The paving of Route Nationale #3

Facing west, in the direction of Pignon.

In 2008 when I first came to Caiman I flew from Port au Prince on MAF, since the 65 mile drive took 8 hrs.  By the time I started teaching at the university in Caiman in 2014, Route Nationale #3 was paved from Port to Hinche, so the trip took only 4 hrs.  The road had also been graded all the way to Pignon, as the plan had to be to pave it that far, but the money disappeared as it tends to do in Haiti.  Over the years the road deteriorated to the point that the 8 mile trip to Pignon took ½ hr.  Now (2017) the road is graded again in preparation for paving, and only takes 10 minutes (and now a good restaurant is there!).  The road crew is already putting in three bridges between Hinche and Bohoc.  Here are pictures of the one just to the west of the Bohoc market, along with a before photo showing the pedestrian crossing.

Facing east, toward the market.

Nov. 2014

Capital Coach Bus Line

Comfortable seats.

On my second trip to Port this fall I took the Capital Coach Bus which is new to Les Cayes.  As of this writing they leave Les Cayes everyday at 5am and 1pm to go to Port au Prince.  (I hear they go to the Dominican Republic too, and you can make reservations on-line).  The Les Cayes bus station is along National Highway 2 between the Arch as you enter the city and the Meridian Hotel, on the north side of the street.  The ticket is 500gds, or $15.00 US (cheaper to pay in goudes). Walk up to the window and give them your name and phone number.  If you already have your ticket be at the station ½ hour before the bus departs, there are seats in the shade.

These are big touring buses, with comfortable seats, bathroom, and movie screens.  You can put large luggage underneath the bus, and smaller bags over the seat.  Take valuables with you inside the bus, the bus lets out people along the way and they get into the luggage compartment below and you can’t see what they are doing.  

The trip to Port took 4 hours and we watched Battleship twice.  The bus didn’t stop til it got to Port and dropped off some people near the airport (across the street, so you’d have to lug your stuff across the highway and walk to the airport entrance).  Then we stopped at the main bus station by the US Embassy (across from Sugar Cane Museum).  This station has a parking lot so it is very convenient for pick up and drop off.

The return trip back to Les Cayes took over 8 hours!  I bought my ticket at 3pm that day when the office open and the bus left the station on time at 4pm.  Then we got stuck in traffic for 3 hours at Carrefour, a place just west of Port notorious for traffic.  It’s only 6 miles from the stadium/Transport Chic bus station.  It was dark and raining, and we were there long enough to see the water rise in the road to calf-height and then recede.  The first movie seemed half decent – a kung fu/martial arts thing, but dubbed in French and I was tired so I didn’t pay attention.  The next two movies were R rated and I didn’t pay attention.  We got through 2 whole movies before the bus made it through the traffic and was on open road.  Then I fell asleep and woke up shortly before we reached Cayes at 12:25am.

I recommend Capital over Transport Chic if you want the most comfortable ride and convenient pick up/drop off place in Port.  But Transport Chic is good enough, cheaper, and has more departure times.

The Les Cayes station.

The Port au Prince station, next to US Embassy.

Ticket counter at Port au Prince.

Painting at the Port station.  Happy people climbing either in or out of the basket.

Port au Prince station, complete with a parking lot.

Transport Chic - bus between Les Cayes and Port

The bus in Les Cayes, with our luggage on top.

Last week we took the Transport Chic bus back to Port au Prince from Les Cayes.  The bus was great!  And air conditioned.  It stopped in Miragoane for a bathroom and food break at a restaurant/convenience store.  It dropped a couple people off at the towns closer to Port, so you could probably hop off anywhere along the way.  And the ticket was only $10.  You buy it at the bus station the day before.

They strapped luggage to the top of the bus (you get to take one piece of luggage-on-top for free, and no one asked for a tip to put it up there or take it down).  The stop in Les Cayes is along the main road into downtown, Ave. des Quatre Chemins.  We had a 9am ticket for a bus that didn't leave until 10am.  But you want to be there in time to get on first so you don't end up with the little middle aisle seat that folds down.  And sitting up front might make you nervous - you'll see all the things that the bus is trying to pass, and all the traffic coming toward you.  We were oblivious to this in the back row, except for Don who could see right down the aisle.

The stop in Port is across from the stadium, at a very busy intersection.  The Transport Chic office building is painted purple.  We arrived at the terminal at 2:30pm, so it was a 4.5 hr ride, with about 20 minutes at the stop in Miragoane around noon.  We passed through Leogane around 12:30pm.

Here is someone else's post about it: http://sweethaiti.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/transport-chic-air-conditioned-mini-buses-to-les-cayes/ 

Inside the bus.

The blans had the back row to themselves.

The office in Port au Prince.

Looking at the stadium across the street from the Port au Prince office.