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PUERTO VALLARTA |
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By reputation the second of Mexico's beach resorts, PUERTO VALLARTA
is smaller, quieter and younger than Acapulco. In its own way, it is
actually every bit as commercial - perhaps more so, since here tourism
is virtually the only source of income - but appearances count for much,
and Puerto Vallarta, while doing all it can to catch up with Acapulco,
appears far less developed and retains a more Mexican feel.
It lies in the middle of the 22-kilometre wide Bahía de Banderas , the
seventh largest bay in the world, fringed by endless sandy beaches and
backed by the jungly slopes of the Sierra Madre. Its hotels are
scattered along several miles of coast with the greatest concentration
in Nuevo Vallarta , north of the town and sliced through by an eight-lane
strip of asphalt. Just south of Nuevo Vallarta is the new marina , where
you can stroll along the boardwalk and have a look at how the other half
live, on beautiful boats. Despite the frantic development of the last
decade, the historic town centre, with its cobbled streets and white-walled,
terracotta-roofed houses, sustains the tropical village atmosphere.
The town's relative youth is undoubtedly a contributing factor. Until
1954 Puerto Vallarta was a small fishing village where the Río Cuale
spills out into the Bahía de Banderas; then Mexicana airlines, their
hand forced by Aeroméxico's monopoly on flights into Acapulco, started
promoting the town as a resort. Their efforts received a shot in the arm
in 1964, when John Huston chose Mismaloya, 10km south, as the setting
for his film of Tennessee Williams' play The Night of the Iguana ,
starring Richard Burton. The scandalmongering that surrounded Burton's
romance with Elizabeth Taylor - who was not part of the cast but came
along - is often attributed to putting Puerto Vallarta firmly in the
international spotlight: "a mixed blessing" according to Huston, who
stayed on here until his death in 1987, and whose bronze image stands on
the Isla Río Cuale in town.
The package tourists stay, on the whole, in the beachfront hotels around
the bay, but are increasingly penetrating the town centre to shop in the
pricey boutiques and malls that line the streets leading back from the
beach, and to eat in some of the very good restaurants both on the
malecón and downtown. Nevertheless, what could be a depressingly
expensive place to visit turns out to be liberally peppered with good-value
hotels and budget restaurants, especially during the low season (Aug-Nov).
Puerto Vallarta today is one of the gay centres of Mexico, with a great
deal more tolerance for - and entertainment geared towards - the gay
scene than almost any other Mexican town.
The Town
Apart from the beaches , and the tourist shops that pack the centre of
town, there's not a great deal in the way of sights in Puerto Vallarta,
but you can fill a very pleasant hour or two wandering around the area
between the two plazas |
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