Haven’t been able to write anything for more than 2 weeks now… because of two things…

1. Vacation in Mexico (Bucerias) for a week,
2. At home all week (9 days) for first time this year, catching up with life….

So now I am back on the road and starting to reflect on my vacation in Mexico and the fact that I have to wait almost one more year before taking another Mexican vacation….

First time I traveled to Mexico was back in 1997 to Juarez across the border from El Paso to visit the American Consulate to get my passport stamped for visa renewal. I was there for only a few hours, and noticed how “close” to India it looked like.

Then I didn’t get to Mexico again till 2004, to a small town called “Bucerias” north of Puerto Vallarta, courtesy of my Mother In Law, who started going there in winter. She finally moved into her own place there now and lives 6 months out of the year. So I have been there 10 times so far, and realized how “at home” I feel now everytime I go there.

Being from India has its pros and cons when you travel to Mexico.

Pros:

1. When you are trying to get out of airport, Time Share people don’t mob you… they must think either I am Mexican, or cheap, whatever it is, works for me… I walk right past everyone.
2. Walking in the streets, nobody is notices you.. no vendors, no solicitors….
3. When you ask for “Pecante”… I get spicy food, they don’t feel like they have to hold back for me…

Cons:
1. Everyone thinks I can speak Spanish… I tried to use my limited spanish vocabulary and they would start full conversations, and I have to say “whoa…. all I know is few words”. On my last trip we got pulled over by a cop and I was in passenger seat and he started talking to me in Spanish thinking I could convey the meaning to the others in the car… and he was quite surprised that I can’t.
2. Well I can’t think of anything else… who cares, you are in Mexico 🙂

When I first went to Bucerias in 2004, I was stressed out a bit… your phone didn’t work, you have to go to an Internet Cafe to check emails (at 56 kbps). Growing up I never had a real vacation where you absolutely do nothing… but over time I realized doing nothing is such a beautiful thing on vacations. Yes, I do work a bit, but I don’t mind the view and the fact that it makes you feel relaxed without worrying about what’s going on.

Lot of people don’t even know where India is in Bucerias, one year, a waiter brought a map and was amazed that I am from other side of the planet and we looked so much alike. I used to think I am the only “East Indian” guy in Bucerias, but on my latest trip we met a couple of gals from Vancouver, who are originally from India. We ended up talking as if we knew each other for a long time…

The most stressful thing on my recent vacation… to decide where to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner… tough life.

No matter where we eat everyday, one thing is certain… we end up at the same place every night for nightcap… Mark’s Bar & Grill in Bucerias. Shout out to Jan and Mark for creating such a wonderful place to eat, drink and be happy…

Here is the link to Bucerias… you should visit some time… Best of Bucerias.

Here is the link to Mark’s Bar & Grill.