Pablos Stories

One weekend myself and 3 friends decided to drive over the Andes from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza Argentina. this was an 8 hour drive with stupendous views and a trip that everyone should do at least once just for the experience. I will write about this experience in another post, because this one is devoted to Mendoza and the Hyatt hotel in Mendoza! We have such fond memories of this hotel and Mendoza as well so I thought I would write about it on this blog. this blog is written by a guy named Pablo who has traveled the world and is writing about some of the experiences that he has had while doing it.

This picture on the left is a picture of this stately hotel as you approach the main entrance from the street. It is a grand old hotel with two huge veranda’s out front that are set up for dining in the afternoon and dancing in the evening.  We arrived after an 8 hour drive that in some ways was quite grueling very thirsty and hot. What would be better than to sit on the veranda shown in the picture below, knock back a couple of really cold Argentine beers and enjoy a couple of empanada’s ! That is exactly what we did throughout the remainder of the afternoon.

Casino Hyatt

This Hyatt hotel lives up to the standard set by Hyatt around the world.  High quality rooms, fine dining and a historical presence in an old Argentine city at the foothills of the Andes.  We took time to enjoy the Casino as well on the property and although we did not win while playing the slots, we thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance of the casino. We sat at the bar and talked about how lucky we were to be living in Chile and able to drive across the Andes the way we did.

The Hyatt also has fine dining and of course when you are in Argentina, you have to try one of their famous steaks. Argentina is known for their beef and the Hyatt hotel in Argentina certainly lived up to this reputation. Can you imagine diging into a 14 oz sirloin steak with a baked potato and salad and it only cost $8 US! What a deal this was and at a Hyatt too. I am sure that prices have gone up since we were there, but at the time it was truly a fantastic deal as well as an excellent meal.

Entertainment in the Evening

In the evening they had a band playing and many people came to dance and watch the dancers. The Argentine women lived up to their reputation for beauty and skilled dancers, We were truly mesmerized as they performed the tango and other dances to the music. Talk about being sexy!

Things to do in Mendoza

Although this post is about the Hyatt and how much we enjoyed staying there, we thought we should include some information about the city as well. Argentina is of course Spanish so it is a good idea to know a bit of Spanish if you plan to go there. At the time we spoke very little and had little problems navigating to the city and around the city.

Mendoza City Information

The city lies at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Mendoza is renowned for its wine produce and wineries, and is one of the nine cities worldwide within the “Great Capitals of Wine” network. Mendoza’s ideal location, with easy access to the Andes mountain range and Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Americas), makes it a sports’ haven for adventurers interested in skiing, mountaineering, hiking and rafting.

Attractions close to Mendoza

• Cerro Aconcagua National Park
• Uspallata Village
• Las Lenas ski resort
• General San Martin National Park
• Puente del Inca – Natural Bridge over the Vacas River
• Potrerillos
• Wineries

If you have been to Mendoza, leave us your thoughts and comments. Our readers will value the additional information that you provide. If you leave a constructive helpful comment for our readers we will be happy to provide you with a link back to your own web site.

Visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona is one of the truly neat things to do. You really cannot capture the grandeur of the Grand Canyon in a picture. We have included a couple of pictures in this post to show what the grand canyon is really like.  If you have not made a visit to one of the 7 wonders of the world, then it is high time you did. We have been there several times and we have also hiked part way down the side of the south rim of the grand canyon and it is actually only when you do this that you realize just how large it is.

Ten Miles Wide!

When you visit the grand canyon on a clear day and stand at the edge on the south rim near the grand canyon village, you can see the other side which is more than ten miles away. In fact it so grand that there can be multiple storm systems along the north rim with blue sky in between each. On the day we arrived there were three such systems on the north rim. There was blue sky between them and all across the south rim making for a truly picturesque day. We could see the lightning striking the ground from each of the storms, however they were so far away that we could not hear the sound.

Walking Down the Trail

We walked down the trail for about a 1000 feet in elevation. The trail is approximately 7 to 10 feet wide and used by hikers of course, but also mules that carry tourists down to the bottom of the canyon. We were not too excited to be share the trail with a mule train, and I sure would not want to be on one when they got excited or missed a step! It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sunny day and the short hike.

