Cashing in the chips

As readers will know, the Burds received a handfull of goodies for enduring a "presentation" at their hotel. The jungle tour, described in a previous post was well used and yesterday the rest of the package was cashed in.

The two free massages at the Spa were, according to Doreen - "great!". But before getting to that we had to buy half-price all inclusive packages at the front desk. $33.00 for a full day of meals, drinks and entertainment was the hit. Getting into the buffet breakfast it was decided that Doreen and her brother Charles would take up the free massages and Manon would sit by the pool and Ben would catch up on the cyberspace stuff, back in the room. Ben also regaled M&C with his exploits the previous evening. B&D had been invited to 'an owners meeting'.  D did not want to go and B finding nothing on TV trekked on down, found the  farmers from Vermont and preceeded to go through the usual stuff - hosts telling us what great people we were, invitations to eat the food, drink free drinks and chat with new friends. Then the entertainment - us. The host wheedled and whined and finally got some volunteers to go to the front for his games. Sensing he was missing one male he looked for a sap willing to be plucked from the cozy confines of the back of the room to be embarrassed by some silly game. He found one - Ben. "You Senor, sitting at the back of the room." obviously without an escort - an easy mark. Playing the game I approached the play area and proceeded to receive basic foot step dance intructions. Having mastered this we moved into a small game of "Tequila means dance, whiskey means change partners and Rum means STOP!" Cutting a long story short, another unknown women manged to survive them all. She received a tee-shirt and I got a free pass to "Swim with the dolphins" The kicker being that we could only use it if we bought a matching ticket, $69.00 - no dice.

Breakfast done and determined to extract maximum value for the all-inclusive, we stayed at the pool knocking back beers, strwberry margeritas and pina coladas. Looking around it was noticed that everyone else was doing the same but the smart ones were getting their Canadian Tire mugs filled -  the largest ones seemed to be favoured. Spa done, drinks done, it was time to walk to the hotel where D's sister was staying - a fifteen minute walk, accomplished in five by using the bus! Hey it was hot.

Back at the hotel, after walking to the mall to get a decal for C's new car, it was supper time. Pigging out on the buffet again it was time to watch the "International Night"  A stage show put on by the hotel's activity staff. When these kids sleep one can only guess - work the pool all day and then act until 9pm and beyond. Not really chuffed by this Mike Nd Molly on channel 31 was more appealing.

Down to the front desk to remove the purple wrist bands that entitled us to all the goodies and the day was done.

The big 50!

It's not so big if you have past it; the half Century mark in your life, and it's not something to look forward to as you near it. It's the pshycological point of your life when one speculates about immortality or is it just another birthday?


Not wanting to probe the big questions of life we all gathered at Blake's Sports Bar at six pm to help the Birthday Boy -  aka Charles Samis - celebrate the big one (for him not the rest of us - we're long past that point!). The Sports Bar is a very successful eating/drinking establishment set in the middle of a hotel area and on the main bus route into the Town. With a capacity for about fifty seaters, fifteen people at the bar and still more outside on the sidewalk patio it is usually filled at most times - a popular place. The quality of the food and the price of drinks; 20 pesos for a Dos XX and 60 pesos for a large glass of wine does it for me. The others in the party: Doreen, the love of my life, Charles the birthday boy and the love of his life; Manon and another couple we had just met in the elevator two hours previously, were in it for the food.

Seated at a hurriedly prepared table (of two pushed together) the waiter told us the bigger tables were already reserved, making the owner of the Bar, a happy and envied man - sold out tables are hard to come by this tourist season. Ordering drinks, a bucket of beer (four bottles in an icefilled pail) costs 70 pesos a 15% discount for buying in bulk, and a vino blanco for Doreen. Jake, the new friend and a farmer from Vermont in his real life drank beer and his wife Pauline was sipping soda water. Swapping family history and other such small talk made the time pass enjoyably while we waited for the meal. Passing on the 'sopas and starters' we were straight into the entree. Chicken CordonBleus, were the orders of the day for some, the others had Sea Bass on a rice patty with veggies (broccoli and carrots) on the side. All served to perfection and suitably aided by the flow of beer.

Time to celebrate and let Charles open his card - Manon had organised a card filled with signatures and best wishes from his siblings, even those not there last night - an impressive achievement. The surprise in the card was a number of "Cash for Life" lottery tickets. Good luck Charles.

Of course the event had to end, but on a happy note - the final bill came out less than expected - no more than $25 dollars a piece. What could be better than this for Charles, good times, good memories and a ride home on a rickety bus!

