Will the 'Real' Mexico Please Step Forward?
April 21, 2007. When different people reserve a luxury vacation rental, they consider different characteristics about the locale. Some people want the most authentic local culture they can find. Some people want as many "developed" amenities as possible. Others look for certain kind of mix.
A recent article in the L.A. Times promoted Playa Chacala as a place where the "real" Mexico still exists – "Chickens at your feet," as one visitor put it. Well, there aren't chickens everywhere, exactly. The same visitor was quoted as saying that "snakes as big as your head" were poisoning people every day – a harmless lie concocted to keep his favorite getaway as unspoiled as possible.
Playa Chacala sits just 90 minutes down the road from a more popular Mexican destination, Puerto Vallarta. Whereas Playa Chacala has a local population of only 400, Puerto Vallarta boasts 177,830. It's still a remarkably authentic town, with a well-preserved traditional town and astounding natural beauty in the rock formations surrounding the port that first attracted settlers.
The Botanical Gardens of Vallarta, the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the beaches are some of the most popular attractions in Puerto Vallarta.
