Nous nous sommes réveillés à Puerto Vallarta, au son des perroquets qui se trouvaient au pied du bateau. Nous étions a la Marina, a 5 miles du centre ville, derrière les immeubles nous pouvions voir les montagnes couverte par la jungle. La sœur d'Hubby et son mari ont fait une excursion en tyrolienne dans la jungle, ils ont adore. On aurait bien aime, mais ca sera pour une autre fois. Nos fonds nous permettaient seulement d'explorer la ville.
We woke up in Puerto Vallarta to the sound the parrots at the feet of the boat. We were in the Marina, 5miles from the city center, behind the buildings we could see the mountains covered with jungle. Hubby's sister and her husband went on a zip-line excursion in the jungle and had a blast. We would have loved to, but it will be for an other time. Our budget only allowed us to explore the town.
Given the distance we had to take a taxi. US$3 per person. You should know that for the pesos Mexicans use the $ symbol. So it has to say US$ to be dollars.
In Puerto Vallarta pelicans like riding boats.
It's cobblestone streets.
And there are many balconies.
One of the city's charm is all the sculptures on the sea front.
On the sea shore we saw this man lifting huge stones and putting them in equilibrium, crating artistic Cairn of several rocks.
Concentration, strength, delicacy, it's a difficult art. We were mesmerized.
We then went to see the cathedral.
As elsewhere the cathedral's plaza is full of activities.
The church tower looked like lace.
We arrived right during mass time so we limited our visit o the site.
Instead we went to the Rio Cuale. The river goes through the middle of downtown, creating an island and a green park.
There are bridges for the cars, but also footbridge for people.
Around Rio Cuale is where you find all the craft stores. There is actually a big building El Mercado de Artesanías with many shops that we had the pleasure to explore. I found pretty silver and turquoise earrings that I attempted to negotiate. I'm not very good at it I think and I let $20 (US) poorer but with a souvenir.
A beetle-moose, perfect for off the roads.
We also took the time to go to the local supermarket. We wanted to see what the local products were, but we were also looking for a special tequila that we tried in Cabo: Conmemorativo. A very smooth tequila. In the end we found it in a tequila shop, the last one of the boutique.
We went back to the sea side to eat. I wanted to find a little joint with local specialties but Hubby wanted to the sea side atmosphere.
We ate correctly but it was far from being as good at the restaurants picked in Cabo and Mazatlan. More expensive than Mazatlan too since it was very touristic.
We were white, so we were hailed non stop by street vendors. "No" "No" "No gracias" are the spanish words I had to say the most. The local neighbors were not bothered as much.
To digest a bit we walked on the beach to head back toward the center.
It seems that the symbol of Puerto Vallarta is the set of arcs on the townhall plaza.
Close by we visited the Navys' museum.
Everywhere on the coast are Senor Frog's bars, very well known by the american tourist who usually end up drunk after visiting it.
On some beach it's not the beach towel but the canopy bed, to each its thing.
J'ai eu le plaisir de pratique mon espagnol et de demander un peu d'aide a l'arrêt de bus. Une fort aimable mexicaine nous a dit que le trajet était 6,5 pesos et elle nous a meme indique notre bus.
We walked a while along the main street, until the feet grew tired. Hubby wanted to take a taxi but I encouraged him to take the local bus that seems far more interesting. I had spotted that some went to the Marina.
I had the pleasure to practice my spanish and ask some help at the bust stop. A very nice Mexican lady told us the trip was 6.5 pesos/person and even told us which one was our bus.
It was indeed an experience. The driver gives you the exact change while barely looking what's in his hand. He sometimes gives the change with one hand while driving with the other the door still open. People seem to drive like mad men and yet we saw no accidents. It was far more fun than the taxi.
The crosswalks amused me. Given the symbol you shouldn't walk but run to cross.
We used our last pesos for a beer and a margarita at the marina, facing the ship.
I forgot to tell you we had Canadians on board. This one made me laugh a lot and he posed when he saw that I was trying to take a picture.
We would only leave Puerto Vallarta by night. Indeed if the cruise ship won't wait for your normally, if you do an official excursion (one offered by the cruise ship) and that it's late, in that case and that case only the captain will wait for the return of the group.
That evening in our cabin we came face to face with an elephant.