Wednesday, October 30, 2013

2013, Day 302 - Lapping

This morning we woke before dawn to finish packing for an early morning flight trip to the airport.  Sadly, we were getting ready to leave El Salvador but fortunately to meet up with some friends in Puerto Vallarta.  By the time we got to the airport the sun was just cresting the horizon and we had what was probably the prettiest sunrise of our entire trip thus far and there was a chorus of birds to greet us as we collected our bags from the trunk of Luis' cab.

It was a quick and uneventful flight to Mexico City.  We were in the exit row which afforded us a seat close to the front of the plane and tons of leg room.  Our layover in Mexico City was about three hours but we had to go through immigration and customs so that ate up some time, especially as we had to recheck our bag for our next flight to Puerto Vallarta.

Our next flight was on a tiny jet with only three seats for each row but the flight was just over an hour so it wasn’t like we had far to go.  We arrived in Puerto Vallarta and our bags quickly followed.  This is where things went a little wonky.  Our hotel had people to meet us and provide transportation, that much was good.  Unfortunately due to some miscommunication and some confusion on the hotel’s end the cab company didn’t have our hotel information.  Long story short, he took us to the wrong hotel and by the time we got there and figured it all out almost an hour had passed.  Once discovered the error was quickly corrected but at the cost of a fifteen dollar cab ride back to the right hotel.

Finally at the right place the surly woman at the counter checked us in and when we asked about internet access we were told it was seventeen dollars per day for each connected device.  What a ripoff!  Oh well, it is quite obvious that Puerto Vallarta is a big bucks vacation destination.  I think both Francene and I were happy that our plans do not have us staying here too long.  The city is pretty but everything is expensive and crowded, I could eat out at home for less and get more.

But we had a decent dinner with a nice beach view for too much money and afterwards walked along the waterfront for a while.  Soon we saw a church in the distance so we wandered away from the water and further into the city.  It turned out to be Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, it was quite beautiful but hard to photograph because a lot of the surrounding buildings were constructed so close it is hard to find a good angle.
 
As it was getting late and both Francene and I were starting to feel the effects of our early morning we decided to find a convenience store and take cold drinks back to our hotel.  So we jumped on the bus back to Marina Vallarta; the driver was something of a maniac, changing lanes to pass cars, edging past other busses with literally less than an inch to spare, slamming on his brakes to avoid collisions.  We hurtled down the road and even making constant stops we made good time back.  So here we sit, both staring at computers, only one connected to the internet, trying to prepare all of our outgoing communications so we can get the most out of a five dollar hour-long connection.  It is just about my turn and then I am going to bed.
 
 
Canon 1D X, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
16mm, f4, 15 sec @ 320 ISO

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