Travelojos

The latest edition of Consumer Reports advises travelers looking for last-minute deals to consider Mexico. The magazine noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in mid-May removed its recommendation against nonessential travel to Mexico after the Swine Flu outbreak slowed.

“But hotels will probably feel the impact throughout the summer,” the magazine said. It reported that at the height of the Swine Flu crisis hotel occupancy rates were down by 51 percent. “As a result, hotel rates will stay low for some time.”

The magazine also said travelers considering a winter trip to Mexico should look for airfares now. Some recent fares valid through next spring were $300 or less, it reported.

Photo by Saad.Akhtar (Via Creative Commons)

By Lon Owen

In this installment of the Intrepid Traveler Dispatch, Lon shares the details of a two-week vacation with his family and friends in Puerto Vallarta and Sayulita. After a rough patch with an airline, it was smooth sailing once they arrived in Mexico. Except when they were without electricity and water for one day in Sayulita.

The Trip: 8 days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 9 days in Sayulita (as planned).

Who: Trish my wife, three kids (Mike, Daniel and Emily), and me. Mike turned 20 during the trip and this looks to be our last big family vacation all together. The last week we were joined by our friends Bruce and Dawn who brought the boys’ friend Travis with them.

Pina Drink Vendor in Los Ayala

Why: I had been to Cabo San Lucas about five years ago, but otherwise we had never been to the Pacific side of Mexico.We had been to Cozumel three times together and were originally going to go to Costa Rica for a change of pace. The airfares were going to be quite high and we saw the bargains available through Vivaaerobus to PVR, so cheap that we just couldn’t pass them by.

The kids and I were looking forward to trying surfing in Sayulita. I figured we would spend every day in the ocean on boards, grow our hair long and walk around saying “braugh I am toadily stoked at the bitchin waves”. While the kids would have gone out every day, I found that old bones and muscle tell you no most emphatically. Plus they had more fun on boogie boards.

When: June 11-28, 2009. The start of the rainy season. (I love the rain).

Getting there was: Agonizing. Unfortunately for us, Vivaaerobus decided to stop flying out of Austin eleven days before our flight and canceled. A quick scramble to get another flight through American ensued. (Of course, we had pre-paid our lodging, with no prospect of getting a refund). All it took was twice as much money and a layover at DFW instead of a direct flight. Okay, roll with the punches, smile and adapt.

Delete extended rant about having the flight out of Austin canceled and spending two days of our precious vacation time in a not quite charming Best Western in Irving, Texas. This is about Mexico, right? Breathe, relax, smile, adapt. Okay, I’m better.

I was really surprised when: They explained about turning left on divided highways in Mexico. Uhh, you want to run that one by me one more time. Mas despacio, por favor.Trish – The Sierra Madres so close to the ocean. It was as if there were two scenic vacation areas side by side. The misty mountains couldn’t be captured, you just had to be there.

I realized I would love it when: After exploring Puerto Vallarta, looking for bargains and searching for the recommended restaurant named Polo’s that happened to be closed that day, the waiter in Espresso saw our sweaty, bedraggled condition and said “here is our coolest table”, cranked the AC to eleven, put on his parka and asked for our drink orders. Trish – When we went out to the Romantic Zone at night and strolled and window shopped and went into the most charming store where I bought two crosses.

The best place I stayed was: I was flabbergasted with the opulence of Penthouse A at Vallarta Shores. If we tripped in our living room, we could have fallen into our pool. While the building is showing its age, it was amazing and luxurious. Trish- Casa Sofia in Sayulita, other than the “bed”. The authentic art, the rustic furnishings, stunning brick ceiling, the architectural details with the bright colors, the view from our balcony combined to enchant me. I certainly wanted to stay longer.

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta

One part that could have been better was: The day without electricity or water in Sayulita. It was miserable without fans or the ability to cool off with the shower. The breeze was good but I was sore from my surfing lesson and wanted to spend some time in bed contemplating my agonies.

If I had to do it again I would have: Not left. I have some serious thoughts of getting the last kid out of school and packing my wife and pets up and giving the expat scene a try.

The one piece of advice I have about visiting Puerto Vallarta is: Work on your Spanish. It pays off invariably.

In the days leading up to my adventure in Mexico, I shared my efforts to make my iPhone “Mexico compatible.” Using your cell phone in a foreign country can result in shockingly high “roaming charges.” In one case reported by the New York Times, a U.S. tourist racked up over $3,000 in roaming charges while visiting England and Ireland.

The best way to avoid this is to purchase an international data plan from AT&T, I said. Following my own advice, I purchased 50 mgs. of data the day before my trip.

