(US$1 ~= M$12.75, 2 hours ahead of Pacific Time)
12/16-18. Puerto Vallarta, a resort town on the Pacific coast. 20~30°C. Hot under the sun. Green.
2009.12.16. Wednesday. we arrived at PVR ~9:20pm. (My dad's medicine attracted some attention at the customs, because they are in Chinese only.) All the way from the airport to downtown (10km) is glittering hotels and America chain stores. Only downtown retains some local flavor.
The very night, tried tiny tacos of chicken, beef, tongue, with cilantro and purple onion + green salsa. Beer: Indio.
Thursday. Bus to Boca de Tomatlan (M$6), hop on a water taxi to Quimixto (should be ~M$30, but I was double charged), a small town at the mouth of a river. Hiked to a waterfall along a horse trail, 30 min. A restaurant occupies the access to the falls. Half of the American tour group took a dip in the cool water. 
Upon return, had lunch at Martin's Dos Cocos restaurant north of the river, who apologized for not having any real food, because of the slow business. Since the boat launch is at the south end of the coast, we had the beach entirely to ourselves except for a white egret, looking very lost. Spent quite some time watching a guy fishing at the pier (yes, lots of fish, but most are small, and quite a lot of crabs on the rocks) while waiting for a returning taxi. Ended up hitching a ride with a private boat, together with this fisherman and a couple of other locals. The boat always makes a stop at Las Animas beach (entirely occupied by restaurants and quite a lot of people).On the bus trip back, stopped at Mismaloya (the site of the 1964 movie the Night of the Iguana who made Vallarta famous - an outstanding movie, in my opinion). A major disappointment now: a giant hotel, a small beach packed with people and umbrellas.
Diner at Esquina de Los Caprichos, a little Barcelona style restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. The gaspachio is not bad, my dad's fish is also good, but my fava bean stew has no fava beans and is terribly salty (did the Lonely Planet author try the dishes he/she recommending?).
Friday. Jardins Botanicos (a Lonely Planet must). The building design is wonderful, especially the reading room with a lovely breeze, and comfy chairs. As far as botanical garden goes, it's almost a joke. Only a few items are labeled. It's like a foreigner pet project to show off to the other foreigners. A M$20 one way bus ride (every half an hour) + M$50 entrance fee, few Mexicans would bother.
Back to downtown, strolled along the pleasant boardwalk, admiring the sculptures despite of the blazing sun. Had ice cream at Roberto's, exceptionally good (expensive though). Visited the little island in Rio Cuale. Nothing going on except for the restaurants and shops. A Huston's bust looks quite lonely.Practicality: exchange rate at Puerto Vallarta's airport is even worse (10.8) than SeaTac (11.2). Banks (if offer currency exchange) have the best rate (12.6), passport is required. Bus from the airport is just outside of the arrival. M$5.5 per trip anywhere in the city. Most buses start or end along Insurgent Ave. south of Rio Cuale. All buses seem have no suspension: very bouncy. Long distance bus depot is 12 Km north (close to the airport, most people on that bus get off at Walmart.)
12/20-21. Guanajuato
Saturday. 10 hour bus ride to Guanajuato, connection at Guadalajara (8am - 13:15 M$315, 13:45 - 18:00 M$269). Mexican 1st class bus is super comfortable. Better than any bus I've ever ridden. Clean. Plenty leg room (about 30 assigned seats in Primera Plus, 24 in an ETN bus!). More reclined back. Soft foot support, 2 bathrooms in the back, pillows, air conditioning, TV screens showing American TV shows and movies dubbed in Mexican (but you are obliged to listen to it, even though they provide you with headset). They even provide lunch! (A small sack containing a semi edible sandwich, a sweet snack and a drink of your choice.) Lush green winding road gives away to dry yellow highland before reaching Guadalajara. Almost no villages all the way.
A UNESCO heritage site, this little hilly town has a surprising number of underground tunnels (for cars and buses, pretty safe), narrow alleys, silver mines. A beautiful little colonial town, the birthplace of Diego Rivera, and the Latin American center of Cervantes. Sunny, dry during the day, and chilly at night.
