Dear Travel Journal,

We stepped off the jet into the crowded, noisy jetfume haze at Puerto Vallarta's small, but busy airport in Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta Airport
A busy Mexican dude with a uniform handed out little forms to bewildered and tired passengers now queuing up some 6 or 7 long lines. The customs zone was complete with strange traffic lights which we later learned are red for "stop and be baggage checked" or green for "go".

In the crowded arrivals area, literally dozens of taxi drivers or timeshare sellers start in on you for a feeding frenzy. Fortunately, I had the foresight to read my lonely planet guide book which suggested that one should walk past the frantic rip-off reception to a bus station just outside the airport where a ride to the city would cost a fraction of what the cabs charge.

Cobblestone Courtyard

So with our two small suitcases we stood, sweating on the highway not really knowing what to do or where to go, but were saved by some other gringos who flagged down this dilapidated bus that said Centro. Our new friends (we did not even know their names) had already paid for our fare to town. 40 pesos - about $4 CDN - and off we flew, literally as the bus drivers all compete for passengers throughout the city and play hopscotch at break neck speeds to steal customers. Bumping over rock inlaid streets we are dumped off at some point near the Marina.

Club Regina at Puerto Vallarta Westin
The resort proved to be very swanky indeed. The first mistake we made was to order breakfast for about 27 bucks. No big deal except that across the street a tacos goes for $1.50 or so. The Westin Regina did not disappoint
however, as we stood in amazement at the expansive gardens and pools, all within reach of the beach. We got free drinks as a welcome and proceeded to get into the lazy activity of hanging about the pools swimming, tanning and reading.

One could gaze up into the blue sky or out to sea and watch frigate birds and pelicans flying in formation and diving into the waves. So after proving to myself I could beat the local kids doing lengths under water (they did not realize how hard I could push off the walls of the pool) and watching I just had to go to the beach. Volleyball, sailing, parasailing, high-speed jetski and then there were the waves.

In the water, one had to negotiate around the arms and legs of floundering snorkelers and we were constantly being rammed by these little girls in a canoe who hit Elaine on the head. Disgusted, I flippered off to a remote rocky site and got into a game of 'try-to-touch-the-puffer-fish' who despite his porky round body and tiny whirring fins, was quite agile. Around the rocks we could see many varieties of tropical fish including some large cigar shaped dudes with long snouts.

After 45 minutes of flapping about snorting seawater and wondering if a tiger shark had found the smorgasbord offered by the locals, we got back to the boat to be further saturated with pina coladas. I had a few on the go, the boat heaved from wave action and I managed to grab the drinks and sort of instinctually direct one of them in a fairly graceful ark towards my face. By then, the boat had decided to roll sideways down a swell and consequently it missed my lips and the majority of the coconut pineapple concoction sloshed down my T-shirt. This did not matter however, as the other hand held another.

Westin Regina - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The Westin is right beside the Marina so we got a very good view of all the massive hulking cruise ships that sailed in everyday. We also spent considerable time walking and talking to locals in order to get our bearings and to find out the best cheapest restaurants and food stores. We found a big grocery store (like Save On Foods here) that sold everything and wow cheap booze - $10 for a litre of Kalua! Six beer for just $5. We found an awesome local taco stand just outside of the Marina and for 75 pesos you got four beers and all the fish tacos you could eat.

On to Yalapa
Then we took a panga to Yalapa. Actually it was a day-long organized tour on a catamaran with a bar that opened as soon as we got under way. Yalapa is a tiny quaint fishing village with some very rustic looking shacks and thatched roofs (for the tourists). We were escorted up a little cobble stone trail to a waterfall in the jungle. I couldn't help but notice the tourist trail was so nicely made with cobble stones whilst the local ramshackle homes were surrounded in dirt. We passed very large spiders hanging only inches from my mop. At the beach a lovely nice local grandma hugged and led us by the hand to a thatched roof bar (likely hers) where a nice Mexican dude dressed all in white insisted on placing a very large and rather disgruntled iguana on my shoulder for a tourist pic.

Back to Puerto Vallarta
We loved exploring the old town and 'Malaccan' districts of Puerto Vallarta. There is always something going on amid the plentiful shops, galleries, restaurants and bars along the waterfront. At the base of the bridge between old town and the new town we found a small museum that housed some very impressive indigenous ceramics of past cultures.

Growing pains were evident in the crush of traffic, the half built hotels and pollution. Yet Puerto Vallarta has charm and romance amidst the chaos. We found there is enough diversity and culture to counter balance things. The people are very friendly, albeit they will want to sell you something. We found excellent little family run restaurants where you can be
serenaded by a guitarist tucked away in little courtyards off the busy streets. At night it was like a carnival with lots of street musicians, vendors and fireworks every night. It was a great time and we will go back.

- Wesley Clark