Back on the road, we ask our driver for a higher view of Kingston. He takes us toward the Blue Mountains that dominate the skyline north of town. We clear the city and start the sinuous route upward. The car crawls toward cloud-capped peaks. Somewhere in the mist and drizzle stands Jamaica's highest summit, which towers a cool 2,243 metres above the Caribbean shores.
Flowers bloom beside the roadway.
Villages dot the hillside. Most consist of a few shacks covered with stucco and weathered clapboard. All seem to be misnamed. In Irish Town, there is nary a Guinness to be found, and Redlight sports neither a traffic signal nor brothel. We stop at castleless Newcastle, now a Jamaica Defence Force installation.