Chilling in Oaxaca

I've been in Oaxaca for the past nine days and loved pretty much every minute of it, spare the mezcal hangover this morning. For a place that just exited almost six months of turmoil, it's remarkably calm and tidy - not to mention friendly and safe.

For anyone contemplating a trip, check out planeta.com and be sure to visit the artisan towns, which are explained in detail on the website. For those living in Guadalajara or the Lake Chapala area, discount airline Avolar has round trip fares for only 1,500 pesos.

Puerto Vallarta parking problems continue

The Puerto Vallarta municipal government started turning four of its public parks into parking garages in 2005. The work is pretty much done and new, concrete-intensive parks now sit atop underground parking garages at three locations. The projects have been controversial for some people, who argue that a rash of development in the central part of the city is jeopardizing the charm and ambiance that made Puerto Vallarta so popular. Here's what I wrote on the subject for the Miami Herald, Mexico edition.

BY DAVID AGREN/The Herald Mexico
El Universal
Sábado 27 de enero de 2007

PUERTO VALLARTA - Over his three years as a vendor near this town´s Playa los Muertos, Pedro de Jesús Álvarez has noticed more and more traffic pass through the area and parking spaces become increasingly scarce.
To remedy the situation and accommodate a growing number of tourists arriving in private vehicles, the Puerto Vallarta municipal government unveiled a polemic solution several years ago: Convert four of its public parks - three of which were either in or adjacent to the Historic Center - into parking garages. New concrete-intensive parks would be built on top of three of the underground garages.

Álvarez´s old business location, Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, was dedicated as an underground parking garage by outgoing Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Mayor Gustavo González Villaseñor in late December, capping a pro-development term in office, during which time the seaside destination has grown immensely in popularity with both domestic and international tourists and building has been rampant.

According to the local tourism board, the once sleepy fishing village on a spectacular bay now trails only Cancún in tourist preference and 3.5 million people visit Puerto Vallarta each year.

The ongoing modernization of the Historic Center - site of the famed Malecón - and nearby Zona Romántica, though, unsettles some longtime residents and environmental groups, who accuse the municipal government of charging ahead without drawing up a proper development plan and recklessly approving projects that could, if not carried out with caution, turn Puerto Vallarta into another Acapulco.

Read the whole article at: http://www.mexiconews.com.mx/23166.html

Dolf Horn, R.I.P.

Mr. Adolf B. Horn Jr., the former U.S. consul in Guadalajara, passed away earlier this week. He was 95. The Cuban-born Horn, a pioneer in Jalisco's expatriate community, founded Helados Bing in 1965 at a location near Guadalajara's Los Arcos and served for more than three decades as the local president of the American Chamber. Horn sold Helados Bing in the early 1980s and later became involved with Dolphy, another chain of ice cream stores.

Over the years Horn became somewhat of a living legend in Guadalajara's business community. A road in suburban Tlajomulco de Zuñiga was named after him, although it was in somewhat of a sorry state in recent years.

Horn also counted friends on all sides of the political spectrum. He was friends with various presidents and governors and was always a proponent of Mexico opening up to the outside world.

I interviewed Horn previously. Here's something I wrote on him for the Miami Herald, Mexico edition back in Oct. 2005. http://agren.blogspot.com/2005/10/ice-cream-pioneer-still-going-strong.html

Buy your iPod in Canada

Perhaps drawing inspiration from the The Economist magazine's annual Big Mac index, which gauges currency valuations and purchasing power, an Australian bank substituted the increasingly ubiquitous iPod for the oft-maligned hamburger.

Canada ranked as the cheapest place to buy a 2 GB version of the device, while Brazil was the most expensive. Surprisingly, Mexico was the fourth cheapest place on the list. An iPod, according to the survey, costs only $5.46 more in Mexico than in the United States.

On sombreros and U.S. politics

From Jesse Walker on the always amusing and at times raucous Hit and Run blog at Reason.com:

Bill Richardson is dipping his toes in the presidential race. Here's how The Australian headlined the news:

Latino throws his sombrero in ring

I have no comment, except that I'm not sure whether I'm laughing with or at the fellow who wrote that.

Canadians flock to western Mexico, but not necessarily San Miguel de Allende

Photo by Steven H. Miller

The Atencion newspaper in San Miguel de Allende published a feature I wrote on why so many Canadians settle in the Lake Chapala area instead of San Miguel. Basically, the Lake Chapala area is cheaper. The weather is also more agreeable. Most of us didn't leave Canada to freeze in the winter - and San Miguel can get pretty chilly. The Lake Chapala area has also been well promoted in parts of Canada and word of mouth advertising is now really spreading quickly.

Here's the top of the story:

Canadian retiree Dan McTavish, who has lived in Ajijic, Jalisco, for more than a decade, listed several reasons why so many of his fellow Canucks settle in the Lake Chapala area instead of San Miguel de Allende or any other part of Mexico’s interior.

Like many Canadian expats, he mentioned the weather as one of the main factors. The microclimate surrounding Lake Chapala is decidedly less chilly and often described as “perpetual spring.”

“Canadians come to Lake Chapala because it is not as cold as San Miguel,” the former Toronto native said. Additionally, “It is near ... Guadalajara. I can get off an airplane from the US or from Mexico City [on my way back from Canada] and be at my home in 35 to 40 minutes.”

While San Miguel de Allende has a noticeable Canadian community—estimated at about 15 percent of the expatriate population —Canadians seemingly dominate the Lake Chapala area, which is considered the largest enclave of Canadians outside of Canada, except parts of Florida in the wintertime.

Read the whole feature under the community section of Atencion's website.

Oaxaca no longer off limits - for some

The U.S. State Department rescinded its travel advisory for Oaxaca yesterday, but the Canadian government still says its citizens shouldn't go to the southern Mexican state - scene of a nasty teachers' strike that descended into open revolt against the local PRI governor. The Canadians at least acknowledge, "The situation is showing signs of improvement."

Headlines of a 19-year-old Canadian traveler in Acapulco meeting an untimely end on Jan. 7 generated endless headlines in Canada and promoted no shortage of calls for a blanket advisory cautioning against Mexican travel. Perhaps that explains the Canadians' tepidness in lifting its Oaxaca advisory. But Adam DePrisco was struck by a vehicle, according to autopsies performed in both Canada and Mexico. It was most likely a hit-and-run collision, although his family alleges murder.

The two situations shouldn't be linked in any way. I've booked my ticket for Oaxaca - just 2,150 pesos round trip from Guadalajara on Avolar - and I suspect others will follow suit. The state could use the boost and it's not to be missed - even if the Canadian government can't get its act together and scrap the travel advisory.

*For a telling statistic on how bad the tourism economy in Oaxaca is, look at these stats from the local airport operator, which saw a 32.6 percent fewer passengers in Dec. 2006 than in Dec. 2005.