The Amazing Hostel Sayulita

I love The Amazing Race show so when I discovered a hostel named The Amazing Hostel in Sayulita I knew I had to stay there.  I booked my stay through HostelBookers (not intentional but my review is on the front page for the hostel at the time of writing this post).  Although my hostel experience is limited, The Amazing Hostel is exactly that its amazing.  Further hostels will be compared to this hostel.  I loved it and the area so much I added an additional 2 nights to my week-long stay.

My pictures are horribly bad.  Goal for 2015: get better at photography.  The above pictures are from the girls 10 bed dorm.  The beds were comfortable and linen is included with your fee.  No blanket though but its beach town Mexico, blanket not needed.  The lockers were big enough for my stuff.  Bring your own lock.  The dorm room itself was large, exceptionally clean and quiet.  There is a bathroom as part of the dorm room but it is small (see shower photo below).  I preferred the ones available outside the rooms.  Shower is separate from toilet with a sink in the open.  Very convenient.

The last photo is looking through the common sitting area through the open air kitchen out towards the pool area. The stairs will take you up to another sun area and the outdoor handwash laundry area with clothes lines.  The very top photo shows the main sun deck with tiny pool and climbing wall.  There is a bbq spot and outdoor pool shower behind the photo op fake van. 

The kitchen is stocked with equipment if you choose to cook (microwave, toaster and stove top, no oven). Restaurant food is so reasonably priced that I found it difficult to homecook.  I did buy a few snacks and drinks for when I didn't feel like leaving the hostel; otherwise, I went out to eat.  I like how they kept the refrigerator.  Each guest is assigned a small plastic box to store their food in refrigerator with one shelf reserved for large bottles and shared food.  They have a filtered water machine to fill up your bottles so you can stay hydrated for free.

The hostel offers towel rental (20 pesos), Spanish lessons ($50US) and a friendly cat to pet (free).

Little did I know, since I'm not Canadian, among my fellow hostel guests were Mickey and Pete, winners of The Amazing Race Canada.  You can read about their adventures at their aptly named website, Mickey and Pete.  They really are just as nice in person as their print and video reviews say.

Best Features: clean, clean, clean! Spacious, close to center of town, friendly and helpful staff who speak English as well as other languages, plenty of outdoor relax chairs and lounges

Improvements: more hot water for showers, availability of blanket for chilly nights (not that those happened often)

Would I stay here again: ABSOLUTELY

8 Things I love about Chicago

1. The Beach

The close proximity of the beach made me deliriously happy.  The two beaches I frequented (Montrose Beach and Wilson Beach) have great sand with surprisingly clean water or at least it looks that way.  I spent the first 5 months of living in Chicago not realizing how amazing the beach could be.  Then I moved to an apartment only a few blocks away from the beach and AHHHHHH, heaven happened.  I was hooked.  It became very easy to spend a few early hours at the beach then head to work.  Days like those were fantastic.

2. The flowers

Congratulations to the government agency in charge of the flowers.  This picture does not do them justice but Chicago does a great job of decorating the downtown and Michigan Avenue area as well as several other parts of the city.  There are seasonal flowers and current artwork.

3. Public Transportation

Chicago has fantastic public transportation.  You have the option of the L trains/subways or buses.  Taxis are plentiful too.  Never a reason to drive drunk in Chicago.  There are multiple ways to get home, trust me, I've used them.

4. Restaurants

You could easily eat out every day for a year or more and never eat at the same restaurant twice.  Chicago is foodie heaven.  The choices seem limitless.  Italian, American, gourmet, casual, Thai, pizza, burgers, fusion, you name it, Chicago probably has it.  I tried my first Thai food in Chicago as well as many other new foods. Look up, a partial list of the places I've tried  is in top menu.

5. Biking

Bicycling is a very popular way to get around town.  I bought a bike my first summer. Soooo came in handy.  I learned quickly to get over my fear of biking on the street.  Many major roads have bike lanes that look really small when you are in a car but are actually spacious (kinda) when on a bike.  I loved riding my bike around on a sunny day especially to the beach then a visit to my favorite gelato shop, Paciugo.

6. Brunch

No city I've visited does brunch quite like Chicago.  I never realized how big a deal brunch can be until I moved.  Of course, I fell in love with the tradition.  One of my favorite places serves tea in real tea cups with teapots.  Isn't that the coolest?  If you're in town, check out Tweet.

7. Variety

The variety of this town extends beyond the different cultures (which I loved!).  There is variety in just about everything.  You want a Korean grocery store? You will find it.  A different activity or sport you've never tried?  Chicago has it.  Want to learn pole dancing or go on a hike around a new neighborhood with a guide?  It's available.  A different festival to go to every week? Yup, you can do it.

8. Bacon

This town loves bacon and so do I.  They even have a festival dedicated to bacon called Baconfest.  Chefs like to put bacon into everything.  Personally, I'm fine with that concept.  I've tried every bacon donut I could find.  Fell in love with candied bacon and bacon flights at various brunch places.  I've tried a bacon bourbon manhattan, bacon ice cream, bacon on cupcakes, bacon stuffed burgers, bacon pizza, you name it.

Bakin' & Eggs

The Southern

2 Sparrows

The Color of Beach Town Mexico

As a newcomer to foreign travel, there are so many things to first notice when you arrive in Mexico.  I'm going to start with my favorite thing - the beautiful color.  In my world, Mexico has long been known for it's colorful clothes, blankets and decorations.  To see it firsthand and the extent to which color is displayed is amazing.  I fell in love and had to stop myself from photographing everything.

Color is not restricted to just formal artwork.  It covers buildings, textiles, walkways, piers, furniture, you name it.

Puerto Vallarta

 Puerto Vallarta artwork is fantastic.  Restraint stopped me from buying multiple paintings from the street artists.  How would I take it home?  They offered several ways; however, I don't have a permanent home to display which would be sad.

 

 Punta de Mita

A group of us took a day trip to Punta de Mita, a small beach town north of Puerto Vallarta. This mural is huge and jazzes up a crappy looking parking lot.  I wish now that I had gotten more and better photos.

Sayulita

Sayulita is a small beach town about an hour's drive north of Puerto Vallarta.  It is a beautiful sleepy town with a punch.  It has a little bit of everything but with a slowness expected from a beach vacation spot.  I spent 9 days lounging on it's beaches and enjoying every minute of it. 

I was amazed at the elaborate cemetery. I don't think there was one grave that did not have colorful decorations and flowers.