My Vacation (Part 4 of 4)

On May 6, our ship arrived at our third and final sightseeing town, Puerto Vallarta (Pronounced: Porta Vayaartha).

I don’t have to tell that this a tourist town. Tourism is the only source of income here. There were several “tours” available for the ship passengers. But we decided to take a tour that is less frequented by the tourists. We took a Mexican jungle ride.



One of the best features of Puerto Vallarta is the vast jungle that surrounds it. Exploring this vast wilderness is an unforgettable experience.

After travelling for about an hour inside the jungle, we came to a place where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie Predator was filmed. That set has been converted into a restaurant. We had lunch there.

Here are a couple of video clips from Puerto Vallarta.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rajang716/PuertoVallartaVideo#

We were at sea on May 7 and 8. We arrived in Los Angeles on the morning of May 9.

We were sorry that the cruise vacation came to an end. Wanted it to go on for ever. But all good things must come to an end.

We disembarked from the ship. Came to the Immigration Counter and handed our passports. Even before taking our passports, the Immigration Officer said with a smile:

“Welcome Home Sir. Welcome Home Madam. How was your vacation?”

That particular moment made us so happy that we live in U S of A. More happy than our cruise vacation.

My Vacation (Part 3 of 4)

Our ship arrived at Mazatlan on the morning of May 5. We were very happy that we were in Mexico on May 5. That day is a national holiday. It is Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for May 5th) celebration.

Cinco de Mayo holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s upset and unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It is the most important national patriotic day in Mexico. Many people in USA (who celebrate Cinco de Mayo) wrongly think it is Mexico’s Independence Day.

City of Mazatlan was founded in 1531. It is a thriving commercial seaport. It is a popular vacation and retirement destination for Europeans, Canadians, and Americans. It has 10 miles of stunning Pacific beachfront.



The city of Mazatlan arranged a special musical program for the passengers to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. (Please see the video clip.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/rajang716/MazatlanVideoClip#

My Vacation (Part 2 of 4)

Our ship stopped in 3 ports for us to go on sightseeing. The first stop was Cabo San Lucas.

This city is known for its white sandy beaches and several scuba diving locations. This city has the perfect combination of great weather, exotic and spectacular scenery. It was once a base for pirate vessels waiting to pounce on Spanish treasure ships. It's more like an enclave of the US than part of Mexico.

We had a choice of several group tours. We chose the one that included a visit to a glass blowing factory, a village named San Jose and its church that was built in 1697, and the world’s biggest cactus farm. San Jose village has the old Mexico charm. Here is a slide show of our visit to Cabo San Lucas.



Here are a couple of video clips.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rajang716/CaboSanLucasVideo#