A day in the jungle

Down in the lobby to be picked up by the bus, after the usual Mexican runaround - "Be there at 9.50 Senor." "It's running a little late Senor, a few more minutes, finally at the assembly points, "Quince minutos, Senor". So twenty five minutes after the appointed time we get on the bus.

Freddie the tour guide, tells us, after a meandering, slow trip through the downtown, "We stop to look at silver - you will get a good discount here!"  getting off near our downtown haunts we traipsed off to one of our favourite coffee spots to wait out the half hour the tour wanted us to spend in the silver store. Unfortunately for them we knew where to get good coffee, so we did. We saved the silver money and spent it on coffee - 18pesos ($1.50).
 

Back on the bus, we settled into the twenty mile trip to the jungle. But first of all we had another stop to look at the Bay from a very important restaurant, one where Hollywood eats when they are in town. Back on the bus we then set off again for the jungle, all the time regaled by Freddie's tales of the area and the upcoming jungle. He really was the best guide we have had in all of our travels. One of the strangest things we noticed was the number of Mexicans on the bus, over threequarters of the passengers all told. Speaking to Freddie about this, at one of the stops, he told me that now that tourism is down, it forms 30% of the Mexican economy, the hotels are appealing  to the growing middle class with package deals that they put on their credit cards.
 

Down the road again, we pull into a local tequila distillery, for a tasting and sales pitch. A quick look around the wayy tequila is made and then "gather round folks we are going to taste tequila." Straight tequila reposado. Reposado means rested, in other words not the usual crap that is right out of the bathtub. A little smoother and less bite reposado is quite good. But as most people can't hack it the next two were mixes designed to appeal to non-drinkers. First the almond mix - very nice, and then a syrupy dark mix of chocolate, vanilla and coffee in the tequila. All good stuff bbut pretty pricy. Fifty dollars a bottle was about average but of course this is the original and you do know where it comes from. Back on the bus we set off once again for the jungle.
 

Finally we pull into the complex that is the base for the jungle tour. It is a "Canopy" complex. A "Canopy experience" is a series of ziplines set up in the trees about fifteen or twenty feet high. One is strapped into a harness, clip the pulley onto the wire and fall to the next tree platform. Fifteen lines and one and a half hours later you fall into the last platform at the restaurant. 

At this complex we order food because we are now on a timetable, Freddie wants to lead us on ahike. But first the food. We settle on "Chimichanga" beef or chicken. This dish is a deep fried wrap with the contents being beef or chicken strips mixed in a salad filling. Very tasty but laden with saturated fats. It should be noted that another option on the menu is 'deep fried ice cream' what's the bet that that dish is fried in the same deep fry? A bucket of beer and four entrees as well as the humongeous mange mix that Doreen managed to drink came to $25 dollars a piece.
"You want to come on a hike?" this chubby five footsix man who appeared to be middle aged asked. Why not if he could do it we should be able to, right? And we did. Up a trail that wound up steps, around a hillside and back down more steps, across rocks in the streambed and back to the restaurant. Past the miniature monkeys in the cages and back on the bus to come back to the hotel.
 

Seven and a half hours after leaving the hotel we were back. Full of food, having trekked a little way into the green space, not exactly machete hacking stuff but at least trees and insects. A really good day that only cost us the meal (after all we had earned the trip by enduring a sales presentation at the beginning of the week) - good value!

At last a post

OK the partner in crime, the other half of the publishing team has shamed me into action. Yep Deb O was right I did email and tell her a post was coming and the lack of a decent connection was stopping the publication of the diary.

As mentioned before this trip may be repetitive to readers if they scroll down to the entries of 2009 and compare. It appears to be the same stuff - driving around and looking at familiar sites. but there are differences. Here is one of them:

But there is a solution but it can't work all of the time  for obvious reasons. The best connection is in a Sports Bar around the corner. This pub - just the kind of place Merk would find idyllic in his quest for a foreign vacation - is operated by a couple from Edmonton and the place is fabulous: cheap beer and great food. Best of all a free wi-fi connection - as long as you keep drinking! So the question is - just how much time can one spend in the bar drinking beer and wi-fiing?

But the last couple of days, geez is it Friday already, have been spent just driving around, we have to use the car while we have it - it goes back on Saturday after a hotel move, and choosing places to eat. Last night we went downtown on the Bus (prices for a one-way trip are now 6.5 pesos - 50cents). After a look around to see the changes since our last visit two years ago. If Mr Flaherty wants to see how a stimulus package should work he should come here. The sidewalks and streets are being ripped up for water and hydro installations. All the work is being done by hand - not a backhoe in sight and all of the guys are earning good money to boot.

