Playas Vallarta

So the decision to head to Mexico next was made. The small issue was we hadn’t spent any time looking at where in Mexico we would go first. As our time in Canada started to come to an end we opened the laptops and found our way back to our trusty skyscanner.com. We were wrong to expect that the cheapest flights would be to the capital Mexico City. The cheapest flights we found were to Puerto Vallarta which is on the western Pacific Coast of the country. And conveniently the cheapest flights also departed from Calgary which was the closest international airport to Revelstoke. It seemed that our decision was made.

After the past 2 months in the winter of Europe and Canada, arriving to a perfect 28C in Mexico was pure bliss! We landed mid-afternoon and were excited about the sunshine, beaches and barefoot living that would be the next chapter of our trip. We both immediately felt more at home.

The airport gave us the first impression of Puerto Vallarta. Endless crowds of American and Canadian tourists! We didn’t realize it at first but now it makes complete sense. If PV is the cheapest place for our last-minute flights, it was likely the first choice for North American residents seeking an easy winter destination south. To avoid the massive queues waiting for the taxis we took on our first challenge of finding our way into town and to our accommodation by local bus. Initially, it was an easy enough walk about 700m out of the airport to the main highway. The highway passed by the entrance, and we found a crowd of very much more local-looking people waiting at a bus stop. From here it got harder. Reminisent of both of our previous times in Central and South America we realised that the local bus system was pretty chaotic. There we were with 2 bags each, and every bus that came past was already well beyond capacity. As we considered ditching the idea of catching the bus and just waving down the next taxi a bus pulled up almost empty. I hadn’t seen the front sign, so I didn’t know if the bus was going the right way. I grabbed my bags and yelled to Jessie, “Let’s go!” With my last-minute decision, I figured that all the buses would at least go some of the way we needed. We could figure the rest out as we went. By absolute fluke, the bus passed directly past where we could hop off. We walked the remainder of the way to our apartment for the next few nights. Massive win!

Finally by about 7pm we had checked in and were keen to get out for dinner and an explore. We were staying in Las Glorias, a quieter suburb than the more touristy Zona Romantica. It's just a short 20-minute walk to the main beach strip. Being a more local area we had passed a few local taqueria’s on our way to the apartment. A Taqueria is simply translated as “a restaurant that sells tacos”. We grabbed a chair in a shed like place with no walls and a fire grill smoking at the entrance. A communal serving bar in the middle had various salads, condiments, and salsas. It was a self-serve arrangement to add to your taco. We bumbled our way through ordering with our limited Spanish and finally kicked back to enjoy a beer and the warm tropical evening air. Mexico, Come on!!!Read more