Egypt4u

On my travels to Mexico and El Salvadore (just realized I never posted these photos!) I've always been amazed at how shabby some of the Catholic Churches are on the outside opening to jaw dropping splendor on the inside. Same same with Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in downtown Puerto Vallarta. Was rather problematic getting a photo from the outside as the sun was directly shining into my lens but I managed.



Later in the day when I passed back I was able to get a better photo of the top spire which is quite the "tourist photo" of a 'must take' when you're in the city.



As per the tour guide the church was built starting in 1903. It is unique in that the area was extremely poor and building material very difficult to find and locate. The priest urged the people to bring whatever material they had to complete the church and accordingly the outside is made up of quite a mod podge of different materials from rough rocks to sun baked mud bricks to red clay bricks. You can still see the different materials on the outside of the church.

On entering it was immediately beautiful with super high domed ceilings, chandeliers hanging, gold trim, statues and icons, colored glass windows









We literally had ONLY 5 minutes inside this church which wasn't nearly sufficient for me but I did mange to snap quite a few photos trying to capture the details of the building and architecture. Can't help but love buildings!

The paintings were none to shabby either



There was very little begging in this area however this elderly man was waiting outside the church hand extended begging. I didn't get it in the photo however he was wearing a sign printed officially on an 8x10" piece of paper by the city sanctioning him as an "official" beggar. There was also a handicapped man wearing sort of a uniform at a street crossing with a whistle. He blew the whistle at the pedestrian crossing to stop traffic. He also had an official sign hanging about his neck from the city designating that he was approved to be a crossing guard and it was ok to give him 'tips.'



This lady was quite typical of the street vendors. She spoke very broken English and did lay claim to making these dolls to sell.



More of my trip to come

Typical city street - Puerto Vallarta. Many businesses below with families living about their stores above.







The every present street vendors. One man even had a watch repair shop on a lamp pole.









City buses - not the most comfortable at all!



Lots of stores waiting for tourists

Mexico is a very colourful country - colour colour everywhere and especially in the flowers. Not too sure of the names of many of them but I really do enjoy their colours



These were often floated in a glass bowl in water


Bird of Paradise




This was somewhat like an amaryllis. Nobody could tell me the name. The colours were vibrant.




Staghorn fern


Ginger




Bouganvilla







One of the most beautiful delicate flowers I've ever seen. It was called a "Fake Orchid"

Lovely lovely pictures LLL Not what I had expected. My vision was of somewhere very touristy but that looks very similar to mainland Spain when you get away from the tourist areas.
SO much colour and the flower pictures are beautiful. You might have left the Fuji at home but the Nikon was performing very well.
I like the people on the street vending and begging. As I have mentioned elsewhere, they are my kind of pictures, and the church is SO beautiful inside, typical of many Catholic churches throughout Europe.
Thanks for sharing some great pictures and telling us about your trip to Mexico. \i think it is a bit too far for us now but you have got me thinking.

Great photos LLL, glad you had one camera with you even if you forgot the new one the pics are lovely

The church is beautiful & the flowers so vibrant, I especially like the Amarylliss looking one

Just a few more random photos and tidbits of interest

This is a sand sculpture on the beach. The Mexican artists come to the beach at low tide and make these phenomenal sculptures, granted, for the tourists in tourist areas and they have have their buckets out for 'tips.' The work is very detailed and highly intricate and sadly gets washed away daily once the tide comes in



On my (ahem) City Tour (and I ahem as I booked a City Tour to see the churches, buildings and then got hauled off to a Tequila Factory) we were drive way out into the country to a Tequila Factory. The land itself was rocky and looked like it had been just carved out of the jungle and these agave plants just randomly planted here and there. The harvesting is to go out with what looks like a round tipped shovel and manually dig and hack these plants back. The work has to be back breaking



This is an agave split open as the inside core is what is steamed and boiled into liquid for tequila



The original grinding stone that is now decorative with the new distilling equipment







The final product proudly displayed



I have to admit I wasn't really too interested in the Tequila Factory discussion or tasting tequila or learning the process of distilling anything (but I think most of the rest on the tour were as the tasting of multi-flavoured tequila went on for quite a while. I was more interested in playing with the donkey outside which is also where I came across the amaryllis flower, old saddles, a mule etc



I did see this old old photo hung on a wall so I took a photo of it. Seems it was from early 1900. I quite liked seeing the clothing and how early Mexico must have looked.



I went to one evening show that was phenomenal. Started with a 50 minute cruise across the bay in the evening to arriving at what I could describe as "Survivor's Island" type place. All the paths lit with candles and torches. It was dark and only 3 photos turned out and once inside we were not allowed to photograph but the entire production was set into a natural setting of mountains, trees, hillside. Can't say enough about the music and dance and the meal afterwards was pretty fantastic too.