Ended up in a place called Anandales (anandahlays) for dinner. As we left one of the party noticed a Rotary Banner, one of the little ones that visitors bring to clubs they visit. The banner was from Cobourg, complete with a little Vic hall on it. Just guessing but the good money is on Tom Copeland, our pal from Eagle.ca, leaving it behind in December when he and Elenoar visited here. A nice touch.

Today we are off to do a Jungle Tour. On our first visit here in 1987 this tour was the first one we did and was memorable for two things - the activities of a horny monkey and the peculiar seafood plate that included starfish. Let's see if it has changed much. Probably not - jump on a bus, drive around to the local river, walk upstream to the waterfall, have lunch in one of the local watering holes, jump back on the bus, go to a local store and sample the free tequila - all in the name of "tasting". A pretty good way to spend a day and the tickets were free, not really free, we earned them at the hotel "presentation" that we took just to get the hostess off our backs.

Impressions so far:

• Tourism is down, Americans are staying away and the Canadians have taken over the place. So the place will be "nice" and everyone will be polite to each other and queue for everything!
• The local tourism industry is hurting, not so many establishments in business and "Se Vente" signs all over the place, especially in commercial areas.
• Timeshare salesmen, the scourge of tourists - as they continually interrupt you wherever you walk, are numerous and hungry. Their commissions are being cut and business is down. One can still find that $500 US is still being offered for a couple of places that want to inflict a "presentation" on you
• Prices: A good meal will cost $20.00 and a cheap beer is 15pesos, sometimes 12 pesos. A bucket of beer at the Sports Bar, on special - 70pesos five in a bucket.

This was written as the first post but still a good story.

Meeting Officer Pedro
One of the hazards of driving in PV, especially with a car with foreign plates or a rental car sticker on the back, is the peril of the local "Transit Police". Always on the lookout for 'mordida' - the bite - the bribe - the extra money they can extort and tourists are the ones with the cash.

So driving out past the airport, in the absence of traffic,  an obstructed red light came up fast - we ran it and the cop saw it. Lights flashing he got us to the side of the road, to be fair we had seen him at the side of the road dealing with another matter but the chance of a really big fish - us, was too good to pass up. Big smiles, "You went through a red light."
"Yes Officer"
"Wait here" as he played the game and delayed the enevitable by going back to his cruiser. He came back with his ticket pad and again stood at the window.
"You missed a red light, the fine eIghteen hundred Pesos ($180.00), Senor."
 With my license in his hand and despite the illegality of him keeping it being pointed out to him he continued to tell us that we could get the licence back the next morning. "Why not now?"
"Because the paper does not get filled out until 7pm."

So now the dance begins. "Can we pay the fine now - to you? How much will you take?"
"How much do you want to pay?"
"$20.00 dollars (that was what we paid last year in a speeding sting)
$20.00?" he repeated in a tone of astonishment, obviously wanting to raise the ante.
By this time Doreen was waving a $50.00 bill at hime (it was the smallest US bill she had at the time), he was looking at it.
"Here it is." she said.
"No, no this is between you and me." he said obviously well into the tango by now. "Between you and me."
It sunk in and I quickly folded the bill into the proferred traffic ticket and hid it from any possible videocam that may be either in his car or on a nearby streetlight pole.

As he quickly concluded the transaction I then asked him his name - "Pedro" he said. We wondered what the chance were of ever making a complaint to the authorities by starting the enquiry with - "Do you have an Officer Pedro in your command?" and the casual reply would be "Si Senor which one, I have four hundred!"

Away again in 2011

Looking forward to many of these!

This blog may be repetitive if compared to the 2009 effort - I hope not but as others have told me that they like to see what we are up to this blog will continue. The same set of travellers are on their way to PV. Doreen and I, and her brother Charles and his girlfriend Manon - very good travelling companions.

Food stories

As requested here are some pics of food. Readers may be aware that on this holiday the major way to spend hours is to eat. In Mexico eating is a major part of the day. Some meals are long, most take time due to waiters taking time between courses and then the is the custom of lingering at the table. It is a cultural crime to present the bill to customers without them requesting it. And, when the la cuenta is asked for it usually takes some time for the bill to be added up. All this takes time. So where you choose to eat is important, after all sitting in a greasy Mexican spoon is not as pleasing as sitting in a beach bar just people watching in the shade.

