January is the time when we take a short break from the brutal weather that we experience this month, but this January as we all know was something else. Day after day, Calgary was snow-bound and life became unbearable for most residents. This is the time when Albertans flee to the south or some other warmer destination.
As one of the climate-weary residents, we also booked to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for a 10-day reprieve from the weather. One week before our departure, a story was flashed on TV about a Canadian woman who fell from a third-floor balcony in a five-star resort in Mexico. A Mexican hospital demanded $2500 upfront before they could treat the woman. She had to be taken elsewhere for treatment.
To add insult to injury, the woman’s engagement ring was stolen from the room and the hotel demanded that the couple pay for the damage to their balcony. I couldn’t believe that after all the hardship that the couple endured, they were asked to pay for the damages. Questions that came to my mind are: why was the couple blamed? Where they present when the building was being built? How can they be responsible for faulty material or cement that was used during construction?
In many countries, building standards are not as strict as here in Canada and it is possible to conclude that the contractor who built that hotel section of the building may have used substandard material.
With all these questions still fresh in my mind – which by now translated to fears – we left for our long-awaited vacation. Arrival in Puerto Vallartta was like arriving on a different planet. Of course, coming from snowy Alberta to balmy Mexico should feel like arriving on a different planet.
We were staying at a five-star resort so that wasn’t a comfort as the tragedy also happened at a five-star property. Similarities with the above case were striking. Our room also had a balcony and we were also on the third floor. Usually, I am not a superstitious person, but when I added all the similarities, I was astounded. I repeatedly cautioned my wife not to use the balcony, just in case. In fact, during our 10-day stay, we must have used the balcony thrice.
There were plenty of other things to do than just sit in the balcony and watch the world go by. The hotel was located right on the beach so one could swim in the ocean or in its two huge swimming pools. The aqua exercises every day where most popular and men and women of various shapes, sizes and weight jumped in the pool before the start in the hope that after their stay, they may be a few pounds lighter.
No chance of that considering the three meals and free drinks that the all-inclusive resort offered. The hotels five restaurants were usually full and in some one could not even get admission if prior booking was not made. The lobby bar in the evenings and the poolside bar during the afternoon were crowded with patrons who appeared as if they had entered a drinking contest.
Until the bars closed at midnight, the crowd got more noisy and rowdy. Unfortunately, this resort didn’t have any entertainment as other Mexican properties so patrons had to indulge in more than usual drinking as their pastime after dinner.
Meeting new people and networking with other hotel residents is perhaps the best thing that I gain from such trips. I was able to meet a Canadian Senator from Manitoba, a New York University professor and a writer from Vancouver. Having common interests after initial introduction helps and before we realized, we exchanged business cards, promising to keep in contact. Even strangers on the poolside or in the lounge exchange greetings and introduced themselves.
Of course, mostly Canadians frequent all these sun destinations and one is definitely to bump into Canadians from different provinces. The general manager of our hotel informed me that Canadians were the top visitors in his hotel but that now the Americans have overtaken it. We don’t realize but not every American lives in Florida and California and that they also have brutal weather from which they want to get away.
Our resort was ideally located to view the Mexican sunset. Every evening before sunset, patrons would congregate, drink in hand, on the highest building which also had a sushi bar, to view the magnificent sunset – a real treat for many
.
As I was keeping in touch with my son via e-mails, I realized to my disappointment that the weather in Calgary had been warmer. I had expected to get the most from the money I spent on the trip and was hoping the weather at home would be colder in order to justify my trip’s expense. Well, one cannot have everything in life.
So here we are back to balmy Calgary where the weather appears to be holding, but who knows for how long before we crave for another trip to a sun destination.
