Puerto Vallarta (Día Dos): Meandering and Eating
April 16, 2009
We decided that our first full day in Puerto Vallarta (or PV, as the cool kids say) should be all about getting a feel for the area. No frenetic do-as-much-as-possible schedule for us! Oh no! This was about relaxation!
So we got up and went for a nice morning run (vacation or not the marathon is still happening Sunday!) on a track that was, quite conveniently, right across the street from our hotel, showered, and then consulted the map to figure out how to make our way to both the Malecón (boardwalk area) and the playa de los muertos (supposedly the best beach in the area… just don’t focus on the name too much [means beach of the dead!])
While we were headed down there we stumbled upon a Huichol shop. The Huichol are an indigenous ethnic group that makes some really neat artsy stuff – both creatures that are covered in little beads (example) and pictures that are made by sticking string into wax (example). It was all pretty neat!
After the stop we ended up on the Malecón seriously hungry! We hadn’t had breakfast and it was already noon (and I don’t know about you but running eventually makes me hungry)! We walked around and decided we totally felt like paella and the Bodeguita del medio had it! (note: yeah yeah I know there’s a branch in Palo Alto so it’s not taco stand authentic but whatever).
We went to their open-air second floor and looked over the ocean while I sipped a most delicious pina colada and had absolutely delicious paella. Daayyuum it was tasty. So tasty that I couldn’t even eat dessert! So you know I was seriously full!
After that we continued our way down the Malecón until we thought we saw the playa de los muertos, at which point we wanted to walk up some of the streets to see a bit more of the area. On our way we found a little candy shop which I most definitely made us stop at. We got these little dulce de leche soft treats and some stuff for Chris’ lab. And of course, like everywhere else, everyone was totally shocked at Chris’ Spanish. When we were buying the goods this other woman started talking to us in English and when Chris responded in Spanish she interrupted him with “oh gosh you look so American, I thought you guys were from there not here!” At which point he explained the whole story. And, to my credit, I totally understood like 99% of the conversation! My Spanish ain’t too shabby either you know!
Oh and I forgot! There are some super interesting sculptures up and down the Malecón. I think my favorite was Sergio Bustamante’s “In Search of Reason” [to see the whole piece, click the link]. I’d never seen his stuff before but I totally dig his style. It all has this surreal, magical, slightly mathematical-geometric (and maybe slightly dark) feeling to it. But all that withstanding, I still wanted Chris to pose like a dork next to it [see right]. 
After getting some treats we found an Internet cafe. Chris wanted to check on some work stuff and we also wanted to quickly research what tour/adventure things we wanted to do. We thought one water and one land sounded good. Earlier in the day we had signed up with Chico’s dive shop for a snorkel trip to Los Arcos so all that was left was a land one.
Vallarta adventures advertised pretty much everywhere and their website was good so we ended up choosing the “outdoor adventure” option there. Here’s their website’s description:
“Your adventure begins with an exhilarating speed boat ride that takes you to Boca de Tomatlan, a secluded beach at the edge of the jungle on the southern shores of Banderas Bay. From here, an exciting off-road expedition aboard our 4×4 Unimogs will take you 2000 ft above sea level to our base camp in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. 
Then, you’ll take a fascinating mule ride higher and further into the sub-tropical forest, where you’ll begin a series of thrilling zip lines, rappel down waterfalls, cross jungle bridges and splash through streams and natural river pools on the Outdoor Adventure Circuit.”
We thought that all sounded super fun and exciting so we signed up!
After that we made our slow way back to hotel, put on our swim suits and tried out the pool. The pool water was a little too warm for my taste (not really refreshing, you know) but we had a fun time floating around. The highlight, though, was unquestionably when I tried to get out of the pool. I jumped up from the water to try and give myself enough umpf to get out on the side and basically my bottoms totally fell down by ass. Not like a little pushed down, I’m talking full-on mooning. The entire pool (full of kiddies and groups of guys playing volleyball) was subjected to my neon white butt. And, because I was so shocked in a this-is-happening-in-slow-mo way, I sort of like stayed half-way out of the water for way longer than necessary. But soon enough two women behind me started laughing and explaining all the traumatizing bathing suit experiences they’ve had, too. At that point I felt better and eventually harnessed the courage to get out (really really slowly.)
After all that (and a shower) we took a taxi down to Fajita Republic for dinner.We realized upon our arrival that the real action was happening a little further down than we’d made it on our walk that day.
Dinner was yummy (not paella-amazing but tasty), though I didn’t find their pina colada to be nearly as scrumptious as the one I had earlier. Though, I was introduced to the idea of jicama covered in lime juice and some sort of red peppery powder on it. Different and a must try!
After that we walked around the area (zona romántica) a bit more before just walking the whole way back to the hotel.