Yesterday we went to "FredyTucans Breakfast Bar". Arriving at eleven am on St. Valentines Day meant that we had to wait for a table in this very popular downtown restaurant. The success of a restaurant in PV can be judged in one way - does it appeal to both ex-pats and locals or just one of the two groups? Fredys clientele was evenly split. Evidently a lot of people were taking their sweeties to breakfast!

The Full Mexican, is a label derived from the label one sees where Brits holiday - Full English Breakfast. I called a full plate of eggs, toast, refried beans and sideorders the full Mexican. I had one yesterday. A plate of a Machacan omelette: beef jerky sauted in chile and onions and encased in an omelette with red and green peppers, mushrooms and onions. Accompanied by salsa and tortillas and toast and the price was very reasonable. Manon had a plate full of strawberry waffles topped with cream. Bottomless cups of coffee and complimentary pastries just made this an epicurian experience to be repeated, but next visit.

The day before we cruised downtown Bucerias for a seafood lunch, we were on the two meal a day plan - big breakfast and light dinner or light breakfast and big lunch. We were attracted to the establishment's special - five beers in a bucket for 20 pesos. Ordering a complete fish - red snapper I was not surprised to see it appear complete and BBQd. Mighty tasty.




Anyway enough of this, we leave tomorrow and this may be the last post. I hope is hasn't been too self indulgent and perhaps those of you who were not fortunate to get away have enjoyed the ramblings, I have enjoyed getting up early in the morning to complete each entry. Thank you Mr Blogspot.

Parasailing - riding in a harness attached to a parachute and going up in the air instead of coming down.
It's a great way to see the area as you sail around the bay behind a speed boat, however getting up is not as simple as strapping the harness on and hoping that the boat goes fast enough to keep you up.

Stage 1. Negotiating the price
Most things are easily negotiable in Mexico the rest take perseverance. The man on the beach, that sells the ride will tell you a price and you should counter with a lower offer. This week, especially if you were the first he will give you his spiel. "Normally Senor, it is is $45 but today for you I can take it to $35, I don't do commissions and I have to pay for my family!" It should be noted that the previous day the start price was $50 the customer had to ask the hotel to intervene as the hotel had told him it was $45.
Stage 2. the waiver
This piece of paper is something that the beach crew get you, or your companion to sign. Theoretically it is to protect the crew from lawsuits if you crash. But like all waivers it is probably not worth the paper it is signed on. However no sign - no fly!
Stage 3. ground operations
As you strap the harness on, leg straps and a shoulder harness with a seat that hangs down behind you as you stand, the crew is telling you about the commands you have to obey to get back down. In order for the parachute to rise it must be pulled at a speed that will cause lift. As you come down the boat slows and you lose lift and come down. But there usually is a prevailing wind that cause you to blow offline. So you, the rider, must steer it as you drop. Pulling on the ropes, either left or right will tilt the canopy and move left or right from the dropline. The crew on the ground will see you coming in as the boat slows and you drop. They will blow whistles and you then have to pull the left side ropes to ensure that you swing into the drop position. If you panic and "freeze" the ground crew will signal the boat to drop you in the sea. Asked if this happens, the crew chief smiles and answers, "Sometimes Senor!"
Stage 3 Mission accomplished
If you have obeyed the instructions you will drop at a leisurely rate and the ground crew will stabilize you as you land on the beach. The landing is as fast as a drop from about four feet - not much of a bump! What a ride, some may compare it to flying a plane - takeoff and landings are the only tricky parts. But although the ride may be a matter of just sitting in a harness six hundred feet off the ground and over the sea the view is fantastic.

Scroll down for parasail pics

	A vendor waiting for customers. The sails advertise beer - what else!
	A 'sailor waiting to go up, the wind is filling the sail, and being told how to make the sail go.
	Almost there!
	Liftoff

