I then drove east and stopped at the Guanica dry forest - another crazy road up the mountain with twists and turns and no way to get around other cars without someone backing up like 1/4 mile in some parts. Took a quick hike as it was getting late.





Ended up in Ponce for 2 nights. My hotel had a great view.



The best part of the trip for me ended up being the stupidest thing I have attempted in a long time, but obviously glad I did it because I came out alive. I did a lot of research on getting to the top of Cerro de Punta, the high point of Puerto Rico. You can hike it from the base, but umm...no... not for me. You can drive up the craziest fucking mountain roads I have ever been on, but you need to have a good map and some good reference points because a lot of times things aren't marked at all. I drove up a road 30 minutes on hair pin turns with roads too narrow for two cars by far yet having to dodge vehicles none the less. I get to the top for the turn I need and fine this out of nowhere:




Undeterred I went back down and found another road that would take me up. It connected to La Ruta Panoramique - the historic toad that runs across the entire island. Off in the distance you can see Cerro de Punta with the antennas on top.





And then I found the unmarked parking lot with this ominous unmarked path. I had done some reading and knew you COULD drive up this last portion, but it was dangerous and if you happened to run into a vehicle coming at you, you would be obligated to back down the twisty roads with severe drop offs because there is no place in the 1/4 mile drive to pull off. I waited about 15 minutes to listen for cars and keep an eye out before I said fuck it and started the climb.

http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s...t=DSC02080.jpg


No way the photos do this justice and obviously I wasn't taking any while driving up, but at a few points I was at angles I did not want to be at and my small car's engine was scaring the shit out of me... all I could think of was the brakes not holding... a few scary as turns and some serious avoidance of pot holes that would have stranded me up there and I made it with nobody else around.

Here is the 'secret' staircase up to the lookout:



The actual marking is unimpressive and in bad shape, but the views were amazing and I was all alone on top of the island for miles and miles.





The trip back down was just as scary, though the photo doesn't even come close to showing how steep it was.



I used miles to fly Delta for free and used Hilton points to stay at the Embassy Suites and Holiday Inn points to stay in the other cities. Got a car rental from Dollar for $110/week and added a few things like wheel and rim insurance for $2/day (definitely take this - it is not a rip off) and I paid $10 to use the expresso pass for all the toll roads - that was well worth it not having to stop and find change and shit all over - they just charge my card the $10 + actual tolls paid. Drank it up at night at a few good spots and watched the superbowl from a bar overlooking the Caribbean.

All in all - an A+ trip and probably the first place I have ever been to that I know I want to go back to again - I usually just want to go new places but I can think of a ton of things I didn't get to do this trip. Weather was like 75-85 every day depending on the area but it did rain in the mornings almost every day.

That's my trip report.

Great trip report. Love the coast line and those roads can be scary. It is amazing how fast people will come down the other way not giving a fuck. I got in a minor accident going to a waterfall in Turkey on a road very similar.

It is crazy to think Puerto Rico could be the 51st state.

I am the same way. I like to go new places. There are a few places (which isn't many) I'd like to return to but the only place I have to return to is Nepal. Otherwise, world is too big to go back to the same places for me

ive been to that fort in the beginning before, its really cool. one of my favorite (old) pictures of myself is from that window in the 3rd pic.

Is this OT or the fucking travel channel?? Pics of hotness in various states of undress ASAP, or the gheydar might get louder..........

Travel more, OT less. ty. Ever wonder why ppl say OT is dead? Ffs bunch of cappucino sippin, grey streaked ponytailed pansies in here. There is not ONE pic out of 50 with any eye candy. OT my ass. Lurking isnt even fun nemore.

This dude just told Zep to travel more. Let me say that again. This dude just told Zep to travel more.

Pretty cool, I totally envy you guys. I spent two summer traveling Europe in high school but it was with a group and with an itinerary. I'd love to go back to the same places and hit the areas I couldn't when I was younger.

P.S. Next week can you go somewhere without the internet so the rest of us could at least have a shot in OT golf?

 

Originally Posted by skeeze666

in my mind there are just hundreds of other places I want to see so why go back unless it is on the way somewhere else? I don't know... I've done a ton of travel but I know I've barely scratched the surface with places around the world.

Exactly. I have only scratched the surface as well. It is never ending.

 

Originally Posted by skeeze666

I just like to make sure when I do go places I do as much as possible in the time I have, trying to mix the obvious things to see/do with finding as many cool out of the way/unknown things as well... the lighthouse on the sw coast was unreal and I don't think a lot of people make the trip to it.

Definitely. I am lucky that I usually have a lot of time when I go places. You have to do the top tourist sites, there is a reason they are attractions, need to try to get off the beaten path as well. For me couchsurfing and hitchhiking are great ways to accomplish that, or renting a scooter/car.

 

Originally Posted by tha_minkee

Travel more

 

Originally Posted by Autolobotomist

This dude just told Zep to travel more. Let me say that again. This dude just told Zep to travel more.

Ummm yeah. Hmmmm. This is my last facebook status, came home last Tuesday

594 days of stamps: Los Angeles -> Israel -> Egypt -> Thailand -> Indonesia -> Singapore -> Malaysia -> Thailand -> Malaysia -> India -> Nepal -> India -> Thailand -> Laos -> Thailand -> Myanmar -> Thailand -> Macau -> Hong Kong -> Macau -> Hong Kong -> Macau -> Thailand -> Cambodia (plus extension) -> Thailand -> Vietnam (plus extension) -> China -> Hong Kong -> China -> Macau -> South Korea -> Los Angeles

I'll look into it Minkee. It is good advice.

slightly on topic: Watching Mike & Mike right now. Ricky Williams just retired. Says he wants to travel the world and take classes. They talk about him like he is crazy. I relate to Ricky Williams.