Note that if you plan to hike to the bottom of the trail, down to the Colorado river,  you need to plan to stay at the bottom of the canyon for the night and you must have reservations as well. There are a few camp sites and there are also is a building with bunk beds. Apparently reservations are needed almost a year in advance. We also need to advise you that unless you are in phenomenal shape, you cannot walk this trail in both directions in one day. It is just too much to try.

Hiking the South Rim Trail

There is also a trail that runs about a mile along the edge of the South Rim that most people will find quite easy and the view is fantastic as well. It is paved so easy for wheel chairs etc to navigate along this trail while enjoying the view. The trail down to the river is of course a combination of gravel, rock and just plain dirt.

Time of Year

The south rim is approximately 6000 feet in elevation and does it get snow in the fall, winter and spring. Summers can be quite hot and of course down at the river, the temperatures rise to very high temperatures in the summer time. The water is still very cold due to it’s origins being snow melt in the mountains north and east of the grand canyon area.

Before you go, check with the park to find out what the typical temperatures are and remember that if you bring the extra clothes you can always take them off if it gets too hot. If you do not have them and your freezing, your going to continue freezing.

If you have been to the Grand Canyon, and would like to leave comments for our readers please do. A constructive helpful comment with a link is always helpful for our readesrs.

My daughter and I had the fantastic opportunity to take an adventure tour which included Donkey riding and much more while in Puerto Vallarta and I just had to write about it. This was an all day excursion and really was a lot of fun. If you happened to be in Puerto Vallarta, look up Adventure Tours. They have a lot of different tours you can take and based on the one we took it is definitely worth the money.

Our tour started at the marina in Puerto Vallarta near were the tour boats dock every day. We bordered the boat around 9:30am and headed out into Banderas bay towards a village / beach called Mismaloya. This was a nice ride and it only took approximately 30 minutes to get there. Once we landed, we then got onto jungle trucks that take you up into the mountains above Mismaloya. These are open canopy trucks that can navigate some of the more difficult roads as you head up the mountain. We drove for maybe half an hour past a tequila factory ( more on that later) until we stopped at the head end of the trail we were  going to take further up the mountain on donkeys.

Riding Donkeys

Now this is were it really starts to get interesting.  There are about 10 of us all together and we are each pared up with a donkey and then we head off further up the mountain. I ended up being the first one behind the trail leader and my daughter was at the back. Well that did not last for long. The guides really liked her and got her donkey running up the trail, passed all of us including  me and of course my donkey not to be outdone, raced after hers. Well all of this is ok, except that I cannot reach the stirrups so I am basically bouncing along on top of this donkey on a narrow trail feeling very precarious, on a trail that is maybe 3 feet wide with a steep drop on my right hand side. I was really wondering if I was going to fall off the donkey and go sliding down the mountain! I did make it but only after holding on for dear life.

Zip Lining in Mexico

Next we suited up to go zip lining. Basically you slide a long a cable that is tied to several trees on each end. The trees can be 300 feet apart across a ravine or perhaps down the side of a mountain into a pool of water at the base of a waterfall. We did all of this, it was really safe and when you plunge into the water it is exhilarating and cooling at the same time. The first time you go zip lining it can be a bit scary, however after the first one it is really a lot of fun. We did 7 different lines and one was almost straight down into a pool of water!

Late Lunch Back at Base Camp

Once we were finished zip lining we headed back to the base camp for something to drink and to eat before heading off by jungle truck back to the marina. Lunch was nice and we got to chat with the guides and our fellow adventure partners .

Visiting a Tequila Factory

Of course on the way back we passed a tequila factory in the jungle and we talked our driver into stopping for a tour. I think this was all planned and expected. The owner of the tequila factory was already for us!

He showed us the agave plants, and cut a piece from the plant for us  to chew on. They are really sweat and really juicy.  Then we saw the fermentation tanks and he explained the entire process to us about making various kinds of tequila.  We also got to sample some tequila of different flavors.

They had 7 bottles of various flavors of tequila which we got to try.  After 7 shots we were all getting a bit tipsy, which is really what he wanted anyway because we were more inclined to purchase some tequila from him.

Interestingly the tequila factory owner had shot for shot with us and after each one he said, ” I love my job” . Not sure how many tours he had given that day , but he looked pretty sober to me!

After our visit at the factory we headed back to the marina, which took us about an hour and a half by truck. All in all a great day and exciting to boot!

