this morning i drove around tepic for a little while. the civic center is nice & the anthropology museum of nayarit is nice, but small. then, because of construction, it took me 30min to find the way down to puerto vallarta. the mango farms from yesterday led to sugar cane and watermelon farms (with mango trees as well). stopping at one of the fruit stands on the side of the road, i bought 10 mangoes and a watermelon for $2 (…i didn’t negotiate either, so that was probably a tourist price!).

taking a detour from the beautiful and raw countryside, i stopped by the town of San Francisco. from the cobbled streets to the quaint houses, it’s everything you’d want in a quaint mexican town. aside from the beautiful (& empty) beach, the most noticeable difference from the other places i’ve seen so far was the cleanliness (…no strange smells). although the town is ~100 years old, it’s clear that it’s current function is to cater to american tourists: signs are in english, there are tons of real estate offices, condos for sale, etc. There are also incredible beach-front houses which would probably cost $10 million in the US and a hospital. it really is an ideal vacation spot.

next, i drove to puerto vallarta. it’s clear that the government has invested heavily here: Airport, shopping, beautiful statues along the beach, etc. it’s like a more low-key & authentic version of cancun (things are overpriced….but the primary currency is pesos, not dollars; there are beach front hotels…but most are not all-inclusive resorts).