Hello world,

Let’s get to the point. Jamaica is not for everyone. It’s for serious travelers who wants to experience different cultures and lifestyles that exists around the globe.

First impression: locals are incredibly rude to the tourists.

Summation of the overall experience: Jamaica is gorgeous and breathtakingly mysterious.

DAY 1;

Jacy and I landed at the international airport after nearly 24 hours traveling, in Montego Bay. We get off and go through the customs– everyone who works at the airport are dressed sharply without a hair out of place. The employees are very abrupt and have no issues with being very curt and direct.

Majority of the people speak English here which makes things easier.

The Eurocar rental desk is hidden in the corner making it nearly impossible to find. The woman at the desk seemed very bored and irritated. Jacy tell the woman we have a reservation– the whole process took about 30 minutes and we got charged double what we were originally quoted because of “taxes” even though that was already included in the quote.

The other ladies at the desk are texting and doing crossword puzzles. Finally someone helps us to get the process moving and we get onto the road.

Driving on the left side of the street! Oh my! Leaving the airport without using the GPS was idiotic and we ended up driving east towards the north tip of Montego Bay.

We stop at a gas station to fuel up and turn around; however, a few of the locals had a different plan for us! An older gentleman, approximately late 40’s, flagged us down to a parking space and offers ganja to us. We explained to him we were lost and needed a place to exchange our money–he was more than happy to guide us, personally, to a nearby supermarket where we could exchange US dollars into Jamaican dollars.

Richer with 120$ for each US dollar, we hit the road to the motel. One hour and half of driving on the most terrifying road of our lives, we finally reached Judys House Cottages. Ahh finally, we get to take a hot shower and relax in our hotel room… WRONG!

This place is a HOSTEL. On a mountain. In the sketchiest part of Negril. There’s wild goats and dogs roaming everywhere. The woman working at the hostel got upset with us because we were shocked when we arrived. They advertised themselves as cottages, hiding the fact that they’re actually “One 4 the road” hostel.

There are no electrical outlets in our room. Just two beds, a trash can and a fan. We find out that there is a communal bathroom/shower about 10 steps away from our room. The rooms are housed in single sheets of metal with very minimal upkeep, there’s an outdoor room near the bathroom where there are 2 electrical outlets for everyone in the hostel to share… “don’t worry, everything is safe here” the employee explains.

Our first night was terrible- we take a shower in the bathroom, which literally consists of landscaping piping with a newish showerhead attached. No hot water, no water pressure and no dry place to put our fresh clothes. We head down to Margaritaville, about 10 minutes east of the hostel, for dinner.

Delicious foods and drinks. Decent service.

We went in search of towels since we only packed one for the beach and the hostel doesn’t provide any for the guests. We didn’t have any luck so we navigated the tight windy road up to the hostel to sleep for the night.

Stay tuned for day 2.

XOXO, A