The tiny triangle Jardín de la Unión at the center is lovely, lined with thickly trimmed Indian Laurel and restaurants.Teatro Juárez (M$35, 1873-1903) at its sound end, is one eclectic extravaganza. Lavish Moorish deco, Greek column, Roman statues. Its next door neighbor, Templo San Diego, and a few steps away Temple de San Francisco are boring inside : white wall, empty ceiling. Even their center of worship: Basilica Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato on the main square, plaza de la paz, is only slightly better. (Where I sampled a cup of insipid atole and a sweet raisin tamale wrapped in corn leaves.)
The best church is a short bus ride north (5Km, built in 1765-88) Valenciana: gold alters, Churrigueresque door, elaborate carvings. 
Walk further for 10 minutes is almost a tourist trap: Boca Mina San Ramón. There's one shaft that you can walk down, but you see nothing. M$30 entrance includes a short guided tour in Spanish in the very small compound, a few tools were laid out. The real operation is somewhere else. There's a creative picture of Mona Lisa hanging on the 2nd floor wall: her portrait is made of rabbits and birds.
2.5Km southwest of down town is Ex-hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera, (M$22), which I enjoyed much more. Almost no visitors, even though a big hotel was just next door. Built at the end of 17th century, Barrera family was descended from the first Conde de Rul of the La Valenciana mine. Large shady ground, vine draping walkways and overview platforms, a pavilion and a pool. You feel like in Kent England at one point, and Italian garden the next. The house itself is lovely: a court yard in the middle, lots of lush plants, spacious.
The most crowded tourist attraction here is the mummy museum (M$50). Small rooms with glass cabinets filled with ~100 disinterred corpses between 1865 till fairly recently. The high level of lime and clay in the soil inhibits decomposition.Diego Rivera's house is now a nice little museum. His family moved to Mexico City when he was 6. Ground floor: the home, 2nd floor, Rivera's drawings and small paintings. 3rd floor, a temporary exhibit of an American.
On Sunday early evenings, in Plaza de Alhondiga in front of the fortress like museum, the former granery, a group of 10 performers present some folk dances and music. Across the plaza is the public market, where I found this strange fruit (slimy and sweet inside). Anyone know the name?Guanajuato University is a massive building built in the 50s. Pretty good looking for the 50s. Another giant building is Half way up to Mina San Ramón, the former citadel, now a luxury hotel Cristina. Various terraces and patios offer commanding views of the colorful city and surrounding mountains.
Dinners at Cafe Santo on the little bridge of Campanero, have been adequate and convenient (few steps away from our hotel). Lunch at Truco 7 has been good value, but not as well prepared (busier and larger). Both are Lonely Planet recommendation.Lowest price during my trip. City bus is M$4 (M$5 in San Miguel de Allende). 1 hour & M$90 east of Guanajuato. More frequent 2nd class buses like Flecha Amarillo ($M68), which picks up passengers along the road. So slower.
12/22. San Miguel de Allende
For a small town, San Miguel de Allende houses a surprising # of churches. Just across Café San Augustín (where we had lunch and hot chocolate with churrios. Was ok. Not a must as advertised in Lonely Planet), are Capilla de la Tercera Orden and Templo de San Francisco (Churrigueresque facade). North of it, facing the tiny Plaza Civica (filled with poinsettia) are baroque Oratorio de San Felipe Neri (nice courtyard) and Churrigueresque Templo de la Salud. 
The best is Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel. Lovely wedding cake like appearance (late 19th century). People sit in the shade of El Jardín, facing Parroquia's pink pinnacles, buying trinkets and snacks from the street vendors. 
A street musician played a giant cooking pan with various dins. We chatted with American retirees, one of them walks around the square routinely everyday, while waiting for a group of kids staging a show. Many stately buildings line around the plaza: Ignacio Allende was born at the southwest corner, Banamex building (former Casa del Mayorazgo de Canal) at the northwest corner.
