Day 10 - 10/11/2021 - Puerto Vallarto - Into the Mountains

We've been to Puerto Vallarta several times so we booked a HAL shore excursion to visit a historic mining town San Sebastián.  Fortunately our check-in time was 9:15am ashore so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  The ship was cleared for disembarkation at 8am so there was lots of room in the LIDO to find a seat. It was a bit melancholy breakfast as the Noordam, an out of service HAL ship was moored across the harbor from us.  More on that later,

 

After checking in shoreside, we boarded a very nice tour bus and headed off for San Sebastián.  The roads were quite narrow and twisty as we climbed higher into the mountains.  This town was initially founded by the indigenous people who mined silver and when the Spaniards arrived, they took it over after conquering the native people.  Just after crossing a VERY high bridge, we came to our first stop which was a restaurant and tequila distillery.  It has been in the same family for over 150 years.

 

The owner first gave a talk on how tequila is distilled then he provided samples of the product.  The first two samples were quite sweet which was a surprise.  One tasted much like maple syrup.  The last two were very strong  in taste.  We then enjoyed a nice cooked carne asada lunch with our choice of Cervesa or soda.  Our table mates were a couple of ladies from Vancouver Island that had worked together.  We had good conversation with them.  During lunch the owner's dog kept coming to the table with his pet rock wanting us to throw it.  But we couldn't throw it too soon.  It wasn't until the dog pushed the rock towards us that he's allow us to throw it.  He'd retrieve it, lie down on the grass and chew on it, then return for more.  It was great fun.en drove up to the town of San Sebastián  proper passing by the restaurant owner's agave farm with acres and acres of the plants which are harvested for the production of tequila.  He has so many plants that he sells his excess capacity.  At the town entrance the bus was parked next to a coffee farm.  We watched a bit of the presentation and then left and walked down the heavy cobblestone street past an elementary school, over a straight bridge, and into the town square. Along the way a Ford pickup with Washington state license plates passed us.  This was a big surprise as we're a long ways from home.

 

The town square was ringed with a wall quite suitable for sitting on and the centerpiece was a large gazebo.  Surrounding that were flowerbeds.  The only flowers that were in bloom seemed to be roses.  Next to the town square was a very old  Augustinian Catholic Church.  It was fairly plain inside but it was clean and neat.  We then walked around the main square area.  Unlike many towns we have visited, this small town did not have many if any tourist shops.  There were lots of hotels, however so people must come here to visit.

 

Our time was cooing to an end so we walked back to the bus so we could be there by 2:30pm.  Just as we reached the bus, the pickup with the Washington State came driving by and stopped and passed on the information that there were some of our group left in town.  We talked with the driver for a bit and learned she was from Olympia and was going to be here for a couple years.

 

We re-boarded the bus and the guide determined that two people were missing.  So he went back to town in a supporting van to look for them.  He returned with them but by this time, we were now behind schedule by 20 minutes and it would be tight to make it back to the ship on time.  So back down the narrow and twisty roads our driver, Juan, drove us.There's now way to do it fast as the roads are so Barry and twisty and he drove safe.

At just before 4:30pm (boarding time) Juan parked the bus near the gangway and we all passed through port security, then boarded the ship and went through ship security.  

 

I dropped off my small backpack and went back to the Promenade deck #3 to take pictures of our departure.  It was especially poignant as I could see some crew on the moored Noordam waving goodbye to us.  Some of our crew gathered near me on the aft end of the Nieuw Amsterdam to wave enthusiastically to their crew mates left behind on the Noordam which doesn't go back into service until March, 2022.  Until then, a minimal staff of 100 will maintain the ship.  The Noordam is one of the few HAL ships we've not sailed on but we certainly desire to.

 

We ate a very light dinner in the LIDO before watching a magician, Fred More, on the Main Stage.  He was quite good and certainly entertaining.  We then enjoyed a rousing game of trivia with another couple from Ft. Lauderdale.  This trivia was Officers against the Guests.  The Guests won handily even though the trivia was on a nautical theme.

 

Because we have to get up at 6am tomorrow for an early start at the Port of Manzanillo, we went to bed a bit earlier; however, we did enjoy a lighting storm over Puerto Vallarta from deck 9 aft outside the LIDO  at around 10:30pm.  Stay tuned for another adventure.