Tequila is synonymous with Mexico and Puerto Vallarta lives up to the reputation. Wherever you go, there seems to be tequila being served, so much so that we began to wonder if the Mexicans were trying to loosen up the gringo’s so we would spend more money.  The following are short stories about different places we drank tequila while we traveled around Puerto Vallarta. Tequila is made from the Agave plant shown in the picture to the left.

Tequila and Jewelry Stores

For example one day we followed a bunch of tourists into a jewelry store wondering what all the fuss was about. These were people who had come in on one of the pleasure cruse boats and had the day to explore. We followed them to the back of the store and sure enough we saw what all the interest was about. The store owner was pouring shots of tequila for all his patrons to sample! Loosen them up a bit and maybe they will have a story to tell about how they bought some silver jewelry while sipping tequila!

The Restaurants

The restaurants have a tradition almost, at least that is what it seems like. If you order a meal, it comes first with a shot of tequila. In fact one place we went to provided a bottle of tequila on the table which was about 1/3 full and was free with the meal. Another offered a shot of tequila every time you ordered a beer. The shot was free, the beer cost a dollar! The food was pretty good too.

The Furniture Stores

Now I do not know if all of them do this, but one furniture store we went to one day sure does. I do not even remember the name of it, however it sells a lot of Mexican furniture and it across from the Starbucks coffee shop on the way downtown from the airport. It is a big store and we decided to go visit it after our morning coffee one day. We crossed the street and went inside after browsing some of the large pieces outside.

As I was looking around I happened to come across a shelf lined with various types of Tequila. One of the salesmen asked me if I would like to try some. He said that his grandfather makes it up in the hills in the jungle and that it was very good. It was 10 in the morning and I really did not feel like starting to drink at that time let alone something that was probably the equivalent of moon shine. I respectfully declined.

Another customer admonished me saying that he had tried it the day before and found it excellent and that there was nothing wrong with it. So at that point I really had no choice but to try a shot. Well it was some of the best tequila I had ever tried. Smooth , rich in flavor and not difficult to drink at all. I could have had another shot, but declined because after all it was only 10 am and I usually try to not drink until at least 12!

Tequila Factories

So drinking tequila in Mexico is the thing to do. There are many stores were you can buy brand names, however I have found that the restaurants and shops have very good tequila as well. Tequila is made from the Agave plants and I was fortunate enough to go to a tequila factory one day up in the jungles above Mismaloya.

We were given a small tour of the plant, the fermentation tanks and then we had an opportunity to try seven different tequila’s. Our guide drank right along with us and I don’t know how many tours he had given that day, but after seven shots I was feeling it and he must have been too. We all bought some tequila and then headed on our merry way. Fortunately I was not driving and the bus driver only had two shots. I counted !

The town of Tequila

I have never been to this town, however this town was named after the product or maybe the product was named after the town. It apparently is about 3 to 4 hours from Puerto Vallarta and is worth the trip although we ran out of time before we had to leave.

If you go to Puerto Vallarta, you really should take a tour to Tequila and sample some of the best tequila in Mexico.

The buses of Puerto Vallarta deserve a special post for a number of reasons which we will describe throughout this post. If you  are from anywhere other than North America or Europe, you might say what is the big deal? Many bus systems simply do not measure up to the service and comfort of North American systems. Heck we even have air conditioning in our buses in the city were I live. The Puerto Vallarta city buses are very inexpensive to use and will take you just about anywhere in the city. If you are traveling from once side of the city to another you will have to change buses and pay another fare. With the fares so cheap, it is no big deal.

But Puerto Vallarta city buses may not have air conditioning but they do have a lot more in the way of service, friendly drivers and a safe environment to ride the buses. First, though we  need to describe these buses so that readers will know what I am talking about.  They are typically Mercedes buses that were built to be school buses. The picture at the left is pretty typical of a bus in Puerto Vallarta. They have the route information painted on the windshield and they usually have a large steel bumper on the front to deal with any cars that might get in the way. You have to climb up 2 or 3 steps to get into them and some also have rear exits.  The seats are metal with no cushion at all and the seat backs are often pretty straight. this is not something you would want to ride on for any length of time.

Friendly Service

We found that these buses are usually on time and the drivers are friendly and will help you out if you are lost or need to know which bus to take. The roads are pretty rough and these buses receive a lot of punishment so they do shake , rattle and roll to quote an old expression. It is amazing there are not more accidents with the buses and cars, however I think that any car driver knows he will lose the battle and his car will be severely damaged in an accident, while the bus will be barely scratched. The car drivers stay out of the way.

