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When its new promotional campaign, Knocking at the Door, premiered earlier this year, the Mexican Ministry for Tourism made no secret of the fact it was intending to woo one particular demographic – high-spending Chinese tourists. Indeed, the US’ southern neighbour has high hopes that its blend of cultural delights, jaw-dropping landscapes and ready welcome will be enough to ensure that many more mainlanders (and Hongkongers) are intrigued enough to undertake the 25,000km round-trip. Given the size and diversity of Mexico – with the country’s 31 states stretching across 1,972,500sq.km and some 126 million now calling it home – singling out particularly China-friendly aspects is no easy matter. Complicating things still further, many of its most well known locales may not be the best of places to forefront from the off.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-48327 aligncenter" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt.jpg" alt="puerto vallarta" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel1_opt-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
While Mexico City, the country’s bustling capital, or Cancun, the beach and spring break paradise, will spark recognition in even the least Mexico-minded, one of the country’s true gems lurks far from both – Puerto Vallarta (PV), the West Coast city that has long proved an irresistible lure to many exiled US artists and writers. Indeed, while PV – as it is more informally known – is a must-see for the many North Americans that make up 66 percent of its tourist traffic, it remains little explored by visitors with more Eastern origins.
For those looking for a truly authentic Mexican experience, Jalisco – Puerto Vallarta’s home state – is undeniably hard to beat. Indeed, it more than lives up to the oft-heard boast “Jalisco is Mexico”, with the locals keen to claim that everything essentially Mexican – from mariachis and charreadas to tequila and sombreros – originated within its borders.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-48323 aligncenter" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt.jpg" alt="puerto vallarta" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel6_opt-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Such cultural landgrabs aside, one thing remains indisputable – Jalisco is home to some of the Eastern Pacific’s most beautiful beaches, with Puerto Vallarta at the very epicentre of its appeal. Not all that long ago a relatively modest fishing village, the contemporary city is now one of the country’s most cosmopolitan, boasting a fine array of high-end golf courses, exclusive resorts, five-star restaurants and just enough luxuriously-secluded havens to pique the interest of any well-heeled traveller.
While the development of the city’s hotel sector kicked off in the ’60s, it wasn’t until the mid-’70s that the city began to be regarded as a true home to world-class luxury resorts. 
Now, it boasts more than 50 five-star hospitality options, as well as a wide range of longer-stay luxury condominiums and apartments, many of which are the annual refuges of wealthy North Americans looking to sit out their blustery hometown winters in a far more salubrious spot. For many years, the city’s allure was only further enhanced by the weakness of the Peso, the local currency, when compared to the mighty US dollar. Even now, despite the region’s surging fortunes, it still remains astonishingly good value when compared to prices across the border and even to some of Mexico’s more popular tourist locales, such as Cancun or Cabo.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-48322" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt.jpg" alt="puerto vallarta" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel5_opt-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
As to the best times to visit, the autumn and winter seasons have much to recommend them. As well as a surfeit of lively local festivals, the temperature falls to 38°C, something of a respite from the summer heights of 45°C and above.
The city’s downtown district has been declared a Cultural Heritage Site by the federal government, a citation that has ensured thousands every day are now intent on exploring such historic highlights as the Malecon – a 12- block-long esplanade packed with gift shops and al fresco eateries. Nearby, for those whose interests in spirits go beyond Tequila Slammers, 
is the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, arguably the city’s bestloved building. Here you can marvel at the architecture while also reflecting on the country’s eclectic blend of committed Catholicism and exotic, pagan-infused corpse-centric carnivals. Unsurprisingly, you can also spin out your spirit worship courtesy of one of the many tequila tours on offer.
This will see you whisked off to one of the district’s many ranch-set distilleries, where samplings and scientific demonstrations are on offer in almost equal measure. Should you remain largely compos mentis after living it large on the libation front, a beguiling array of more demanding activities lie in wait.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-48324 aligncenter" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt.jpg" alt="puerto vallarta" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel7_opt-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Depending on your disposition, dislikes and willingness to dish out the dollars, you are free to choose between swimming with dolphins, snorkelling, showing off your sailing savoirfaire, siestaing on private-hire craft and circling the bay on a chartered flight.
Inevitably, active participation in any of the above will only enhance your appetite. It’s somewhat fortunate then that, over the years, Puerto Vallarta has become just as renowned for its culinary versatility as it is for its cultural vibrancy. This sees hungry holidaymakers having the option of either going high-end, courtesy of the many fine-dining establishments set up in the city by celebrity chefs, or going native at one of the more indigenous nosheries. With the latter always the choice of true world travellers, Chiles en Nogada, the city’s signature dish, is particularly worth seeking out. After all, who could resist a meat-packed poblano pepper doused in sumptuous nut–almond sauce and garnished with Oporto pomegranate seeds?
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-48329 aligncenter" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt.jpg" alt="puerto vallarta" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/700x466-Travel3_opt-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Suitably replenished, all that’s now required is a suitably snug spot to while away the wee hours, a nook where both the local cocktails and the accompanying conversation are sure to sparkle. Thankfully, Puerto Vallarta, with its arresting array of bars, nightclubs, speakeasies and luxury lounges, is unlikely to disappoint.
So, “Salud!” as they tend to say with engaging regularity around these parts.