Unfortunately, I ended up exceeding the amount of data that I purchased by about 10 mgs. The result was a bill of almost $400.

After calling AT&T today, a customer service representative reduced the bill to about $230. He agreed to do this after I purchased the 100 mgs. data plan and applied it retroactively to the time I was in Mexico.

Hours on the Phone. I’m glad the bill was reduced, but I’m still unhappy with AT&T.

Here’s why:

• to “resolve” the problem I had to explain my situation to three different reps and spend about 90 minutes on the phone,
• it seems like AT&T should have the ability to notify their customers when they exceed the data they purchase (they have no problem texting me ads about American Idol etc.), and
• the bill was unclear and difficult to understand.

But even without considering my international data hangover, I didn’t really need to access the Web from my iPhone in the first place. I mostly used it to check my e-mail. My wife and daughter used it a few times to log into Facebook. It didn’t seem like we were online for a long period of time.

Airport WiFi Charges. After paying for the international data plan, I wasn’t willing to pay extra to access the WiFi at the airport.  At Washington International, a WiFi “day pass” costs $8. During a stopover at Houston, it costs $5 for one hour of Internet access.

There was one time when I felt like I really did need to use the Internet. I needed to book one more day in our hotel and checked the best available rates on Trip Adviser. But, I could have easily done this at an Internet cafe down the street for a few pesos. The hotel ended up giving me a really low rate even without being presented with this information.

So on my next trip abroad, I’m going old school. Forget e-mails, if you’d like to stay in touch I’d be glad to send a post card. Or, better yet, I can share my interesting experiences with you on Travelojos when I return.

Have you had any international cell phone or Internet snafus?

American citizens should defer all non-essential travel to Honduras until further notice, the  U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa recommended today in a public announcement.

The notice was issued in response to the events  surrounding the coup of Honduras President Manuel Zelaya.

The government of Honduras has imposed a curfew from 9 pm June 29th to 6 am June 30th, the notice states.  “The Embassy strongly recommends American citizens abide by this curfew.”

But two Latin America experts said on NPR today that the crisis shouldn’t deter tourists from visiting the country as early as this weekend.

Radio Show. On the Kojo Nnamdi Show Dan Erikson, Senior Associate for U.S. Policy & Director of The Caribbean Program, Inter-American Dialogue and Heather Berkman, Latin America Associate with The Eurasia Group, discussed the coup in Honduras and the events that precipitated it.

Someone called into the show asking if she should cancel a July 4th vacation to Honduras.

“So far we haven’t seen any spikes in violence” that’s related to the coup, Berkman said. “We know there’s been some limited protests in the street such as burning tires in front of the presidential palace but we haven’t seen any clashes between Zelaya supporters and those in the government at this point.”

Avoid Hot Spots. She said she would advise tourists to avoid some of the hot spots where protests might be held, but added that she believes that it’s generally safe for tourists to travel in the country.

Erikson agreed. “Don’t cancel your trip. I would, however, watch the news closely,” he said.  He advised the caller to look out for any advisories put out by the State Department or other organizations.  “Always with traveling in a strange country, you need to have situational awareness,” he added.

For a U.S. expat’s commentary on what’s going on in La Ceiba, Honduras, check out the blog La Gringa’s Blogicito.

As much as I enjoy Mexico, the thought of visiting Mexico City still sends a tremor of fear down my spine. This is especially vexing because the city has become increasingly intriguing to me over the past year or so.

But regardless of whether my feelings are rational are not, I’m in pretty good company when it comes to fearing the Distrito Federal.

Even David Lida, a former New Yorker who wrote a critically acclaimed book about Mexico City, admits that it took him about four years to work up the courage to go there.

Foreboding. The constant undercurrent of foreboding that Mexico City evokes, reminds me of the New York City of my youth in the 1970s and 80s.

As a kid from the suburbs, riding NYC’s graffiti covered subways put me in a state of hyperalertness. Besides all the bad news, movies such as The Warriors (gangs fighting in subways) and Fort Apache the Bronx depicted the city as a war zone.

Braving the Fear. But enjoying the Big Apple’s spectacles was well worth it–even if I did so with one hand on my wallet and an eye toward the nearest exit.

The same can be said for Mexico City today.

In his final post for the blog Uncovering Mexico, Austin-American Statesman reporter Jeremy Schwartz said one of the biggest challenges to living in Mexico City is fighting off paranoia. He explains:

You see friends robbed and assaulted. You hear of far worse in the local papers. You lay in bed at night and plot escape routes. You keep a wooden stick studded with sharp nails in your bathroom.

But he says that you can’t give into the fear.

