Palma's Place

Tropical Storm Kiko

On Wednesday night, about three days before I was to leave, I was having dinner in Barra when a huge storm roared through town, causing a blackout and flooding the streets in Melaque.  The storm in Barra pointed out how exposed the area is to the weather.  A month before my trip, the region was hit by heavy rains at the outer edge of a hurricane that hit in Acapulco and then Baja California.  These rains sent several feet of floodwaters into Melaque and the aftereffects could still be seen in town. 

Anyways, the next afternoon, Brenda and the owners of La Paloma, Richard and Nancy, both suggested I consider leaving early because a tropical storm was due to hit Manzanillo and Melaque on Saturday, when I was due to fly out.  Since Alaska Air only flies out of Manzanillo twice a week, a cancelled flight would have caused a long delay in getting out.  They urged me to go to Puerto Vallarta to get a flight. 

Initially I thought of sticking it out, but in the end I decided to see about changing flights.  I got a flight out of PV on Saturday.  On Friday I caught a bus at 10am and went on a five hour ride up highway 200, a two lane, paved road in pretty good shape.  It was a great trip with a chance to see many of the small towns along that part of the Jalisco coast. The storm eventually turned out to sea on Friday, so the escape was not necessary.

The bad part was Puerto Vallarta.  I tend to avoid touristy places because they are so crowded and touristy.  I was given the names of several good hotels in the old town of PV.  I picked one and told the taxi driver at the bus station to take me there.  Playa Los Arcos Hotel and Suites Beach Hotel was a dump, with poor service, mediocre food, and terrible rooms.  I guess there is another hotel, Los Arcos Vallarta, a few blocks away that is supposedly better.  Since I was there for only one night, I decided to just put up with the joint.  Here is a review I wrote of the place on tripadvisor.com.