We also found that at night when it is dark, the driver will often drop you off right at the entrance to your home or condo depending on were you live. We sure do not get that in North America.

Safe Environment

In North America, the money exchange of paying for your bus ride has been taken away and now we use only tickets in the majority of the time. If you do use real money, you must have the exact change or just pay the extra. Puerto Vallarta city bus drivers have a wooden tray with all of the coins and bills arranged in an organized manner right out front for everyone to see. We never heard of anyone trying to steel the money or any incident at all!

It took us awhile to figure out were the bus stops actually were. We found most of them by watching were the buses would stop to let off passengers and take on additional riders. There are simply no bus stop signs so you have to watch and observe. Once you know were the stops are from experience, you just get on with life and enjoy the beautiful weather and the culture.

Making Change

Now what is really interesting, is that if you are the last passenger to get on at a stop, the driver already has the bus in motion, the door closes and he is navigating the streets in traffic while he waits for you to get your change out. When you hand him the exact change he just throws it in the pile in the middle of the this wooden tray I mentioned and sorts it out later when he is stopped for a traffic light. If you need change, you might have to wait 30 seconds while he navigates the street, shifts gears about 3 times and then while driving counts the correct change and hands it to you. All the while you are holding on for dear life and then must find a seat walking down the aisle in this rocking  and noisy bus.

We found that the buses were noisy, they shook a lot, and they were hot, however if you overlook these things, you find that they offered very good service and very inexpensive rates.  I only tour my shorts once on a metal edge of a seat that somehow had been bent leaving a sharp edge. It is all part of the experience of being in Mexico in Puerto Vallarta!

There are lot’s of things to do in Puerto Vallarta. One of them is to visit Cheeky Monkey’s in Puerto Vallarta downtown along the Malecon. Apparently there are two locations now, however we have only been to the original location on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a building that faces onto Banderas Bay and the Malecon. For those of you who may not be aware, the Malecon is a strip of walkway that runs for several miles along the ocean front in downtown Puerto Vallarta.

There are lots of bars and restaurants along the beach as well as in the buildings that align the Malecon. There are also many stores, mostly selling tourist stuff, although there are a few grocery stores as well as schools and jewelry stores if you go a few blocks off the Malecon.

What’s So Great about Cheeky Monkeys?

Cheeky Monkeys is one of these bars and attracts a lot of attention for several reasons. First of all it’s name is unique and kind of engaging. Everyone likes to be able to say they have been to Cheeky Monkey’s. Secondly the prices are really great. Beer costs a dollar and the appetizers and meals are well priced as well. Thirdly it is open  view, there are no windows so you have an unimpeded view of the Malecon and the ocean from either floor. There is no ground floor so you must take the stairs up to the 2nd floor from a side street.

The best part is that it faces west and from the second or third floor you have an unimpeded view of the sunsets on Banderas bay, with palm trees in the foreground and often a ship or two out on the bay. One the things that really endears you to this place if this is not enough already is that while the sun sets into the water, which only takes about 5 minutes, they play music from one of the five tenors. Absolutely fantastic and it brings tears to almost everyone’s eyes.

Stroll Along the Malecon

We would often meet friends at the restaurant, have a few beers, something to eat and watch the sunset. Afterword we would go for a stroll along the Malecon, enjoying the many stalls and people selling various goods. Sometimes there would be entertainment of some sort in one of the plaza’s and sometimes they also had fireworks out over the water.

We found that it was also fun to watch the various people strolling along. Most are tourists, but local people also come out to enjoy the weather and the atmosphere. This is absolutely a great place to spend an evening.

Catch a Bus Home

When we were there the buses would stop running around 10:30. We had to catch the last bus to make sure we could get back to our condo which was in the marina area of Vallarta. We also could easily take a taxi, however why spend the extra money when you can take a bus that would drop us off right in front of the gates to our condo building.

After 10:30, you pretty much need to take a taxi. If you plan to stay downtown and go to the bars, then your only choice is a taxi to get home. I would not recommend driving in Mexico especially if you have been drinking.  Lots of people do, however I just did not want to have to deal with the problems if I ever had an accident.