Day two, a success!
Puerto Vallarta (Día Uno): Bienvenidos!
April 15, 2009
Chris and I decided to book a last minute vacation to Puerto Vallarta two weeks ago. For about $500-and-some-odd dollars each we got roundtrip tickets and 5 nights at the Sheraton Buganvilias. Seemed like a bargain so we figured “why not?!”
Timing wise it was the best it was going to be for us. My marathon is this Sunday and after that I’ve got to train like a crazy person for the AIDS ride (which means week long vacations aren’t really on the agenda). And since Chris has the Death ride in July, we would have had to wait forever to go anywhere. (And I needed a vacation pronto!)
We arrived in Puerto Vallarta late in the afternoon on Wednesday to a whirlwind of super aggressive taxi people. Right when you walk out of baggage they start yelling at you. And they did it in such a way (with such vigor and self-assurance) that at first I wondered if some official was trying to stop us for something, well, official.
Speaking of official stuff, in Mexico when you go through customs you push this button after your stuff goes through the x-ray. If the light is green, you walk through. If it’s red, they go through your bag.
Of course, when I pushed the button I got a big fat red. All of a sudden I had a mini stomach spasm. I had a few packs of fruit snacks on me and Chris said we didn’t need to declare them. But, when the light went off all I could think was “oh shit oh shit they saw the fruit snacks! I’m gonna be locked up in a Mexican prison for my fruit snacks!”
Turns out they didn’t say anything about them.
So back to the taxis… when we got outside they were yelling and yelling trying to hurry you into one for a super high price. Of course, what they didn’t know was that
1) Chris is fluent in Spanish … and not I-took-a-crapload-of-Spanish-in-school fluent but I-lived-in-Mexico-and-if-you-listened-to-a-recording-of-my-voice-you’d-think-I-still-lived-in-Mexico fluent,
2) we knew approximately how much we should be charged for the ride (so we didn’t fall for their lies!)
So Chris basically told a few of them “don’t f*** with me” in Spanish and ended up getting us a lovely ride for $12 USD. I felt bad for this other girl who ended up agreeing to $15 but, since she only had a twenty, when they were about to give her change the guy was like “$5 tip for me? And sort of just took it and left” – by the time I saw what was happening and told Chris to go out and help her, it was too late. 
I know it’s only a few bucks one way or the other but it really really really bugs me.
After all the hoopla we eventually got to our hotel. Our room was actually totally decent! I was a little scared given some of the stuff I’d read online about the hotel but I don’t know what people were talking about. The rooms were simple but clean and totally fine. And the “ocean view”, while not exactly what I thought “ocean view” entailed, was lovely. And we even had a little patio with chairs (which we ended up using a fair amount to sit out post our morning runs). The only negative (though in the end I think it was more of a positive) was that the internet didn’t work for us.
After we dumped off our bags and looked around the hotel a bit we headed out to find some comida (that’s food for all you gringos). The area right around the hotel wasn’t really bustling with options so we ended up venturing down for a bit. Soon enough things were livening up and we spotted a taco stand. One of my goals for the trip was to try all the really authentic Mexican food (you know, like NOT the Bubba Gump’s down a bit further), so I agreed to give it a go. So Chris spoke his Spanish magic and voila! we got tacos.
At these stands the eating process is a bit different than anything I’ve done in the US (granted, I’ve never eaten at a taco stand in the US [haven’t and probably never will being the epicure I am]). Instead of ordering all your tacos at once you get them as you go. They’re like mini soft tacos, so you end up getting somewhere between three (me) and a whole lot more than three (Chris). I even tried a little bit of Chris’ cow tongue one! Not too bad (save for that tongue-like scale-skin nasty look)!
After dinner I felt it my diplomatic duty to try Mexican desserts and pastries so we walked over to the grocery store. Inside they’ve got loads of different kinds of pastry all laying out next to some flat metal sheets. To get some you just get a little tong and a sheet, plop the treats of your choice on the sheet, and head to the register. We ended up getting like six different ones to try! (Oh and that’s after Chris purposely walked me down next to a friggin cow head!! You can buy a cow head! With teeth in it and eyes and everything!! It took everything in my being to keep my gag reflect in abeyance while I was standing there! )
I was good and waited to try the desserts until we got back to our hotel but all my good behavior was for nada. Why? Because Mexican desserts (or at least pastries…flan is a different story) are no good! The bread is all airy, super dry, and then just coated in sugar crap. How can that be?! How can all their pastries be imposters?!
So that was day one.
Good news: I didn’t have any *cough* issues with my new and exciting taco stand adventure (and they’re yummy!).
Bad news (well…maybe good depending on how you look at it): Mexican pastries are a fail.
Day one complete!