Tuesday in Mexico

Tuesday (day 3) was our city tour of Puerto Vallarta. We figured it would be a good activity to do in order to get more familiar with the town and it's history. We started off the tour by driving into the new areas of PV where our tour guide started talking about the different condos and houses available in PV and I thought to myself "oh great another timeshare presentation." They really push the real estate there! Luckily, that part of the tour didn't last very long! After that we headed to the "centro" or central part of town. One side of the street is full of small shops, restaurants, clubs, bars, and any other store you can think of. The other side is the beach area. On the beach were these amazing sand statues. I was able to talk to the guy who creates them, and he told me each one takes about 15 hours to complete, and the larger ones take even longer. They were immaculate, and his attention to detail was incredible. He said he uses a mixture of sand and water and really packs them tight to avoid any damage from the wind. I am sure during the rainy season in Mexico they don't hold up very well though.

Some of the sand scupltures were colored

This one is one of my favorites! Look at all that detail. This guy has some major talent!

The Mayan Calendar. Again, this is all sand! Amazing!

The last supper. Are you kidding me? Incredible.

Also at the centro they had a show were these guys climb up to the top of a pole then swing up side down with just a rope around their waists. It was pretty neat to watch. They also have tons of statues and different places that are great picture backgrounds.

A picture with the guys from the show (which of course cost of a few pesos :)

I don't really know what all the statues were for or meant, but they made for good pictures :)

Our tour guide explained that this statue of a boy riding a seahorse is the symbol of Puerto Vallarta.

After el centro we went to the area they call the "malecon" where we got to walk through the cathedral. It was very different than any other church I had every been in--very graphic depictions of the crucifixion, and it didn't feel right taking pictures of it. But the chapel as a whole was beautiful, and I noticed that even though the city and residents of Mexico are generally very poor, they spend money making sure their church is beautiful and well taken care of.

Inside the cathedral

Also at the malecon is there main area for street shops. There were tons of them, and they all carried most of the same things--pottery, tee-shirts, hats, jewelry, and other souvenirs. I was surprised at the prices they were asking for, and their strict bargaining. Now, I am a pretty good bargainer, and I was under the impression that I would be able to get souvenirs for very cheap, but in PV because there is so much tourism they don't budge as much as you would think!

After shopping we headed south into the jungle and drove around the multi million dollar houses area. Again, our tour guide was pushing the real estate in PV, but it was neat to look at all the huge houses. There were also some look out points where we got some amazing views of the beaches and city of PV.

One of the look out points


The city below

We also stopped and got a tour of how they make tequila (one thing I did learn while in PV is that tequila is like water to them. Every body drinks it, and every body loves it...a love Dan and I do not share. They couldn't fathom it lol!) The tour was interesting though, and it was pretty hilarious listening to our tour guide who was drunk because he sips the tequilla all day!

As our tour guide put it, this tool is the" Mexican John Deer"--it's used to grind the agave plant

Next to Dan is the agave plant that is used to make the tequila

And in case you were wondering, or had plans of making your own home-made tequila here's how it's done...

as Lastly, we drove through a jungle city just south of PV called Nogalito and stopped at a nice restaurant for lunch. Not only was it nice, but it was expensive! It was the only restaurant for miles so it's not like we had other options, and our meal ended up being about $78-- for lunch! But it was a delicious "surf and turf" platter for two, and included lobster, shrimp covered with bacon, sausage, a steak, fried shrimp, rice, and a salad. We learned that in Mexico you don't get free refills (of course they don't tell you this when you ask for a refill). We also learned that the nice bands that come and serenade your table with music are not part of the restaurant and also cost extra! They just come over, start playing, and then ask for $80 pesos (about 8 dollars) when the song is over! Oh well, it was part of the experience, and they were pretty good!

Enjoying our $8 song!

We met some great friends, even though we will probably never see them again. They are from Peru, and I went most of the day thinking they were a gay couple, but it turned out they were brothers! When I found that out I didn't dare say I had assumed they were gay!

On to day number four...