Back from the Dominican Republic and as the title states, I'm relaxed, tanned and sunburned (unfortunately)!
I had a great time on vacation basking in the sun, eating like no tomorrow, and relieving myself of stress from school. Vacationing to a resort in the Caribbean seems like a nice yearly thing hehe (although my skin wouldn't say the same).
I definitely tanned too much considering how pale I was before I left. I feel like I got more sun exposure on this trip than I have in the past 5 years haha. It probably wasn't a good idea tanning so much but I couldn't help myself. Lying on the beach or by the pool was something I couldn't pass up!
Next time, however, I'm getting myself a really good sunscreen for my face. My nose is so burned and unsightly right now! I also have a slight sunglasses tan since I didn't want to tan face up without them on since it's bad for your eyes, but it's not too noticeable, or at least not compared to my nose. Time to bring on the aloe for the nose! As for the rest of my body.. it's in the nasty peeling stage. Thankfully my arms are the only parts peeling really badly, although peeling period is bad. I'm going to have to wear long sleeves for a little while to cover it. The rain is Vancouver makes that doable though haha.
I didn't take too many pictures. I don't know why but I'm not a picture taking person. I brought my digital camera but it never left my suitcase. I just ended up using my iPhone for all the pictures I did take. To be honest I didn't want to take too many anyway, especially with me or my boyfriend in them due to our sunburnt condition! We burned on the first day we tanned so that didn't leave much room for looking picturesque haha. Oh well, the memories shall be in my head!
Here's some of the pictures I did take. I used instagram so they look modified a bit.
Suntanning by the pool. Our resort had a swim up bar which you can kinda (but not really) see on the right side. It's under the tiki hut looking figure. The pool also had a volleyball court.
The beach at 6:00AM. The sky was beautiful. We had to get up and go to the beach at this time so we could get a tiki hut. Apparently at most resorts there's an unwritten rule that towel on chair = reserved. Boyfriend and I wanted to get a hut so we could lie next to the beach all day and avoid getting burned some more. Although I'll admit I still tanned even when we had a hut. I'm stubborn!
Lying under a hut the day after I got extremely sunburned on my body. What did I tell you. I'm stubborn. The day before I took this picture I layed in the sun pretty much all day with the odd break in between. Not gonna lie, I could barely move after. My body felt like it was on fire even when I was lying in bed!
Haha one of the very few photos I'm actually in, and only because it's at a distance (ie. you can't see my burn!). My hair looks like poop probably cuz I used hotel shampoo. Ladies, bring your own shampoo and conditioner if you ever go to the Caribbean!
The empty side of the beach. Our resort had a really huge beach. There was bridge at the far right of it and I don't think many people realized they were allowed to inhabit the area. Glad we ventured over here cuz it was dead and quiet!
The ocean.
Contrary to the previous instagramed photo, this is what the water actually looked like when the tide was low. I was kinda disappointed. The stuff that's all dark and close to the shore is a sand bar/seaweed I believe which is why it's very dark. If you look past that point you can see that the water's blue! Keep in mind this is Puerto Plata, not Punta Cana which is known for it's clear blue, perfect water.
For those wondering, I stayed at the VH Gran Ventana at Playa Dorada Beach. I wasn't planning to stay here originally, but the hotel I wanted sold out the day I was planning to book my trip!! Overall I liked the resort. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the beach was kept clean. We also got a nice room close to the ocean. The food here was also good and I found something to eat at every meal. There was also a chocolate dessert buffet night and it was amazing. I definitely had a food coma that night!
However, if you're young and looking to party hard, I wouldn't recommend this resort to you. In general, the crowd at this resort ranged anywhere from the late 20's to the elderlies. I don't think I saw any people my own age (or at least they didn't look it). There's no club (or disco as they call it in the Caribbean) on the resort as well. There IS a popular club in the Playa Dorada Plaza complex which is a safe 2 minute walk away from the resort but we didn't bother checking it out. After dinner we were always so pooped from stuffing our faces and usually just wanted to shower and pass out by midnight.
I still enjoyed myself though and I would come back if I was just looking to relax. Boyfriend and I kept to ourselves and enjoyed cocktails, but we weren't drinking to get drunk. If you're looking to party hard in the Caribbean, I think somewhere in Punta Cana or in Cabo is better for you!
I'll stop rambling about the trip now haha. I'm off school for a couple weeks so hopefully I'll be blogging more. I realize I completely disappeared for a while. Somehow this semester was more overwhelming than I anticipated, but it's over and done now!
Happy and safe travels to anyone else going away :)
