So with the conoravirus issues ramping up, I'll share a picture. Angela and I returned home yesterday after being in Puerto Vallarta for 15 days. Upon check-out, there was a full busload of Asian tourists in the lobby of our hotel. Okay, not jumping conclusions but I decided to snap a quick pic of Angela awaiting our transportation to the airport. This caught me a tad off guard. I figured out who the tour guide was, and decided a friendly chat was in order. I causally asked the tour guide where the group was from, where to next, and he confirmed they're mostly Chinese from a cruise ship. Ruh Roe.
Angela taught me to always save the best part of any vacation for the last, so working our way backwards, we had a great beachfront room the last four days. Full oceanfront with another sliding glass door to the north. Suite!
We'd committed to our friends Gabe and Tony to 'live as locals' and popped down to PV to dig-sit 'Ricky Martin' while they take a cruise. Ricky pouted for less that a day, then accepted us as his new peeps. Tony and Gabe's apartment while very rural, was beautiful.
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It actually felt quite safe being adjacent to Gringo Gulch. Prior to staying in their apartment we booked a hotel that had great online brochure photos, was 1/2 a block from Gabe and Tony's for our series of new dog-sitting orientations, and was basic even by Mexico standards.
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Like this whole series of posts, we start with the end at the top. Our first hotel was considered a budget bargain. If you can sit on the bed and your butt hits the plywood under the mattress, you're home! Shampoo or soap... naw..., we had toilet paper. Besides, free parking!
Bottom line: while seemingly unorchestrated, Puerto Vallarta just seems to work. We were all over the place, and only saw two traffic lights, and both had the stoplight on the left side of the street. A guy with an infant on a motorcycle... what can go wong?
As mentioned the tour guide (top of this post) confirmed his tourists were primarily Chinese, and when I asked where-to next, back to the cruise ship, then back to Los Angeles. Phew!
Our favorite breakfast place was very close to Gabe and Tony's, a one minute walk. They have great food and have live music daily from 1-3 PM. It's very picturesque, right beside a river that seemed to have an endless supply of water. Also a nice cool breeze sitting there.
I'd posted a picture of their urinal a couple of years ago: while it's several shades darker, I'm STILL impressed... and I think every backyard needs one!
