Saturday morning we woke early to catch the bus along to Puerto Vallarta. By we I mean Bev, who's also on a placement here, Jorge and his sister Vanessa at whose house we're staying, and Arnold, a French foreign legion mercenary who is actually Swiss and as it turns out a complete misogynist (his generic answer to anything he didn't agree with being "That's a woman's view.")
We booked a couple of days off our placements so as to be by the beach for Bev's 20th on Tuesday. Though not exactly dressed for the warmth, having left the cold morning air of Guadalajara laden with hoodies to fight the chill, we all welcomed the beautiful weather and couldn't wait to check in and head to the sea. A haggled taxi ride later we tumbled into the hostel reception, a cool, air-conned lobby with hammocks to lie in and even a mini pool/jacuzzi. The five of us had a six bed dorm to ourselves in which we hurriedly kitted out in swimming gear and headed to the beach for lunch. The landscape of Puerto Vallarta itself is serenely beautiful but it's a little too touristy for my liking, with a multitude of street venders and overpriced beachside restauraunts. Perhaps if they banished anyone who would consider buying an 'I love Vallarta' T-shirt it would be just about perfect. Nevertheless it's only for a night before we head further north up the coast to Sayulita.
Back at the hostel we're joined by our sixth inhabitant, 66 year old Michael from California. Disinterested and tired we exchange hellos and continue to doze, read and shower, whilst Arnold, ever the conversationalist, engages in a conversation about professions. The generic "So what do you do Michael?" solicits an unexpected
"Well kids, I farm marijuana"
"What was that?"
"I'm a farmer"
"And what exactly do you farm?"
Of course it's all perfectly legal in California and turns out he's rather good friends with the sheriff as well.
After a delicious dinner of pizza, which though I objected to on the grounds that we shouldn't be eating Italian food in Mexico, even I couldn't resist, we decided to sample Vallarta's night life.
Like its beaches, the clubs are riddled with tourists and there are various attractions to try and entice foreigners to their club. Still, most places offer free drinks for the ladies so we can hardly complain. There's one called 'Bubba Gump' which is chockablock full of Forest Gump memorabilia. Also a 'Señor Frogs' which has a shop full of souvenirs with their logo on to accompany the bar, and another decorated like a zoo with life sized plastic animals staring down at you whilst you sip your corona. We spend a good portion of the night in a club with swings which, with the assistance of the bouncers, you could hoist yourself up on and swing above the tipsy crowd below. When we finally headed back we decided to sit by the beach a while and stare up at the stars in order to contemplate our lives in true traveller style.