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AHH, MEXICO! |
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PUERTO VALLARTA Puerto Vallarta still has its cobblestone Mexican charm and small town warmth (along with its big American hotels and parasailing on the beach if you must), and English is spoken in most places. Stay in the old part of town (El Centro) and avoid the hotel strip. Hotel Posada Roger is clean and comfortable and costs under $20 a night. In addition to its beaches, there are lots of shops with beautiful silver jewelry and endless possibilities for shopping at reasonable prices, and a wonderful malecon (Mexican boardwalk) for strolling in the evening. For do-ers, Vallarta offers activities like horseback rides to waterfalls, snorkeling, jeep tours, boat trips to secluded coves and to nearby Yelapa, the roadless, phoneless hideout of many an American. The food in Vallarta is great. You'll find everything from street vendor mystery meat tacos to nice restaurants serving some of the finest seafood you may ever eat. CHACALA & MAR DE JADE Mar de Jade (Sea of Jade) is a modest American/Mexican project, part hotel and part social project. You can stay as a tourist, as Spanish student, do work exchange, hold your workshop there, be a doctor volunteer in their free medical clinic in Las Varas, or any combination thereof. Tourist prices are about $45 per day, including 3 great meals served on a patio overlooking the beach, and also including all the beautiful beach and tanning sun you could possibly want. It's a place to get very involved, or a place to go and be, to just hide out. SANTA CRUZ Except for the very comfortable motel Brisas Marina, which sprang up recently like a mushroom, accommodations are limited to rustic thatched palapas, or simple bare rooms. Restaurants are vague, mostly limited to tacos or ceviche on a card table, curbside (depending on the season). There's always fresh fruit, good beans and tortillas, and fresh fish and shrimp. (Note: there is no parasailing available in Santa Cruz!) BARRA DE NAVIDAD You fly direct to Manzanillo (south of Puerto Vallarta) and take the Volkswagen shuttle bus north to Barra. Another quiet cobblestone village, this one is big enough to have several pleasant, low-key hotels and some very good restaurants. Some English is spoken. There is a nice beach for swimming and sunning, and a huge lagoon with little restaurants standing on stilts over the water. Romantic, warm and luscious! ABOUT WEATHER, MONEY, ETC. Mexico's reputation for being a cheap vacation place is still true, although it is no longer nearly free, like it once was. With the devaluation of the peso, the value of the tourist dollar went up considerably. Hurry, go before prices go up again. It's simple and hassle-free to travel to and in Mexico. Of course, a little Spanish helps, but take a phrase book and an open heart, and you'll find that your needs will be met, and then some. Allan Hardman, CHT is an Alchemist and Hypnotherapist in private practice in Sonoma County, California. He recommends The Pacific Coast of Mexico by Memo Barroso for further reading. You can reach him at (707) 528-1271 or visit www.joydancer.com.
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