A look at the real Puerto Vallarta

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Geo: 20.6509, -105.215

So many times we see only what we see. Our narrow vision then becomes the total of what's around us. We all do it. We may try not to, but it's like swimming upstream. This trip we've spent entirely too much time around gringos to have any kind of idea of the "real" anything.

But this may show more of Puerto Vallarta then you've seen before, and totally more than anyone staying in the hotels along the Malecon will see. Course, any picture of PV absolutely positively has to include the Malecon--it's just so much of what PV is that I've thrown a bunch more of those in too. We kept being pulled back there.

The house we rented a room in was in a real working class neighborhood. Taxi drivers thought they'd heard us wrong when we asked for Agua Azul, the Colonia (neighborhood) we lived in. On our short walk to the bus stop we passed upholsterers, iron workers, garages, mechanics, wood shops, tiny tiendas, families spilling out on to the sidewalk to eat dinner--visit--cook.

Only two people on our block spoke English and that includes our hostess.

Out our kitchen window we could hear trucks go by selling strawberries, avocados, propane, mattresses, scrap metal, ice cream---almost anything you could want would eventually come driving down that rough cobble stone street.

You want a fish taco? One of the neighborhood kids will run to the corner kiosk and get you one. Need eggs? You buy them by the "each" and they're put in a little plastic bag like a pet goldfish. Do not run with the bag or you'll have scrambled eggs shell and all before you get home.

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Photos

Bus window
Don't know how he could see out of this thing. Plus all the warning lights on his dash were red.

Statue on the beach
The Malecón is blessed with a string of these beautiful statues. Every block or so there's another one.

Bob w/house mates Sandra and Mark
This is on their beautiful new pier built very recently. It juts out into the bay for a grand view of the coast in both directions.

Welcome to our neighborhood
Agua Azul welcome sign on our corner.

Cockroach anyone?
Turns out cockroach is a type of shrimp. Or a way of preparing the shrimp. I kind of turned him off as he was trying to explain--my imagination was not doing good things at that point.

Heidi's friend comes for pedicures
Heidi is still recovering from hip surgery so since it's hard for her to get out, she has some of the finest services delivered. I loved the pampering!

Another day she brought her hairdresser
This service I could get used to!

Comments

[Paul]

Years ago I heard but never bothered to verify that many buildings in Mexico are allowed to deteriorate on the outside because property taxes are determined by someone looking at the house from the outside only. Trashy outside means lower t
axes...I don't know...check it out.Also, one of your comments reminds me of our river cruise in Europe. You'd think that everyone there spoke English and did everything just as in America, but when we stepped outside the "wall" in Milan or Bratislava or Vienna, the world was so totally different from the world that was painted on our itinerary. The world outside the American Tourist wall is the world that I want to experience when I travel, even if it's a challenging world. If I want to see America as I travel, I'll stay in America.

[bobnkaren]

Totally. We keep trying to see the real wherever we go--but it's not easy to find sometimes.A note about property taxes: our friend who's been traveling down here for 40 years says they're taxed on the land, not the house. So you can build
a gorgeous house to within 1" of your property line and not be taxed more than for a paper shack. Maybe that has something to do with finding gringo houses adjacent to tin and thatch hovels. Seems so.I don't think that's the whole answer tho. Like most things, Mexico has it's on way.