Lastly almost every meal starts out like this and every restaurant in Mexico has a flute & guitar playing musician who strolls the tables playing actually quite melodic music. Nobody in Mexico is aggressive re: tips/baksheesh as in Egypt but any donations for something done are never turned down





And now to prepare for my next venture out



Adios Amigos & Amigas - Vamanos!

More lovely pictures LLL to give us a flavour of Mexico. The old photo is dated 12 June 1911 which would fit with the car, I don't know what it is but am interested it is right hand drive.

We have street entertainers from Mexico and South America who also play two instruments at once. Now that is a real skill.

I like the 'bottle chimes' or whatever they are called. Quite nice for him when he is tuning them, a little sip here and a little sip there.

Looks as if after a bad start things turned out OK.

More fantastic photos.......I do like the stonework ....thank you for sharing

I am a little late in commenting LLL, but all the pictures so far are really good, full of colour and loads of interest. I particularly like the flowers, lovely vibrant colour that make me long for Summer. Glad you had a good break and are safely back home again, no doubt planning your next sojourn.
Those sand carvings are really interesting and seem to be a popular attraction, I was browsing a site near to my own holiday destination and they had a display of sand images some which looked amazing. Out of interest, I thought I recognised the sand image as soon as I saw your picture, it is a replica of the large stone slab that covers the tomb of ‘Pical’ one time Mayan ruler of a place called Palenque in present day Mexico.

Here is a photo of the actual slab, so you can see how good the sand carving actually is for detail :

As for the old photo I also found it quite interesting. Nobody spoke sufficient English to tell me anything about it other than to smile, agree it was a photo and was old. This one was also hanging in a frame at the Tequila Factory, seems to be roughly of the same age as the other photo but had no writing on it to indicate anything historical.



I've enjoyed Mexico as the weather is mostly warm to hot & sunny. Everybody IS polite and friendly. Always a smile. I have yet to come across a Mexican having a rough day.

Mexico is pretty poor. Can't compare it to Egypt but I'd say the average guy on the street is working hard on a daily basis to get by. There is not however any of the super aggressive soliciting for tips and tips seem to be expected for normal things i.e. to a waiter who served a meal, to a taxi driver, to the housekeepers who clean up your room. I remember in Cairo being in a restaurant and when I went to the loo was highly confronted for not tipping the person, a young boy, who let me into the WC. Even having to hand over $$ to get a slip of toilet paper in a public bathroom I find goes against the grain.

Am not saying that in the tourist areas some of the touts aren't there as they are but they haven't gotten to the high level of pressure the touts in Egypt have achieved.

Years ago everybody who went to Mexico was always on guard re: Montezuma's revenge. Nowadays I think, in the tourist areas anyway, the Mexicans have gotten a much better handle on their water supply and while it is necessary to drink bottled water it is ample, used everywhere and water is relatively safe. I also think that many of the resorts have their own desalinization plants so are able to ensure their water is ok.

I plan on returning and will probably return to Puerto Vallarta. It is a city but has a homey or home-ier feel than the resorts of the Yucatan area that are hours drives from the city of Cancun. The people of PV are used to tourists, rely on them and the infrastructure is set up to accommodate visitors with interesting sites, walkways lined with gardens and statues etc.

@ Horus - you posted just before me so just read yours now AND it is quite interesting how accurate the sand sculpture was. Unfortunately the sculptors (a young man probably mid-30ies) spoke minimal English. He was good with "welcome" and "come see"/"come look" he wasn't able to give any other explanation of what he was sculpting. He probably did know what he was sculpting but wasn't able to communicate it and I didn't recognize it as anything other than a very good sand sculpture.

He was not the only sculptor either as there were others dotted down the long lengthy beach however this was the only photo I took.

His sculpture, which I thought he just created based on Mayan carvings, was very much like many of the carvings I saw when I was touring the different ruins.

@ Grandad - Had to go back and look at the photo to see where the steering wheel on the car was and it actually looks to me to be in the middle! But I think if you are facing the car it is on the left hand side which does make it a right hand drive?

And your cars in the UK are right hand drive? Our cars here are left hand drive meaning I'm changing the gear shift with my right hand..........yes?

Yes LLL, but when I have hired a car in Europe or elsewhere it is surprising how quickly we adapt to driving on 'THE WRONG SIDE'

These photos are so good, I could imagine walking down those streets and being a tourist there. I would be interested in the Tequila factory as I have only seen primitive stills here used to make medronho - always kept my eye on the door . . . BOOM ! Your church photos put the Istanbul mosques to shame, so beautiful. I am unable to resist old ladies selling dollies, bracelets and bags . . . I give them all away when I get home. P.V., was the donkey the only animal you saw? Is all the farm work with tractors? Will you hire a car next time to visit places and stay longer or are the roads to dangerous? Looks like you had a successful trip - - -