The House Tour Day

Every Wednesday, in Puerto Vallarta, the International friendship Club (IFC) hosts a "House Tour". This event takes as many people as they can, this week they filled four full tour buses, to tour four houses in the area. These houses are usually top end properties and are either for sale or rent and the owners lend them to the tour to get exposure.
Outside on the road waiting for the bus at eight, getting on the bus at 8.25 and downtown for the next bus at 8.50, on the next bus at 8.27 and arriving at the IGC sales booth at 9.15. Waiting in line to buy tickets one learned that it is "first come, first served" so get back early if you want a good seat on the bus. Now off to breakfast at the Cafe Tizoc. Fortified by a full Mexican we go back to the crowd and stand around for twenty minutes get on the third bus and head out of Town - I'm not going to bore you with all the details but a description of the first place should indicate just what we looked at for three and a half hours on a hot Mexican morning. Five miles out of Town sits the Villas Las Puertas. This seven bedroom (one bedroom in the pic on the left), 6.5 bathroom four level villa overlooks the sea, but isn't on it. You stroll through a lobby fit for the Four Seasons and pass the private pool on the way to the patio and sixteen seater jacuzzi. Pics of one of the seven bedrooms should show why this place rents out, with a maid and gardener, for $1950 USD per day.
The IFC, and its volunteers (one of them - Al, from Boston, is shown in the pic on the right), use the proceeds from these tours to run three valuable local charities: the Cleft Palette program for kids, the Children of the Dump programme and a programme to install toilets in schools. All very worthy causes and we were glad to support them in our quest to be entertained.
Naturally by the time the tour was finished it was time for a drink. With so many bars to choose from we headed for Cafe Roma, a second floor bar catering to locals and visitors alike. The reason I picked this one was that this is the hangout of "Fox" a fellow who runs the best website for Vallarta information. Beer was 15 pesos and the welcoming shots of Tequila free. But because the food being offered was Pizza, and we didn't want pizza (had it last night in the room), we set off to cash in the "Free Margarita" coupon the IFC had handed out with the price of the ticket. On our way to the bar a sign, in the lobby of the Santa Barbara Theatre enticed us in - Special: Hamburger Steak and Smashed Potatoes. Doreen has had a craving for mashed potatoes for the past couple of days, now was the time to satisfy it. Great meal, great price; $7.50 USD.
Now off to the Margarita place. The IFC must have had a sweetheart deal with the bar because the bar did not want to swap Ms for beer. Leaving, after taking a pic of the best Mens' facilities in PV, the four free coupons found a home with a very surprised tippler in the bar. Noticing a couple sipping Ms, approaching them and said, "Would you like four free Margaritas?" After figuring out there was no catch, they nodded, gulped and gasped - "Yes". Damn doing good feels good!!! BTW I couldn't resist posting this - a pic of the Men's room
Back on the buses and finally reached the resort at 7pm. A long day






Pic of the Day - remember the guitarguy on the bus, well they also have clowns that perform political satire

Laundry Day

Yesterday was the day that finally all of our clean clothes were no longer clean. This resort, despite spending millions on its build has no facilities so it's off the local Lavandria. As you may have learned from previous posts [stop padding the word count - ed] Doreen's brother and his girlfriend are staying at a resort 10 miles away, only 15 minutes on the bus. The plan, or so we thought was to meet them here (they catch the bus on its loop around to PV) and we would walk into Bucerias to find a laundry. Mixed messages led to a ballsup and we didn't get to meet them for two hours. At that point the bus arrives, Charles sticks his head out of the window and asks if we are getting on. Rapid decision making (My forte) clicked in - we got on and went to the laundry at the Marina. The Marina is another part of PV we intended to visit, just not yesterday. Lavandrias have their own way of doing things. Hand the laundry over, get it weighed and wait a few hours. So 3 kilos of laundrey were accepted and we were told to come back at 6pm, it was 11pm at this point.

Walked the Marina, renewed images of familiar sights, had lunch, walked some more and tried to get the laundry at 3pm. "Laundry finitio, Senora?" "No come back at 6pm", "Not ready now?", "No 6pm!" Then i saw the sign that gladdened my heart but doomed my chances for early pickup - a sign proclaiming that the workers were members of the laundry Union. Stil killing time we had a coffee and 30 minutes of Internet time, Mexico is the only place that I have seen profitable Internet Cafes. Then Doreen noted that she needed more money. Most unusually the best exchange rate is at the airport. So with two hours to kill we jumped on a bus headed North and hit the airport. Getting off at the stop at the pedestrian overpass, and the cheap restaurants, we headed into the airport.

The exchange rate this year is the best we have had for many years. The combination of the falling peso and the holding US dollar gives us 14.90 pesos to the US dollar, 12.55 to the CDN. Retail prices haven't changed much and the shopping climate is good.

Anyway with time to kill we succumbed to another bargain whilst waiting for the bus. A 325ml bottle of cerveza (beer) cost 13 pesos, however a 935 ml bottle of the same beer cost 24 pesos, a huge unit cost savings.
Back to pickup laundry, ride a couple of buses and back to the hotel for a a couple of hours TV. Cable is available but only a third of the approximately 45 stations are English. One is CNN, one is Headline News and the others are the Networks, But the Warner Channel must be mentioned as it runs "Two and Half Men" constantly. Anybody who had never heard of the "Harper's" before coming will leave knowing too much about them. Five episodes a day is a bit much. Charlie Sheen must be rolling in residuals from this channel alone!

