Last year when I blogged about Banderas Bay, I said I didn't care if I ever saw Puerto Vallarta again. The gigantic cruise ships, the mega supermarkets, the crowds of tourists, the enormous hotels and condos of the Hotel Zone made me feel more like I was in Miami than Mexico.But I take it all back. Beyond the Hotel Zone and over the river lies another Puerto Vallarta that I can still appreciate, and that's where I went yesterday with my friend Wendy of Sol Mate. The bus from La Cruz takes a sweaty hour to get to Old Town, so we hit the beach as soon as we arrived at the end of the line.
Right away we spotted some young men working on large-scale sand sculptures. Part of their job is to periodically spray their creations to keep them from drying out and disintegrating. Next we saw a man on the beach valiantly trying to balance large rocks on top of each other, making his own sculptures. I wondered if he'd ever dropped one on his foot.
Further on were a number of whimsical statues on the Malecon, including a grouping of bronze "chairs" where you could sit and look out to sea. Better choose a cool evening to do the sitting, though, because the bronze soaks up the sun and gets hot. Wendy gamely perched on one so I could get a shot.
Around the corner and up a block stands a church with a unique steeple. Unlike most churches I've seen in Mexico, it seemed hemmed in by stores and offices surrounding it.
Unquestionably, Old Town PV is almost frantically commercial in spots, with street vendors trying to entice los gringos ricos, and it takes an effort to tune them out. But, after all, everyone has to make a living, and everyone was good-natured about our refusals, with one exception: a woman in the Mercadito who bitterly mocked our "No, gracias."An older gringa remarked to me, standing in front of a beautiful display of Huichol beadwork, that she felt guilty because she couldn't buy more. Occasionally we'd see an Indian artisan quietly at work on his beading or weaving rather than trying to hawk his wares, and a discreet box for tips was set out for those who wanted to photograph him.
After a couple of hours of sales pitches, and some shopping for Huichol jewelry and Tarahumara baskets, we were ready for some serenity. We found a suspension bridge over the river, leading into the downtown park, which was like another world. We passed a statue of director John Huston in his stage chair, pondering his next scene. Next to the Cultural Center, there was a peaceful place to enjoy lunch, and chat for a while with friends from Black Dog who passed by, while listening to student musicians practicing nearby.
Our expedition took all day, since we weren't in a hurry and knew our way home: catch a bus to Walmart, get off and catch another one to La Cruz. We must have walked miles, and talked for hours, yet it seemed only a little stroll and a brief conversation. True, Puerto Vallarta isn't a place I'd want to visit frequently, but there were treats for the eyes everywhere, as you can see from these photos. I have lots more but the upload time here at the marina is agonizingly slow, when it works at all, so I'll have to pop them in as I get time.