PHOTO CREDIT: Rob McMahon

I was also really taken aback by how aggressive the vendors on the beach, the time share sales people, the taxi drivers and even the manager at the hotel I was staying at were. It’s not really surprising considering they have suffered the double blow of being ground zero for H1N1 and the economic crisis.

This hasn’t been an easy year for me. We suffered two major loss in my family, losing our parents less than five months apart. I have also struggled through the fall with pneumonia, and the return of asthma that I have had under control for more than ten years. Recognizing I needed a break I took some time to get away to Mexico and enjoy some time just relaxing and finding the space to find my feet again.

I was in Puerto Vallarta this past February with some friends and it seemed like the place to go back to. I found a great suite at a small hotel called Casa Anita. They have less than 30 rooms and I booked one with a large deck so that I could still enjoy the sun if I didn’t want to be around people. The photo above is the view from my deck. This is not the place to go if you are looking for luxury. There isn’t even an elevator, it was 165 steps from the driveway to my door.

From the moment I got there I was stunned by how few tourists there seemed to be. Even on the beach there were lots of empty chairs available at all the beach clubs at Playa De Los Muertos. I was also really taken aback by how aggressive the vendors on the beach, the time share sales people, the taxi drivers and even the manager at the hotel I was staying at were. It’s not really surprising considering they have suffered the double blow of being ground zero for H1N1 and the economic crisis.

This aggression really made it difficult to be relaxed at times. I would just start to get into reading my book and there would be interruption after interruption after interruption. I asked one of the beach vendors that I recognized from the last time I was there how long it had been like this and she said since la semana santa (easter week). Even though there wasn’t H1N1 in Puerto Vallarta people stopped going and this was made worse when airlines stopped going there. Headed to the beach one day there was even a tour salesman that yelled across the street to me to go see what they had to offer. When I said no gracias he seemed extremely annoyed that I wouldn’t even hear his pitch.

All that having been said, I really did enjoy my time in Puerto Vallarta. In nine days I went on a great tour, met some great people and saw whales, dolphins and enjoyed my time at the private beach we were at. I got to read Pema Chodron’s book When Things Fall Apart which I highly recommend for anyone who has suffered a loss.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was dinner at El Arrayan. Arrayan is a type of tree and fruit and they even have one growing in the middle of the restaurant. As the story was told to me, one of the owner’s grandmothers had one of these trees on her property and this moved her to establish the restaurant at this location because of it. They even have an arrayan margarita that is amazing!

The food is traditional Mexican with a twist. For starters we shared hibiscus flower quesadillas, chicken taquitos with a delicious pumpkin seed sauce and the most amazing plantain empanadas where the bread was made with the plantains and they were stuffed with black beans and cheese served with the most amazing chipotle sauce. For my entree I had the duck carnitas. This was the most decadent thing on the menu. I didn’t really care because I was on holidays. We even had the homemade ice cream sampler for dessert. The tamarind gelato was incredible.

All in all another great trip to Puerto Vallarta. If you are thinking where you would like to go this winter I would highly recommend it. They have some amazing deals right now and the locals could really use the support.