Saturday, October 31, 2015
Puerto Vallarta - Let's go to the beach, beach, let's get away
Saturday, October 31, 2015The bus ride to Puerto Vallarta from Guadalajara felt arduously long, and I only arrived around 10pm+. The initial plan was to reach before ...
The bus ride to Puerto Vallarta from Guadalajara felt arduously long, and I only arrived around 10pm+. The initial plan was to reach before night falls, but I totally underestimated the time it took to get to the bus station in Guadalajara. Upon arriving my first decision was to take an uber to the hostel, but there was no uber in PV. That leaves me with no choice but the local taxis, who were not open to bargaining ): My ride to town thus costs $13 SGD and worse thing was, when the cab drove out, I saw that the local buses were still operating. But given a second chance I would still have gone with the cab, because it was super late and I didn't know the town at all. #solofemaletraveltip
And as usual, all cabbies in Mexico tries to converse with the passenger, especially when the passenger is a solo asian female traveler. And through my conversation with the driver, I learnt that PV is actually really safe, with lots of police patrols, because it's swarming with tourists from the cruise ships that stops here. He was right, because I saw more tourists + locals-selling-things-to-tourists, than normal-locals-that-are-just-living-their-lives, the whole time I was here. So, perfect location for my first solo vacation.
I immediately slept after checking in, and woke up at only 10am the next day, after the hotel's free breakfast timing. More reasons to try local food then! The rest of the day was spent walking around this side of the town (Historic Downtown). One thing I liked was the weather. The weather is just like Singapore's. Hot and humid. Which I realised I kinda miss, after all the cold days in Puebla. One thing I didn't like was how the locals were always touting, in an American accented english. Suddenly I didn't feel like I was in Mexico anymore. I wished I was here a few years ago when the town was still more Mexican and less touristic.
Day 2 was spent exploring the Old town side and just chillin. People asked why I didn't go to Isla Marietas. I chose not to, because it was expensive, took up alot of time and I didn't think I was gonna have alot of fun when I'm there on the beach alone. I'm satisfied just looking at the photos online. The only benefit I would have gotten from going would be boasting rights, but I guess I can live without that.
The trip ended with my flight back to Mexico City, with me reaching home around 1am. And guess what, after class the next day, I left for Oaxaca!
Panoramic view of the town <3
The main cathedral of PV
Mandatory selfie
And as usual, all cabbies in Mexico tries to converse with the passenger, especially when the passenger is a solo asian female traveler. And through my conversation with the driver, I learnt that PV is actually really safe, with lots of police patrols, because it's swarming with tourists from the cruise ships that stops here. He was right, because I saw more tourists + locals-selling-things-to-tourists, than normal-locals-that-are-just-living-their-lives, the whole time I was here. So, perfect location for my first solo vacation.
I immediately slept after checking in, and woke up at only 10am the next day, after the hotel's free breakfast timing. More reasons to try local food then! The rest of the day was spent walking around this side of the town (Historic Downtown). One thing I liked was the weather. The weather is just like Singapore's. Hot and humid. Which I realised I kinda miss, after all the cold days in Puebla. One thing I didn't like was how the locals were always touting, in an American accented english. Suddenly I didn't feel like I was in Mexico anymore. I wished I was here a few years ago when the town was still more Mexican and less touristic.
View from the kitchen of the hotel. The terrain grows steeper exponentially as one walks away from the coastline, and the hotel sits nicely at the beginning of the slope
Morning walks in search of a breakfast place, and I find this one with beautiful pots
I ended up with a sandwich in quaint little salad store. The owner shared that he actually started the business because he was sick of touting and cheating tourists in his previous job. Excellent decision, because the food and juice is so good.
The shop is called Salati, find them on facebook!
The streets are annoyingly cobbled, but then again, it just adds to the whole charm of the town
In the historic town, there aren't any beaches. The coastline are all covered with stones and breakwaters to prevent the coastline from receding into the shop areas.
Its not everyday that you find a green church!
The park in the zocalo
The outdoor amphitheatre
The rainbow stained glass! <3
Murals by the local artists. I love how Mexico just have pieces of art and culture lying around in every single state I go to
When I was done with the historic center, I went to the shopping area (the slip of beach in between the oldtown and historic downtown). It was frustrating because most of the shops sold the same things and everyone spoke to me in an American accent.
But I found this painter, and she started a conversation with me when I was browsing through her pieces. Eventually I asked for the price of one of the painting and it was too expensive, so I asked if I could paint one myself instead. Surprisingly, she said yes!
And for the next 3 hours, I sat under the bridge, painting this with step by step instructions from her
At the end, I gave her $50 pesos. I'm not sure if it is enough because she said to give her any amount I felt like. If it wasn't, I hope she remembered that I told her I'm on a tight budget as a student, when we were painting ><
I believe these are living estates, but it's so quiet, I barely saw any locals around ._.
Towards the late afternoon, I crossed over to the Old Town side to chill at the beach
This tiny slip of beach somehow, managed to exist
The beach wasn't super fantastic with super clear water and super fine sand, but the water was nice and the waves weren't too small, nor too big.
But it was hard to find a spot, because all the restaurants would colonise the beach right in front and reserve it only for their customers
Nonetheless, I managed to find a spot and in the water I go! (Always keeping an eye on my things though)
And I chilled till the sunset, people watching, reading, writing postcards, jumping back into the ocean occasionally.
Leaving in time to see this lighted up
Wished I had the money and company to dine by the beach under the moonlight
At check out the amphitheatre at night! What a nice mood. But I chose to end my night at the roof of the hotel instead, with a can of Arizona and stargazing.
Day 2 was spent exploring the Old town side and just chillin. People asked why I didn't go to Isla Marietas. I chose not to, because it was expensive, took up alot of time and I didn't think I was gonna have alot of fun when I'm there on the beach alone. I'm satisfied just looking at the photos online. The only benefit I would have gotten from going would be boasting rights, but I guess I can live without that.
I'm actually glad I picked the Historic Downtown to stay in instead, because the Old town felt overly touristic and everything was overpriced.
But they do have lots of art galleries for the rich americans, like this one.
And also this beautiful mosaic wall
And beautiful hotels
And beautiful drains. LOL. Really, they have art everywhere.
Because I wasn't willing to spend my money on overpriced meals in the Old Town, I had lots of time to spare and I headed back to people watch at the beach.
Boats leaving for another part of PV. I spent awhile thinking if I should get on one of the boats since I had so much time left.
But eventually I decided to hop on a bus and took a round trip to see the richer parts of PV. Check out the huge cruise ship!!
And I got to try this palm tree sap juice too. Almost like pulque, except not alcoholic
And then it was time to check in at the airport. I was actually excited about not having to take a long bus journey.
And apparently Mexico's skies are beautiful as well. It was fun to examine the changes in the cloud formation as we flew in land.
The trip ended with my flight back to Mexico City, with me reaching home around 1am. And guess what, after class the next day, I left for Oaxaca!