To do so is to miss out on the carnival of experience available in this unique city. Here you can catch a Klezmer band playing in a 17th Century building at 2 a.m.; find exquisite street tacos and gourmet fusion cuisine on the same block; wander through labyrinthine markets

Hopefully, I’ll overcome my fear and visit Mexico City soon. Like the New York City of my youth, there are just too many reasons to go there–even in a slightly paranoid state.

Where are you working up the courage to visit?

Photo by joseloya (Via Creative Commons)

People worry about being robbed or swindled during a vacation. But our biggest problem during our trip in Mexico last week was trying to prevent people from paying for our snorkeling trip and other activities. Why would we stop someone from doing this? The “catch” was having to listen to a 90-minute sales pitch about buying a time share.

Buying a time share is not on my list of priorities. But I may have signed on the dotted line if the intensity of the sales presentation matched the pressure from all the resort’s agents hawking us on the street.

The saga began within minutes after my wife and kids and I set off for our maiden walk to the town’s scenic boardwalk or “Malecon.” We made it about 30 feet from the hotel when this man popped up out of nowhere and greeted me with a hearty welcome to Puerto Vallarta and a handshake. After exchanging pleasantries, he ushered us into his office directly off the sidewalk. How long were we planning to stay? he asked. Had we signed up for any excursions yet?

Harmless Questions. They seemed like harmless questions, so I told him we were in town for about five days and we were interested in going snorkeling among other things. He then described a boat tour that included breakfast, lunch, free drinks, snorkeling, and a visit to a remote beach. This was just what I was after. Even better, he said this trip would only cost us $35 per adult and half of that for our kids.

As good as it sounded, I told him I wanted to sleep on it. He then reduced the price to $25 and offered to pay half the cost of having my kids swim with dolphins if I signed up on the spot.

But, I told him I’d still rather wait.

Responding to my apparent skepticism, he explained that he represented a resort that sold time shares. The resort was willing to reimburse half the cost of a number of our activities in exchange for our promise to listen to a 90 minute sales pitch on purchasing a time share.

I told him I still wasn’t interested and we continued on our walk down the street.

Tequila! After walking a few blocks, we went into a tequila store. My wife and I accepted the salesman’s invitation to try a shot of coffee-flavored tequila. But even before the burning sensation left my throat, he started asking me if we had signed up for any excursions yet. He was also looking to help subsidize our excursions in exchange for a time-share sales pitch.

Leaving the store somewhat exasperated, we pressed on. By this time, we simply ignored all the inquiries about the length of our stay etc.

On our way back, we stopped at an ice cream shop. After I placed my order, a young man started asking me about our trip to Mexico. I told him how much we enjoyed Guadalajara and some of the sights we saw there.

Eventually, he asked me how I liked Puerto Vallarta. Pointing to a fairly large plastic name tag on his shirt, he explained that he was with the Mexican Tourism Board. “We specialize in complaints,” he said. “Let me know if there’s anything that’s bothering you.” How do you like your hotel? he asked.

Sales Pitches. “The hotel is fine,” I said. “But there is one thing I’d like to complain about: all of these time share sales pitches are driving us crazy.”

After acknowledging that he had heard others mention that problem, he asked me about our plans. “Well, we’d like to go snorkeling,” I said.

“That’s great,” he exclaimed. “It just so happens, that we offer that trip for free.” It turned out that he was representing a resort selling time shares too.

Back at the hotel, my kids noticed that I seemed a bit despondent after our experience. “Are you still going to blog about Latin America?” they asked. “Maybe it’s time I started a blog about Germany,” I said.

The next day we paid the full price of our excursions with the hotel’s travel agent. After having been solicited by everyone in town the night before, we walked down the Malecon in peace.

As the only diners on the roof top terrace of the small hill-top restaurant in Mexico, my family almost had the place to ourselves. The sole exception was the Mexican couple who owned the place and lived there. But after the woman’s second or third trip up the steep stairway from the kitchen to attend to us, I began to feel like she was a Mexican aunt I never knew about.

After we finished our meal and listened to our son and daughter’s banter, the woman gave us a tour of her kitchen and showed us some black and white pictures of what the town looked like in the 1960s.

The $35 tab for our meal and drinks seemed like it was from the 1960s too.

This didn’t take place in some obscure pueblo, but in Puerto Vallerta–one of the top three tourist destinations in all of Mexico.

Lingering Misperception. It also sums up why this is such a great time to visit the country. Mexico appears to still be suffering from a lingering perception of danger. Having yet to completely shake off the stigma from the Swine Flu scare, Mexico is seeing less visitors than usual during its slow season. Many people in the U.S. still seem wary of visiting the country after the onslaught of negative publicity earlier in the year about the drug-cartel crisis.

