Now back to my travels to Puerto Vallarta and more specifically a small fishing town, Sayulita which is 45 min north of PV.
Day 1 (Wednesday, June 27th) :- We had a direct flight from SFO to PV. It is a easy flight and with just around 3 1/2 hrs in a plane not too long. Man, the kids were excited and would not sit still in the plane though, and especially Anu had to work overtime to keep them occupied. I watched bits and pieces of an action movie. I was glad when we finally landed at PV airport which is nice, clean and small. Quite easy to navigate around for non-Spanish speaking travelers as well. I just went to the taxi stand and there were two companies competing to take you. It was quite easy to get the taxi arranged and I was able to negotiate it down to 45 USD. While driving, our driver turns around and asks us where we are from and when we mention California but born in India, his reaction was not many folks from India visit PV. Probably accurate !!! There are quite a few cross signs with flowers, etc. on the side of the road driving from PV to Sayulita, reminding you of the road conditions and the aggressive driving in Mexico. Didn't really bother me as much, considering growing up in India, I have seen much worse in traffic, driving conditions, and aggressive driving; I do know it unnerves American's visiting the place for the first time. We arrived in Sayulita around 5 pm and immediately the kids were in the pool enjoying the pool.
We had booked a three bedroom house in Los Delfines www.sayulitalife.com/losdelfines (the first two days in Rosalera and the remaining days in Playa Amorosa). Rosalera was a nice 3 bedroom house, very well setup, clean and with a huge Mexican flavor which is pleasing to the eye. The house is on the back and has no view of the Ocean (the only house that way). That was the main reason we were shifting to Playa Amorosa (great view of the Ocean) on our 3rd day. For dinner we visited a nice Mexican restaurant, La Terrazola which is just 200 yards from Los Delfines. Nice fresh fish and we had a good view of the sunset. The waiter explained the whole menu to us in Spanish and I understood probably 10% of what he said. Later on we found out he was from Santa Cruz, and was learning Spanish. Glad he tried it on us.
DINNER AT LA TERRAZOLA
Day 2 (Thursday, June 28th) :- I came face to face with Mosquitoes and by the time my kids counted the bites I had primarily on my ankles and feet (around 20) it was three days into the adventure in Sayulita. I did get wiser later on and used a insect spray (was skeptical it wouldn't work), however, it did work!!! So, if you are going during the rainy season or close to it don't forget the bug spray.
Day 5 (Sunday, July 1st) :- We traveled to Central Puerto Vallarta, really the downtown district of PV. It is primarily a long stretch of shops on one side, cobble stone roads, and beach with statues, etc. on the right. Besides shopping (which is the primary reason to travel here) one can para sail as well. There are generally a few folks aggressively trying to get you to visit their store especially drink Tequila. We ended up buying souvenirs and clothes but no tequila. We bought some 100% cotton shirts, pants and dresses from a small shop, where the shop keeper was nice and courteous.
Fun in the Sun @ Downtown PV
Day 6 (Monday, July 2nd) :-
The thing I am most proud of is Anshul became a swimmer in the days he was in Sayulita and I had some to do with it. He started with the tube and by Day 4 and beyond he was swimming on his own. When I was in the pool with him, I would ask him to swim and I wasn't initially sure if he was really taking a breath or just swimming all the way to me on a single breath. However, with me nearly 15 feet away I was convinced he was truly swimming and basically he would doggy paddle to get his breath and swim again. What a great feeling to see your son learn to swim !!!Day 7 (Tuesday, July 3rd) :- The Trip Back Home -> Morning was uneventful except for Anshul and Sheen spending more time in the pool with Anshul perfecting his dives :-) We hired a big Suburban for our trip back to the airport and it was fairly reasonable at $45 USD. I guess being Indian has its privileges as you get generally better rates. One should expect anywhere from 45-55 dollars for the trip. Driving in this big gas guzzling SUV. Anu wants to buy just such a vehicle next year, notwithstanding it will be a gas guzzler and unwieldy to drive. Ideally, we would love to have a 7 seater hybrid (you can drive in the car pool lane, have good gas mileage, not feel dorky in a van, and seat 7), however, the only SUV in this category currently is Toyota's Highlander.
What an eventful trip and interesting trip for us!!! If you are contemplating a trip to a place like Sayulita remember what you are going there for R&R with some activities not the other way around and ideally travel between Nov and May. For me to go back to Sayulita, I got to know that I won't be bitten like 20 times by mosquitoes and the weather is nicer than 90 degrees and humid. The place is fun to stay and you will definitely enjoy the stay if you can overlook the points I made earlier. However, if you are interested in a true authentic fishing/local living experience, Sayulita is not the place. The economy of the place is completely dependent on tourism and other foreigners who have bought houses and setup residences in Sayulita. The real estate prices are absolute nuts and most locals must feel squeezed out. Also, I saw three fishing boats on the beach, hardly a fishing town by my standards.
