Puerto Vallarta...or John and Nancy in Mad Max’s Thunderdome!

A Brief Introduction for Those New to this Blog

Those of you who were with Nancy and John during their nomadic year are familiar with this blog, which is part of a larger website. Those of you who were added to our adventures in Portugal, Spain, and France this past fall will be new to this. After reading this blog entry you can take a look around the rest of the website. We'll be adding new info to the different sections, like "Places We've Been" and "Sights." The section "Eats" needs a bit of work so check back periodically to johnandnancy.net

January 9, 2025

We skipped out of chilly, rainy Portland for the winter this past week and headed to Puerto Vallarta (PV). You may remember the name Puerto Vallarta if you were ever sick in the 70’s and stayed home, you probably watched “The Price Is Right.” The big prize winner would have a choice of a BRAND NEW living room set of Broyhill furniture or a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

We used to spend our winters around Cancun on the east coast of Mexico, but now that we are “Oregonians,” we decided to stay on the west coast of Mexico.

Let’s begin at the beginning. After leaving the PV airport, we went to the car rental office. Everything went smoothly until the young woman pulled out a “Rules of the Road” brochure.

The Scary Highway Rules Brochure

When we mentioned that we always drove a car when we’re stayed in Cancun, she immediately replied, “driving here is different than in Cancun.” That statement could not have been truer.

As you can see from the inside of the brochure, there is some tricky maneuvering on the highways.

Try Making a left from the center!

For example, the MAIN highway leading from the airport to our place is four main lanes (in decent condition) that have side lanes, which are often just dirt roads. So, if you’re driving along and want to make a left turn, you must find a cutoff to the right to the side lane, wait for green arrow before turning left or making a U-turn. It sounds easier than it is the first time (or multiple times) you try it.

If you are driving on a two-lane road and want to make a left…. you don’t just put on your turn signal, wait for an opening in traffic, and turn left. You must pull off to the right shoulder (hoping there is one) and wait for all cars to go by on both sides then you can make that left.   Seems like the rules were made by a maze maker…. a challenge to figure your way!

The other trouble is that the drivers all think they’re auditioning for a remake of Mad Max Beyond the Tunderdome! <--- This link goes to YouTube. It might ask you to sign in but it just takes you to a short commercial. Be patient, this is a fun video. Crazy, Crazy, CRAZY!

From PV airport to our place is about 14 miles but, it often takes 60 minutes because of the crazy drivers, the weird road configuration, and the traffic lights that PV, like most cities, have not gotten around to time sequentially minimizing traffic jams.   

After we left the airport that first afternoon, we followed the directions that were listed on Airbnb page for our condo. Wouldn’t you know it, the address was wrong…they took us about eight kilometers past our place. All the while John was driving, Nancy was navigating plus texting the person who was to meet us at our condo. It was getting dark, and we were hungry. We had been told the restaurants closed at 8:00 PM but when we finally got there (at 7:15 PM), they were both closed. Cranky a bit? You guessed it. On our way we had stopped at a grocery store and bought a few things, thinking we would buy more the next day. So, all we had to eat was a loaf of bread and some wine. (Sounds religious for some reason!)

The place we rented, called Bolongo, is a gated community consisting of a large condominium with five pools, a gym, a spa, two restaurants, bars, and a movie theater (that has 10 seats and a big screen), and access to the beach.

Sounds perfect right? Well, close. There are a couple of weird things about this resort. First, it's on the side of a mountain and has different levels, so it makes it a little difficult to find your way around. For example, we park our car on ground level, which is the same level as our apartment. However, in order to get to the apartment, we must take an elevator up one floor to level ‘0’, get off and walk about 20 feet to another elevator, which then brings us down one level to another part of the ground floor again. The first time John went to the car, it took him a while to find his way back!

The other thing is that there is no map of the property nor a written (or online) explanation of the amenities (pools, bars, restaurants, theater, spa, gym)…you simply must explore and discover for yourself. They looked at us strangely when we asked for one. (We finally found the movie theater yesterday after being here a week).

In general, the condo is beautiful. It is only a few years old. It has three bedrooms, three baths, a spacious kitchen, a large living/dining room with floor to ceiling glass doors that open to a large deck that wraps around the two sides…all facing the jungle. When we open the doors during the day, it’s like you are in the jungle itself.

Our Corner Suite

However, as we looked around, we noticed several issues; the first time we went to cook, we saw that the pots and pans were well used with extremely scratched Teflon coatings. We’re used to dull knives but these were so dull, John could not sharpen them even with his own travel sharpener. The coffee pot did not work. The kitchen was also missing lots of basic needs. Plus, there were some stains on the furniture and rugs. This might be okay for a week but not three months.

So, Nancy jumped right in…. texting back and forth with the management company. Long story short, they have gone out of their way to correct ALL the things that were amiss. As we write this, there’s a guy tuning the AC while another guy is cleaning the rug in the living room. They let us go out and buy new pots and pans.

Earlier today our management rep delivered a new charcoal grill, which we didn’t ask for, but so what, we’ll take a new grill any day. (John was all ready to put it together except the directions are in Spanish and he has no tools…so they’re sending a maintenance guy up to put it together) We give them huge credit for going out of their way to make us happy.

A Happy Nancy with her NEW grill

So, yesterday we took a ride to the closest town, Punta de Mita. This village reminds us of our favorite small town south of Cancun, Puerto Morales, where we used to stay. Little restaurants and shops and a small grocery store that surprised us with how many American items it stocked. John drinks bourbon Manhattans. In Cancun, it was almost impossible to find any bourbon other than Jim Beam. Yesterday, in the little market, he found many of the bourbons that are in the U.S. (e.g., Bulleit and Woodford). So, there are no more Mad Max trips to Costco or Sam’s in Puerto Vallarta. Now we have a closer place to buy groceries, wine, and liquor.

Before signing off, our second day here we found a little roadside eatery called Margaritas on the Hill, which is owned by a lovely lady named Patricia (Pa-tree-c-a) and staffed by her partner and son. Her chef is a 30-year-old guy that has been cooking for her since he was 15. Wow, the food was fantastic, and Patricia and her staff were great. We have found our go-to restaurant!

On the menu are several items named after her regulars.

And, they have music in the evening and people get up and dance. We plan to go back in the evening because we love to dance.

Oh no, we just got the word that it is going to rain for the next two days! Why did we leave Portland? But after the rain, we have full sun and 80+ degree days for the foreseeable future.

So, until next time, adios!

NanCee and Juan

(Nancy and John)