I woke up first and had a sneaky look outside the window to find us approaching land so ventured outside to the balcony in my pjs to see we were approaching the port. We ventured into the harbour and I could see the pilot jump onboard as they dont seem to trust these cruise ship captains to navigate entering each port.
As we docked we watched these three guys trying to built a temporary sign below us which must have been for one of the tours and they had all sorts of trouble. It must been like putting an IKEA furniture flat pack together with no instructions but they got there after about 10 minutes of trying.
Once we docked we went to the buffet for breakfast (I did get out of my pjs first) and I went easy today on the consumption as our tour is at 10.00 and we are going to a Mexican Fiesta. This tour costs $149.98 for both of us.
We got the lift down to deck zero and waked off the boat and joined the line for our tour and there was only about 6 people
so we thought we were going to a small mini van but no off we go to the big yellow coach and we only take the first 3 rows and were thinking why is there else on board ? A few minutes go by and couple more arrive and then a few more and soon the coach is full so all good.
The tour guide we had yesterday was a young lady who was a rookie and she needs to improve but today we have a more experienced tour guide with us and he gave a We headed to the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta about minutes from the cruise port and first observations is that it looked to be more modern city than Mazatlan with some big new hotels around. We made a stop and got out of the bus and he walked us along the promenade looking at the sculptures and the Puerto Vallarta sign with the famous seahorse (they are living here in the ocean apparently). We then took us to a nearby courtyard where there were toilets and then to see a nearby church where Kerry got busy taking
photos of the buildings / architecture (we did not bother going inside the church as there was a mass going on).
We then got back on the coach and went to the old downtown area with its cobblestone streets and he took us to a silver and opal jewellery shop which also had rest rooms and they were margaritas (too early in the day for my liking) but Kerry managed to sneak a non alcoholic drink (maybe like sprite ?). We were not interested in buying any jewellery so we had a look at the shops next door and bought a nice bowl we can use for nuts on the front deck at home for snacking that cost 280 pesos or US That was exactly how much cash I had left in my wallet.
We eventually headed off to the Mexican Fiesta. When we arrived we were again escorted to more rest rooms and still no drinks supplied and it is now after 1pm. We soon get introduced to our host who is a family member of the owners and he gives us an explanation as to how tequila is made
from the blue agave plant. There was a building where they showed the distilling process that is used and we then went into a room to sample their tequilas so finally we are getting some hydration but its not water.
I have tried many drinks but oddly Ive never had tequila so I was a little apprehensive and Kerry did not want any at all (like me we wanted to eat at the fiesta). We were shown the correct procedure to have a tequila shot (special breathing technique to avoid breathing the fumes) and then the first taste of the basic tequila and it was nice and made many chest feel warm.
There was another tequila shot offered for one that is a bit older and more refined and was smoother and nice. We would go on to have 6 separate tequila shots over the next 20 minutes with an explanation given as to how they are made and there was this one that had almond flavour that was my favourite.
After this we finally made our way to the festa for lunch and it was a buffet style (something different
!!) and we sat down at a table near the stage area and it was now around 2.30pm so we were starving.