Picture of the Day
Inside the Marina Mall

Eating out!

Sunday day 7
An eating expedition. Lazy day at the pool in the morning and then watched the sun disappear, at noon, for the rest of the day, a rare happening! But it made for a wonderful time for walking. The plan being to discover the Malecon ( thew seafront promenade) and then eat and get on the bus before the last one left at 9pm.

Getting the bus outside of the hotel I noticed a fellow fidgeting with a guitar and wondered if a local musician had boarded the bus. Musicians on buses are a common event. They sometimes stroll the aisle singing to the passengers but on the larger buses they stay up front and sing. The guitar guy started to sing as the bus hit the main highway for the fifteen minute run into Town. Sang about three songs and then moved up the aisle to collect tips. Most gave about ten to twenty pesos ($1-$2 US) not a bad haul but he has to split it with the driver. This guitar guy didn't sing traditional Mexican but chose songs that accentuated his warbling, but steady voice. A good entertainment value to break up the journey.

After sightseeing and then recuperating, on the beach, with the obligatory beverage, led to us looking for "restaurant row" - Basilio Badillo. We finally found it. Eating spots up and down the street. How does one choose where to eat? The ritual is the same; arrive, study the menu (pasted on the wall) intently and then size it up mentally calculating the permutations of price, selection and ambience - move on to the next one. After a few, distance to be walked is determined by the length of the street and number of restaurants. The point at which you break down is reached and you just say get me in here and settle. But the probably before that point you will be enticed by offers of a free round of drinks or a discount off the final bill. But these offers aren't automatic. One has to be reticent and show indecision to get the offer. It usually involves talking to the waiter on the street and then starting to walk off, he will then shout at your rapidly disappearing back (you should walk slowly) an incentive. We obtained, in the place we selected - we settled but it happened that we settled on a good choice, and inveigled a second round of free drinks, for four. "Robertos" was as good as its description in the free map - "A twenty year tradition in PV". Rushing to the bus in the rare spot of rain, which had finally arrived after threatening with severely overcast skies all afternoon, we travelled to the bus interchange at "WallyMart" by travelling thrrough a local "local sight" - the Tunnel. This stretch of road is a highway tunnel carved from the mountain - at the time of construction an engineering marvel. But the best part of the day was yet to come - a very short wait for the last bus!

Picture of the Day - Sand sculpting on the beach

Saturday Day 6
A trip to Bucerias, a small town to the north of the resort and only a two k walk and home to many Canadian residents and visitors. First breakfast at the Red Apple Place (made all of us who live on the Apple Route very nostalgic!). and then a walk around town. The flea market here has all the usual items at average prices and very friendly, not pushy, vendors. As usual the old, "buy one and then see a cheaper one" was in effect. The Mexican Folk Art painted ceramic tile was purchased for $20 - a very good price, only to discover that in another store two for the same price could have been obtained. Still the more expensive one was purchased at a booth where a real artist was working. This fellow - Francisco Pancho, was painting with his pinkie. He usually uses his pinkie or a very small brush to produce oil paintings in the bright Mexican style. Francisco's sister was the creator of the tile, he prefers to paint on wood. Browsing the streets I met a real estate saleswoman (who co-owns Bucerias Homefinders), she left Vancouver as a single woman with three kids twenty-four years, ago to settle in Bucerias, and has never looked back. Anyway she told me about local real estate conditions and things leading to things we soon in the back of her son Bernies's Land Rover to see a low priced three bedroom resale house in a local development. Leaving suitably impressed with both the price and the efficiency of this woman who claims to have a long term rental all ready to move in, instantly guaranteeing a ten per cent return: do the deals never cease?

All worn out by shopping and making deals it was time for R&R. Jump on the bus for an eighteen kilometer ride to Punta Mita. This place is one of those laid back places that immediately evokes images of Morgan Freeman (in the Shawshank Redemption - one of the classic movie happy endings) meeting Andy (Tim Robbins)on the beach. Properly seated in one of the many beachfront bars it didn't take long to suck down beers and pina coladas. A delightful way to spend the afternoon.

Images of Mexico

Yesterday's activity


The images below are in a table that will not line up properly, scroll the page to see them.

	This is the fellow who sells refreshments, out of a bucket, to travellers waiting outside Walmart for the bus. He shouts out the arrival of each bus.
	This is the guacamole guy at Pipi's. He makes each dish of guacamole individually for each table. He makes good guacamole!
	Health and Safety people will cringe at this one, a worker welding without a mask. It is a common practice.
	An intersection downtown, a Mexican urban scene

On the buses

Picture of the day - a sculpture I call "Nose to the grindstone" something we are not definitely doing today!!