Golfers should pay attention to this post if they plan to golf at the golf course out by the marina in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! Puerto Vallarta has long been known as a tourist destination and we have a number of friends who live there for most of the year. Downtown Puerto Vallarta is quaint with the Malecon along the ocean and the many bars that line the streets.

North of downtown is the marina area with upscale condo’s and homes that boasts a marina of course, along with a shopping center and a golf course. The marina itself is packed with fishing boats available for charter as well as this is were the luxury liners come into dock for the day. Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be the prime days for docking of these massive ships with their thousands of passengers.

The golf course is slightly further north of the marina and is surrounded by beautiful homes. The golf course, while very nice is unremarkable except for two distinguishing attributes. First there is lot’s if iguana’s that spend their days sleeping in the sun and munching on the grass and flowers that ring the course. Some will grow to at least 5 or 6 feet long and can surprise you when you first see them. Some tourists will mistake then for the crocodiles that also live on this same course.
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Puerto Vallarta is a really fantastic place to visit. We spent 2 months there one year and thoroughly enjoyed the culture and the many things to do there. One of the stories that we like to tell is about our ride to a small fishing village out in the bay. We had to take a water taxi to get there. There apparently were no roads so a water taxi is the only way to get from Pureto Vallarta  to Yelapa.

You catch the water taxi from downtown Puerto Vallarta at one of the small wharfs along the beach. This particular one is popular for water taxis, fishing boats , fishing and also for divers who like to dive off the peer and swim to shore. On this particular day the waves are rolling in at about 3 to 4 feet in height which is not too bad unless you are getting on a water taxi!.

If you can picture a concrete wharf going out into the water about a 100 feet. At the far end it is approximately 15 feet above the water level. There is a set of concrete stairs that descend into the water, which the boats pull up to, to load and unload passengers. Of course these boats ride up and down as the waves crash on shore and they are rising and falling at least 3 to 4 feet for each wave.

Getting onto the Water Taxis

Now picture trying to get on a boat with two outboard motors , open from stem to stern, with benches for the passengers and no gang plank to  walk on. Basically you must time your steps so that you step from the concrete steps that go into the water and step onto the bow of the boat when it reaches it’s highest point. This can be tricky since you only have a few seconds to accomplish this without getting wet or having one leg on the boat and the other on the steps and being spread eagled!
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The Texas Roadhouse chain of restaurants is one of our favorite places to eat and to enjoy happy hour. They are scattered primarily across the US Southwest , although we have seen them in some of the mid west states as well. There is nothing better than arriving during happy hour, sitting at the bar enjoying a few cold beers, some peanuts in the shell and a nice steak with all of the sides at a reasonable price!

Our latest stop was at a Texas Roadhouse in Amarillo , Texas. We arrived at 5:30pm. Happy hour went from 5pm to 7 pm and you had to sit at the bar or in the bar area to take advantage of the happy hour prices. We had several 22 oz beers served in frozen mugs for $3 each. What a good deal!

They also had peanuts in the shell which you crack open and let the shells fall onto the floor.  This is a great way to sit back and relax after a hard days work or in our case a long day of driving. As an aside we were traveling from California to eastern Canada and this was one of our stops along the way. Some people might think that this is messy and not very classy, but it just happens to be a very nice way to enjoy an evening. Of course if you do not want to eat the peanuts, then don’t, it is entirely up to you.
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Have you ever been stuck on the highway because of an accident. Most of us have and most of us have only had to deal with a delay of an hour or two. Well try 12 hours stuck on the interstate with no where to go and no information about what you can do or when you are going to be allowed to proceed.  That was us on Nov 20th on a Sunday night just outside of Albuquerque on the west side. In fact we were only 8 miles from our turn off when the traffic came to a screeching halt.

I40 Heading East into Albuquerque

For those of you who may not be aware, I40 is a heavily traveled truck route that runs from the west coast , through Albuquerque, all the way to Memphis and beyond.  In this area were the accident occurred, it is pretty much desert with rolling hills and not many side roads and certainly no roads paralleling the highway.  So there we are stuck on the highway , 8 miles from our destination. We are stopped in a valley were unfortunately there is only weak cell phone coverage and also limited local radio coverage. It is impossible to get any information about what is holding us up ahead or how long it will be. I even asked a couple of truckers if they had CB radios and if they knew what was going on. Apparently truckers do not carry CB radios any longer, at least the ones I asked do not.
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