Christmas In Puerto Vallarta

I have been seriously lazy about adding this blog, yes I know Christmas was a while ago but I have been busy, a little thing called the Olympics came through town.

Puerto Vallarta is a great place to spend the holidays. This is the first time I have been in a tropical place for the holidays and I highly recommend it. It was a little weird hearing Xmas carols while sweating on the beach, especially white Christmas.

This trip I opted to stay at a new hostel that just opened up. It is part of the Vallata Sun Hotel. The location is great, it is in old town, a block from the beach just up from Olas Altas. The hostel is run by a couple of Mexican nationals who are both backpackers themselves. In their off season they hit the road on their own adventures, they have been to 40+ countries and are a wealth of information. Due to this they know what it is backpackers want and need in a hostel. They are great people, due to the holidays and most people being away from home on Christmas eve they cooked a whole Turkey diner with all the trimmings for the hostel guests (at no extra charge to them). They also put candy canes and Santa candies on all of our bunks. A very unexpected and thoughtful touch and one that everyone there appreciated. Cost of a bunk is $17.00 a night and includes a breakfast of toast/bread, cereal and fruit. An excellent value.

Christmas in Mexico is celebrated on Xmas eve, that is when the big masses are and when the families get together. My mom and her husband live 6 months out of the year in PV so for Xmas eve we went to a restaurant called Que Pasa. As part of the payment for diner, people had to bring a toy for the local kids. One of the owners dressed up as Santa and there was an elf. Pinada's are big in Mexican celebrations so they had 3 of them for the kids, a reindeer, a santa and a Christmas tree. We all had a great time celebrating with the local kids and their parents and it was great to see them whacking away at the pinata.

On Christmas eve a lot of the streets in the local hood are closed to cars and families pull out BBQ's and there is dancing and partying. All in all a good time was had by all. Because PV is a tourist town most shops, restaurants and bars are open during both Xmas eve and Xmas day.

I am currently on another adventure. I started in Costa Rica and in 3 months I fly home out of Lima Peru via New York. If you want to come along the link to the new blog is http://backpackingcentralandsouthamerica.blogspot.com