puerto vallarte, coastal gem

los amigos club in puerto vallarta
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coming in to puerta vallarta means arriving in the north of the city, near all the huge hotel resort developments. a 20 minute ride in a taxi however gets you to the good stuff; old vallarte, and the "romance district". coming from baja california and it's endless cactii, puerte vallarte is a wonderland of trees, mountains, rivers, and exotic birds. we stayed in a small hotel in the romance district, easy walking to everything interesting to see.

i was surprise when i saw my first gay pride flag hanging from a bar balcony, especially as i had read the mexico was overall pretty gay-unfriendly. but i soon learned that puerto vallarte in general and the romance district specifically are in fact incredibly gay -- and i mean that in the best way possible. gay bars, gay discos, gay strip joints, bondage bars, bear bars (for the large hairy gay men), all existed intertwined with popular mariachi cantinas, restaurants, and other tourist services. "we really like the gays here," one worker told me. "the come and really fix the old places up. they have a much better sense of style." queer eye for the straight hombre?

puerto vallarta street scene
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this was my first experience really exploring a mainland mexican town. coming from baja california the architecture is as different as the nature. instead of the constant concrete-block construction you see in the more poor desert regions, here you see many old and wonderfully designed buildings with a lot of class. many streets are narrow and winding and they climb into the hills, and the views are spectacular.

here i discovered my first vegetarian restaurant in mexico, and what it treat it is! for about $6 american you get to pick from an amazing array of veggie entries, salads, and side treats. there's fresh juices and horchata on tap, and at the end you can ask for a desert --- mmmm! all of this is surrounded by a bright, beautiful painted interior with a great homey feel.

puerto vallarta
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on the third day here my companions got a bit of a bug somewhere, more likely airborne than food related, and spend the next two days being sick. i was happy to run errands to get them safe food and water to drink, as that kept me out of the room and hopefully away from the bugs. when they recovered it was time to head to mexico city, to see rachel off as she needed to fly back to the uk for work.