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For the full article, please find the latest issue of Gafencu’s print magazine or the PDF version on the Gafencu app. Download the app from the Google&nbsp;<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gafencu.android&amp;hl=en">Play Store</a>&nbsp;or Apple&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gafencu/id541555130?mt=8">App Store</a>.
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Text: <a href="mailto:bailey@itotalmedia.com">Bailey Atkinson</a> 
Photos: <a href="https://visitpuertovallarta.com/">Puerto Vallarta Tourism Commission</a>

MexiGO!: Puerto Vallarta is the premium resort city dreams are made of

Okay, hand on heart, where would you rather visit – the Great Wall of China or the graveyard where Jim Morrison, the iconic lead singer of The Doors, is buried? Similarly, which one of these tops your travel itinerary – the ornate clocks of the Czech Republic or the glow-in-the-dark ruins of Chernobyl? Still unsure? How about this – Bali’s most beautiful beach or the eerie, abandoned huts of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp?&nbsp;
If your answer, in every instance, was largely the latter, you are not necessarily a sojourning sociopath-to-be. No, it could just be that you’re an early advocate of one the vacation industry’s most visceral trends – dark tourism.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41166" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752.jpg" alt="dark tourism" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gothic-3725752-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Despite such apparently morbid motivations, dark tourism does not necessarily stem from some wholly unhealthy impulse. Maintaining it is the manifestation of a very natural fascination with mortality, Professor John Lennon, the Director of the Glasgow Caledonian University’s Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, says; “Dark tourism, like our dark history, occupies an important part of our understanding of what it is to be human. Essentially, it is motivated by a desire for actual or symbolic encounters with death.”
For those dead-set on actual or symbolic encounters, there are – perhaps worryingly – an ever-expanding number of options on offer. And for those who find themselves particularly execution excursion-minded, where better to start than Colombia, the 50 million-strong South American country that, not so long ago, held the dubious accolade of being the world’s most violent nation.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41185" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/colombia-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
A relatively poor country compared to the massive, hedonistic US market next-door, drugs – particularly cocaine – was its perennial problem. Once the world’s largest producer and distributor of this Class A narcotic, its streets ran red with the blood of rival drug gangs, supposed informers, nosy journalists, incorruptible government officials and law enforcement operatives.
For those looking for a first-hand experience of the country’s corpse-heavy past, Bogotá – the national capital – is the place to start. Here you can hire a drug baron doppelganger with a pitch-perfect take on Pablo Escobar, the most infamous member of the country’s narco nobility, who will drive you around the city’s most notorious landmarks, all the while making – apparently – pretend drug deals on his hefty retro-’80s phone.&nbsp;
Once sated by your exploration of Colombia’s opiate-addled past, you could head to the 3,000km-distant Mexico. Time it right and you could even arrive on the eve of the Day of the Dead, which, despite its name, actually spans a 72-hour period – 31 October-2 November. A decidedly ghoulish affair, it’s a time when locals pay their respects to the recently (and not so recently) departed, celebrate their lives and acknowledge the inevitability of death. This, however, is not an occasion for quiet reflection and sedate remembrance.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41178" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/day-of-the-dead-1868836_1920_eff-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Defending the apparent jollity of the festival, Andrea Bentanzos, a Mexico City-based tourist guide, said: “The deceased would be insulted if we merely mourned them. Death is not the end – it’s just the journey to the next stage of life and this is the time we feel the departed’s spirits most keenly.”