Most folks are quickly finding that the cheapest, not the easiest in some cases ans definitely the not the most convenient way of getting around is the transit system. When we started coming here 15 years ago only the brave tried the buses. Most people were put off by the brightly painted people laden buses that ran like bats out of hell. They still run like bats out of hell- throttle/brake quick gear changes and more throttle/brake but the painted chicken laden buses have been replaced by 30 seater modern transitos and the drivers still aspire to F1 racing.
Determined to get from here to there we had our first full day on the buses today. The resort is 20 kms from downtown PV and to get there one has to wait for a bus that is supposed to be on a regular timetable, but at least every half hour. Go so far and then transfer onto another one that will take you downtown. The whole process will take a minimum of 90 minutes and up to a couple of hours. But if you want to save 80% of a taxi fare go for it. In our case we have to have a special bus as only one takes our route and that means setting aside up to at least 45 minutes for the wait for the bus. Once on everything is great. Travel in peaktimes means that half the bus sits in all available seats and the rest of the bus is standing in the aisle - crowded. But think of the money you save and the local experience you are getting.

So today something different

Day 4
Today was Timeshare presentation day. Timeshare ownership is one of the most hotly debated topics in the vacation world. Here's how it works for the average vacationer: arrive at the airport tired and confused looking for the taxi, tour bus or just what to do next. Immediately leaving the customs area swarms of people (called by veterans - sharks, leeches or simply parasites) will approach you with offers of help. "Would you like a free car Senor?". How many free trips would you like for the week?", and many other variants on the theme. These folks are the first wave of foot soldiers in the war by timeshare developers to get vacationers to buy a week in the sunshine or just fractional ownership in luxury resorts.

If you realise that the object of all this activity is too sell timeshare ownership, because there is more profit in the selling activity rather than the resort business, then all these come-ons make sense. Usually each Offsite Point of Contacts (OPC) have a budget of $500 US for each appointment that they make for the next stage in the process. This enables the targets, if they play the game, to make some pretty good deals. One TS developer has been reported paying 5500 pesos ($500US). So how do you get this huge amount of money for about four hours (the first lie - you are only asked to attend a 90 minute presentation, but that changes) of very high pressure selling? Firstly sign up on the street or anywhere these OPCs hang out. People will offer to help you when you are shopping, the maitre d' in the restaurant and even the concierge at the hotel will approach you and sign you up. At the appointed time someone will pick you up in a taxi and take you to the development for the second stage. After presenting ID and a valid credit card a salesperson will then take you into breakfast, and it will be a good one. This is where the games start, the salesguy, and it usually is a man, will schmooze you and put you at ease, find out your interests, tell you about themselves and so on. About an hour of this will lead to the tour of the property and then back to the salesroom. A large airy room filled with small tables, each with four chairs, and couples huddled with the salesperson. Now the pitch starts and it is a rigid formula. "How much do you spend on vacations each year?" "Where would you like to spend your dream vacation?""What if I show you how you can have double the number of vacation weeks for the same money?" With a plethora of pie charts, and tables of figures you are presented with the first top line. The top price for a two bedroom unit. When confronted with cries of "I can't afford that!" "I am not interested!" the sales pitch begins in earnest. The size of the unit will be dropped reducing the top line, bonus weeks will be offered for the same price, affiliations to other timeshare concepts will be given and of course the top line will be reduced, gradually. Just as you or the salesguy will be ready to cry uncle the second phase comes in, "Let me have Joe (Jack, Jill etc) come over and explain the finer points of this deal." The second guy comes in and tries to persuade you that this deal is only for today and it's such a good one how can you refuse it? It is usually about three and a half hours into the session by now and tempers and nerves have been aroused and the state of confusion and annoyance for the non-buyers is at fever pitch. Just let me out of here is the message the captives want to cry out - some do and are quickly hustled out of the room.

At this point, four hours in, the captives may be released and the buyers are now honing the bottom line. Finally, after a third or perhaps a fourth closer, you now have a deal or you are at the gift desk - gasping for air and demanding your "gift" for attendance. If you have a deal all kinds of paper will now flow, and most of it air tight. Just remember that under Mexican law TS buyers have a 5 day 'recission program' to reconsider and the Mexican even have a Government office - PROVICO - to deal with recissions.

