Everything works like a well-oiled machine and everyone speaks at least some English here. Welcome to tourist capital Puerto Vallarta. I arrive in the evening and am tired from travelling and time change; I just want to get to my vacation rental, so I take a taxi. My first impression is that it’s clean and glitzy, has lots of shopping and hotels, is less authentically Mexican compared to what I’ve seen in Mazatlán and Guadalajara so far.
My AirBnB is very affordable and just two blocks from the malecón — I expect the worst, but it actually turns out to be fine: a small kitchenette with a makeshift plywood bar along a wall, a bedroom with a decent bed and my own bathroom; it’s small, but fairly clean and, most importantly, functional.
Because I need some bottled water, I go out on my first excursion; I know there are a couple of OXXO’s close by. When I walk out, I immediately see the water and lots of people on the malecón, and I am happy to divert myself to check out the locale a bit. Restaurants, bars, loud music, ocean, sea wall, sculptures everywhere. It’ll all still be here tomorrow, and I get my water and go back home to sleep.
Next morning, I explore the nearby streets and find a cute alley with colourful umbrella decorations and decide to have my late breakfast there. La Tostaderia is about two blocks from the water, but you can see it from the patio tables; the church bells of the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe ring out every fifteen minutes and add to the ambience. I order a Tostada which turns out to be huge — American portion sizes; I end up taking half of it home for dinner. An older gentleman from the States starts chatting with me; he is a retired commercial fisherman who came to Puerto Vallarta to go to the dentist, evidenced by a hamster-sized cheek.
After bringing my leftovers home to leave them in the fridge, I start walking south on the malecón with Playa de los Muertes as my target destination. Again, I see many different sculptures, fountains, Christmas decorations, restaurants, bars, tequila shops, candy shops, souvenir shops and stands, and many times vendors ask me if I want to buy something from them. As always when I am somewhere for the first time, I look around and try to absorb it all; I take my time which of course marks me clearly as a tourist if the colour of my skin and hair didn’t already give it away.
I cross the pedestrian bridge over the river Cuale which is mainly a rocky river bed at this time, and already I am at the beach: Playa Olas Atlas turns into Playa de los Muertes, and I walk along all of it, barefoot by the water. The beaches are packed, there is no other way to say this, and tables, chairs, umbrellas, long chairs and people stretch from the malecón and restaurants almost up to the water edge along the entire length. I focus my attention on the water instead, trying to ignore the insane amount of people. When I reach the end of the beach, I find a little shaded area with some rocks sticking out of the sand; I find a stone that is not wet and sit there for a while, watching birds hopping around me and other people congregating in the shade for a while, and I read a little before I start my journey back.
After a short walk, I veer off the beach away from the masses, and a few blocks inland I find a small tienda where I buy some totopos (tortilla chips) and homemade salsa. I take my way back home along the streets, taking in the sights, checking out restaurants and prices, and finally, when I get back home, I have my leftover dinner and chips with salsa.
Wow looks lovely! Especially with the weather we are having here. Wish you had shown a bit of how the celebrate Xmas there. I can’t believe there green christmas trees and all that!
C
Ich beneide Dich um die viele Sonne, die Strände und die gut gelaunten Menschen. Bei uns hat der Winter Einzug gehalten; das bedeutet Heizung, Heizung, Heizung. Die Gaspreise haben sich VERACHTFACHT: Trotz Staatlicher Hilfe wissen viele nicht wie sie bezahlen können.