For those not wanting to venture beyond Asia in search of a little spooky sightseeing, then one of the destinations that has only relatively recently acquired otherworldly status is Fukushima, the Japanese city that was at the epicentre of the earthquake, tsunamis and subsequent nuclear meltdown that saw the world catch its breath back in 2011. 
At the heart of this was the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a facility that, eight years on, is still highly radioactive and subject to a massive ongoing decontamination operation. Despite this, those curious – or foolhardy – enough can take a tour of the infamous installation.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-41169" src="//www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min.jpg" alt="dark tourism" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min.jpg 700w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-421x280.jpg 421w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-120x80.jpg 120w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-500x333.jpg 500w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-400x266.jpg 400w, https://www.gafencushop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Queenstown_minesite_area_1984-min-600x399.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" />
Well before you set foot within its potentially-lethal perimeter, you have to sign a lengthy waiver, absolving the operator from any responsibility should you go home glowing in the dark. You are then issued your own personal Geiger Counter and bussed into the half-life holiday spot.
From the Fukushimi Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to Pablo Escobar&#8217;s plush prison, the dark side of the world has come to the fore, with many – consciously or unconsciously – aiming to leverage their leisure time to get to grips with humanity’s less pure impulses. Hopefully, they’re coming away with a measured repulsion to mankind’s baser urges and not with a newly-perfected roadmap for atrocities of their own
Text:&nbsp;Robert&nbsp;Blain

Dark Tourism: Today’s tourists want gore and disorder when they have time to kill

<img decoding="async" class="ngg_displayed_gallery mceItem" src="//www.gafencushop.com/nextgen-attach_to_post/preview/id--16766" data-mce-placeholder="1" />
Jessica Alba is well known for her roles in the Fantastic Four and Sin City, but the Hollywood starlet is now dishing out advice on travel.
Don’t believe me? Well, the Golden Globe-nominated actress has teamed up with Rosewood Hotels &amp; Resorts to give you some tips on what to do on the Riviera Maya, which is a stretch of Caribbean coastline located on Mexico’s northeastern Yucatán Peninsula and the location of the Rosewood Mayakoba resort.
“We love traveling together as a family, and the Riviera Maya is one of our favorite destinations,” Alba said. “Whether it’s exploring the Mayan ruins, swimming in the magical cenotes, or cooking an authentic meal together, we enjoy exploring the rich cultural history of this destination and all it has to offer.”
Alba is the latest celebrity to become part of the Rosewood Curator programme. Some of the other names associated to the campaign include fashion icon Iris Apfel and film director Johnnie To.
For more information, visit: <a href="http://www.rosewoodhotels.com" target="_blank">www.rosewoodhotels.com</a>

Get travel tips from movie star Jessica Alba

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MexiGO!: Puerto Vallarta is the premium resort city dreams are made of

Dark Tourism: Today’s tourists want gore and disorder when they have time to kill

Get travel tips from movie star Jessica Alba