Ocho Rios

We travelled to Ocho Rios by Knutsford bus, again escaping the rain of the day because we were in the bus. Jamaica is quite mountainous so after we left the relatively flat harbour city of Kingston we headed into the hills. We travelled alongside a beautiful river and the vegetation was typically tropical with palms, coconut trees and banana plants.

As we got towards Ewarton, a town about half way to Ocho Rios, the heavens opened and the roads quickly turned to rivers. This slowed us down a little, as did the truck holding up a long line of vehicles. As we came down the hills and into Ocho we came through the most beautiful rain forest.

The difference between Kingston and Ocho Rios is like chalk and cheese. Kingston is a busy, mostly unattractive city whilst Ocho is a beautiful, seaside resort.

Again we used airbnb to find accommodation and our host, Marcia, collected us from the bus terminal. She and her husband live about 4 km out of town in a place called Content Garden. The big house looks down the street and there's a cricket ground and netball court to the left with distant ocean views. We wandered the local area and found an outdoor pub.

Near the pub is a night club called Shades. Our new drinking buddies told us that Saturday night and Tuesday nights are 'freak' nights. Today being Saturday we should go because women get in for free. Freak nights have live sex on stage. Disappointingly, Heather wouldn't go.

The next morning we headed into town. We were waiting for a 'route taxi', a car that operates like a bus. Before it arrived Richard, Marcia's husband, arrived and drove us into town and gave us a quick tour. They have a couple of shopping malls/plazas and plenty of market stalls catering to tourists. Cruise ships come in here so i imagine it gets quite busy. Being Sunday it was quiet with many shops closed. Richie tells me the Jamaica has the most churches in the world per square kilometer, and that only 20% of people smoke dope (it's illegal). They are religious and religious people don't smoke dope!

Disappointing, many beaches here are private and you have to be a hotel guest to use the beach. We found a waterside place called Margaritaville where we had lunch and cocktails, and enjoyed a swim.