But from what I saw, there is little to fear and much to be gained visiting there. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures this out too. Some already have.

The fellow who sat next to me on my flight home had just purchased a condo in Nuevo Vallarta. He said the down economy, combined with the over-hyped press coverage of the country created a perfect storm for buying real estate in the country.

His thinking reminds me of legendary investor Warren Buffet, who said the time to “be greedy [is] only when others are fearful.”

Low Prices, High Exchange Rate. For those looking to make less of a commitment, great deals await on hotel stays. The low prices are well worth the snide remarks about the Swine Flu that you’ll likely endure.

Looking for courage? Think about how much farther your travel budget will go at the exchange rate of about 13.5 pesos to the dollar. This is up almost 25 percent from the exchange rate last July, which was slightly less than 10 pesos to the dollar.

Besides the financial incentives, you’ll likely receive high quality service. It seems that almost everyone involved in the tourism industry in Mexico is acutely aware of the negative press their country has received. The taxi drivers, hotel staff, waiters and just about everyone else we came across throughout our trip was exceedingly courteous.

So, when it comes to Mexico, hurry up and be greedy while there’s still time.

Like the song says: I’m headed down old Mexico way. Thankfully, unlike the song “Old Mexico Way“, the “Federal B.I.” isn’t chasing me and I’m not “prison bound.”

Instead, I’ll be enjoying a long overdue vacation in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta with my family.

I’ll  keep a lookout for new experiences and insights to share on Travelojos when I return.

The next post will be on Tues., June 23.

In the meantime, I’ll be sending updates via Twitter on some of the more interesting aspects of my adventure. (Follow Travelojos on Twitter at @Travelojos).

The break comes at an auspicious time. There are now exactly 100 posts on Travelojos since it started on Dec. 27th.  Here are some of the most popular ones so far:

• Tips for Transitioning to the Second or Third World
• Colombia’s Most Potent Import: Happiness Via Pedestrian and Bike-Friendly Urban Planning
• Taste Just Like Home? Blame Globalization
• English Complicates My Second Language Attempts
• Seven Surprising Facts About Latin America

Photo by Esparta (Via Creative Commons)

To…endure the betrayal of false friends…This is to have succeeded–Ralph Waldo Emerson.

To most English speakers, Spanish can seem like an accessible language. Many times finding the right word is as easy is adding an “o” or an “a” at the end of an English word. Take:

• banco (bank),
• música (music), and
  
• telefono (telephone).

But there are plenty of cases in which seemingly familiar Spanish words mean something entirely different than we would guess. When traveling abroad, this can lead to making inappropriate remarks to people you’ve just met. A mistake like this is enough to make a person cry out “estoy embarazada” (I’m pregnant–oops!).

Oh, and that weirdo staring at you in the bar is not likely to leave you alone after hearing you tell your friends that you think he’s “bizarro” (brave).

These words with entirely different meanings than we would guess, are called false cognates or (falsos amigos).

Here are some more examples from some of my Twitter friends:

• “sensible” means sensitive, not sensible @jessamyne.
• “educado” is “polite”, not “educated” @cancuncanuck.
• “cínico” means liarly, not cynical (at least in Chile) @bearshapedspher.
• “compromiso” means commitment or obligation, whereas “compromise” in English is quite different @RiverGirlCancun.

Do you have any examples of false cognates? En absoluto? (Absolutely not?)

Here are five practical tips to ensure that your next journey goes smoothly:

Find a good deal on an apartment. If you’re planning to visit a month or two, renting an apartment will be less expensive than staying at a hotel. The Family Hack blog tells you how to find an apartment and use your temporary stay to negotiate a cheap rent.  The basic strategy is to begin your trip at a hotel. From there, you check out the local newspapers listings for apartment rentals. Don’t understand the language? Get the hotel staff to help you.

Keep key documents on hand and quickly access important information. Tickets, money, passport, address of destination, and prescription medicines are the five key things you need to keep on hand while traveling, according to the 43 Folders blog. Also carry a paper in your wallet that lists important numbers such as your health insurance id, credit card company phone numbers, and passport and driver’s license numbers.

Use your cell phone camera to never forget your hotel room number or which rental car is yours. You get the picture? This blog suggests numerous ways to use your camera phone to boost your memory.

Document your travel expenses. Check out this tutorial the corporate hack blog on implementing a foolproof system for saving all of your receipts.

Know how to say key emergency phrases in another language. When you’re under pressure, is your Spanish as shaky as mine? If so, this Web site suggests translating key emergency phrases beforehand. Phrases to know in advance include travel classics such as: “help”, “stop”, and “I need a taxi.”

Photo by Saad.Akhtar