Escuela de Bellas Artes in a former monastery is a small oasis from the street action. Many fun modern sculptures exhibited in the hallway and garden. The larger Instituto Allende is about 15 min walk south of El Jardin. Nice murals. Equally peaceful. Just half a day, concludes our visit to this little neat artsy town, with a foreign air.12/23-25. Mexico City
M$248 10:00 - 14:00 to Mexico Norte. M$2 metro ticket. Stayed at Hotel Isabel in the historical downtown. Very big room, balcony, courtyard from 2nd floor up. My favorite store is the pastry shop Ideal. Historical Center is surprisingly stately and beautiful.
Many handsome UNESCOlisted colonial buildings: medieval Casa de los Condes de San Mateo de Valparaiso, Baroque Museo del Estanquillo (interesting posters hanging in the windows), Palacio de Iturbide (a free temporary exhibition of recent 200 years of design in Mexico), Moorish Casa de los Azulejos, Italianate post office ... just to name a few, within 10 minutes of walk. The pedestrian only avenue Madero is bustling with shoppers and performers.
West of the main thorough fare Lazaro Cardenas is the baroque Palacio de Bellas, and the central park Alameda, full of street stalls selling snacks and trinkets. 
We tried fried banana, cactus palm (a bit sour) with meat. North of the park is plaza de Santa Veracruz. South side, in front of the circular monument Hemiciclo a Juárez, two people took turns trying their best to hammer some human justice issues into the indifferent brains of passers by. Across the street is Archivo Notarias (former templo de Corpus Christi). Behind it, is one ugly reddish tall building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But it has an interesting sculpture pond, full of little reddish pyramids. An installation titled "Exodus" consists of ~100 cloth made people - true size, all mourning. Whenever a breeze passes through, they all move in an eerie way.
East end of the historical center is Zócalo. Christmas decoration was on every building. Snow activity booths were setup, (melting fast), attracting lots of families. 
Surrounding the square (especially close to Templo Mayor) are endless street vendors. A few shamans-to-be administrates some rituals to anyone who can pay a few pesos, with some green leaves and smoke. Templo Mayor, ruin (demolished by Spaniards) of a major Aztec (Tenochtitlán) worship site. (M$51. Bottled liquid is not permitted). A low fence surrounds the site. Not much to see. 
Note the one wall with skeleton carvings! The museum houses a good size model of the site and artifacts found here.
East of the square is the National Palace (former Cortés' fortress). 
Anyone with a passport can visit and admire Rivera's murals. North of the square is the iconic Catedral Metropolitana where we attended the Christmas eve mass (I felt ill after ~15 minutes). Its interior cannot match the outside. Police bars beggars and vendors. Many handsome buildings round the plaza. Secretaría de Educación Pública is closed (notable for 120 fresco panel by Rivera), beautiful National Monte de Piedad, and many museums. Outside of the center, checked out the neighborhood of Coyoacán for blue Frida Kahlo's home (too bad, was closed due to the holiday short opening hours), Casa de Cortés (absolutely uninteresting) - where Cuauhtémoc was tortured.
Also, went to Xochimilco (Tren Ligero M$2 from Metro station Tasquena) and took the most cheesy trajinera ride in the dirty canal (M$360 + M$50 tip. 1 hour. Better hire a boat with a number of friends to split the cost). Went by a couple of nursery, the island of broken dolls. Small boats float next to yours trying to sell food, or a mariachi band sings a minute for you. Not scenic.
Teotihuacán (M$51, M$33 one way 1 hr bus from Terminal Norte or Indios Verdes) is a must. Main sites: la Ciudadela (Templo de Quetzalcoatl, with an older pyramid ~AD300); Pyramid of the Sun (70m high 248 steps ~ AD100), site museum next to it, Pyramid of the Moon (~AD300, flanked by 12 small pyramids - elegant design), palace of Quetzalpapalotl to its SW, museum of mural and palace of Tetitla outside of the gates (
lots of murals under restoration). 5 gates. ~2km x 1km inside the wall. To explore Luckily it's cloudy, otherwise without any shade, this place can really be a via de mortes. On the way back, we stopped by Basilica Our Lady of Guadalupe, a pilgrimage site around December 12. The new basilica (1974-6) is very well designed. The old one is sinking and leaning.
Metro to the airport is very convenient. Stop: Terminal Aerea.