So back to us: whenever an owner turns up at the home resort they are invited to "an owners presentation". This is a mini TS presentation but at least you can get a free breakfast out of them. his year the flag should have gone up when the appointment setter gave us a double gift when we hesitated about going. Yep four hours later we staggered out but this time we had OUR deal turned down. It turned out that as a result of a marketing strategy change we now possess something they want - weeks. As part of the inducement to buy, in 2002, we obtained "Award weeks" extra weeks available to us if we pay the maintenance fee. The resort now wants this inventory back to offer to golfers in special packages. The golfers will then be targeted as prospects to buy. So our haggling began and our bottom line was presented and then rejected. So we beat them! - we still get to keep our weeks and they still want them. In two years time they will have appreciated and they will still want them.

And that's Timeshare Day. Back to the pool and then a trip to the swanky Italian restaurant on their dime (one of the free gifts).

Photo of the Day

This is Pipi's restaurant, famous for its fajitas and fast service. Service is so fast they will clear the table almost before you have finished eating. No idling over a meal here! Quite disconcerting!

From this to this








3rd Day Tuesday - the car goes back
Arriving here a car had been arranged so that we could navigate the chores of moving between hotels and getting the groceries in. Sheer convenience ended when the car was returned, today at 4pm, and now it is back to the buses. The hotel is about 10 miles from downtown and the bus service is sporadic to say the least. A very efficient lady at the concierge desk gave us a bus schedule but it was immediately discounted - hey this is mexico. Sure enough standing at the correct place and looking for the ATM bus, as opposed to the regular bus, the supervisor of buses, whose job was to log all the buses in his school book and say something to each driver, asked where we were going and gave the standard response (with a knowing smile), "Ah Playa Del Sol - 10 minutes!" So 45 minutes later it arrived. But it's not snowing and we are not on any timetables. Si here's the drill for the buses _ arrive at a spot where you think the bus will come, usually marked by a sign. Wait until you see the bus you want - all buses have the route painted in marker on the windshield, wave it down, give a small bill to the driver and say where you are going, he will tell you the fare and then you try to find a seat. Get off when you recognise the place you are going to.
A walk around the old part of Town had been on the agenda before the car handover. First It was a coffee in the place that sells and exchanges books and then a visit to the flea market followed by a lunch special of hamburger with a 5peso beer. Cost averaging the normal price of 15pesos brought the total bill down to 10 pesos each (free market principles shall be applied whenever possible). The exchange rate for Cdn is 10.40pesos to the dollar.

Feb 1

A travelling day. We were scheduled to fly to Mexico City and change planes and then in to Puerto Vallarta. Wed did that with only one hitch. The connecting flight was delayed 90 minutes and in typical Mexican fashion we had to discover the details. "We announced it Senor." the man at the Mexicana desk explained - enough said!

Impressions of the day so far:
* Avoid the International side of Terminal 1 - it is not Air Canada and suffers in the lack of amenities. only a mini Tim Hortons and they had neither a full selection of goodies nor would they take a TH card. We only found out after being in line for 10 minutes.
* The plane to MC was full and appeared to be full of Canadian retirees staying for longer periods than the time offered by the tour companies. Thesefolks had rented villas and condos not an all inclusive crowd
* The plane to PV was run by an economy Mexicana subsidiary called "Click" half full and spacioius. BUT the big surprise so far, this economy line served free beer - a rarity in modern air travel.

Just waiting for the snow to stop

We are now a few hours from leaving and the snow is really making us wonder just how early we should leave. For a 7.30am departure one should leave Cobourg at 4am. But now with the snow we may leave at 2.

Meanwhile take a look at this blog - a PV realtor's site here And another graphical website outlining all the real estate developments and aerial pics, an interactive site here you have to click on "Graphical" on the menu.

Dreaming of another day trip

Yelapa is an idyllic village to the south of PV in Banderas Bay and can be reached by water taxi for 220 pesos return. Here is a web site dedicated to the activies, or non-activities of Yelapa. It all looks very good to me.

Google "Budget day in Mexico"

Google "Budget day in Mexico" and the first hits do not have one political reference all about doing Mexico on a budget. Well! that seems like the right priority to have.

• Mexico Travel Budget - Mexico on $25 DayMexico travel budget: how much money should you budget for Mexico travel? How much does Mexico travel cost as a student traveler? Mexico travel is not as ...
  studenttravel.about.com/od/mexicostudenttravel/f/mexico_budget.htm - 29k -

PV at 7.30am Monday

Here is a link to a webcam, not streaming but static enough to show the day as it is - 75 deg already and we are minus 14!