other one.

And the funny thing was, their friend lives near Metro.

dv8 · #9 11-26-2007, 02:39 PM

they closed pollo victorina? what a crime!

i tell you what adds up to confusion too - the mess in a city centre. when my car reached la sirena i said to myself: "no this is not my la sirena, the one i know has sidewalks and the street does not look like a muddy tract from some 19th century village".
the change of pavements AZB wrote about makes streets unrecognizable!
i wonder, are their making them the same style as malecon in POP, those red brick-like thingy?

when we reached POP our bus had a scrach in front being the exact copy of a back of a truck. very neat. and even the agrument with a truck driver took only about five minutes, practice makes perfect, i say!