May 1, 2003

    Recently my boyfriend and I went to Puerto Vallarta and experienced 6 days in Paradise.  Well almost  6 days.  When we first arrived we checked into a beautiful 5 star resort.  We then slowly ventured outward to downtown.  We experienced the fine cuisine, bargained At shops for souvenirs and took long walks on the sandy beach.  The night life was fun and mysterious, we seemed to end up at the same big club Paco Paco.  This is when our adventure really started we booked a trip to the mountains with a bus tour to a Hot Springs.  The trip was mainly for the gay group we were hanging out with  at the night club.  The trip left from the club at 6pm and returned at 11:30pm.   It was all inclusive, and clothing optional we saw the flyers on the wall and  it looked like a lot of fun, so we booked the tour. 

  We arrived approximately an hour early we had a couple of cocktails, took Pictures, and met the others that were going on the tour.  Then at 6pm they loaded us on a short tour bus, nothing fancy, no air conditioning but it was cooling off a little for the day.  We were all excited some still with cocktails in their hands getting to know everyone. The driver then said it would be a 40 to 45 minute drive up to the hot springs.   We were all in good spirits and ready to get there.  The bus started out of Puerto Vallarta exposing some of  the outskirts of the town.  This is when we felt Mountains beginning to lift the bus into the Mexican Mountain range, it was very enjoyable.  The little towns passed by and before we knew it the paved road turned into a very steep winding and bumpy dirt road, through brush scraping the sides of the bus we finally came out to a clear, and there was the Hot Springs.  Yeah!  We all shouted.  We made it!  Most of us were hungry by this time and we needed more cocktails.

    We all filed off the bus and were directed by the local staff where the bar and bathrooms are.  As we looked around the property we saw pretty much of what looked like a ruin.  An old building made out of wood and bricks years ago still standing but gave you a true Mexican rustic feeling.    I could tell that someone had really developed this hot springs at  least one time in history.  It looked abandoned in a peaceful sort of way.  I was told by one gay couple that they were here last year and how pretty it gets when the night falls and the candles are burning.  Within the hour night started to cover the sky and sure enough the half dressed dark mexican man started to light all these little candles placed strategically all around the pools of Hot Magical water.  It was a breathtaking sight, very beautiful.  After a cocktail we all started to feel really comfortable and relaxed.  Some of us were naked and I was in my G-String.   The food was being cooked slowly and aromatically on an open grill. Chicken, Flank Steak, Onions, rice, tortillas, and all the cocktails we could drink,  We were in Gay heaven.  The steam on the Hot Springs began to rise and we began to indulge in a wonderful meal.  The first hour seemed to fly by and music was generated by a small boom box one of the tour guides brought with him.  We were all eager to jump in the Hot Springs and then it happened.  Not even half way through our dinner, we heard a shrieking woman yelling in mexican and a baby crying, she was waving her hands and not happy with us and the tour guides.  It seemed as she came out of nowhere,  then more Locals began to appear,  men and women of all sizes began to try and fight there way through the small entrance of the tubs.  The tour guides tried to stop them as more cars arrived and more locals started to appear.  We all quickly tried to get dressed and a couple of the guys and myself stood behind the line of the only protection we had.  People began to get  hurt, logs used for the barbecue were used as clubs and one of the locals on the other side got knocked into the ditch a few were pushed into the springs violently by the men that were trying to push their way into the table area.   The two other guys and I stood our ground but not trying to get to involved because we knew that the police were going to show up any minute and we didn't know if we should run or fight.  Then the police did show up and took statements from all the locals and tour guides involved.  The ambulance showed up half an hour later and took the person in the ditch away on a backboard.  It was still a mess even after the police showed up.  They were trying to explain to the police that we were all single men together without any women.  I also heard a couple of the larger young men calling us Faggots.   The police that were their  would not let anyone go, they stood their ground and held machine guns.  We tried to gather our stuff and about an hour later they made a line of  police with Machine guns and filed us back on the bus and would not let us go.  They escorted us all the way down the mountain and around a back alley to the police station were we sat there for  about 2 hours until a deal was made to let us go.   Staring at the barbwire fence in the alley of the local town, and the machine guns made me really appreciate the hotel that were staying at even though we were not all free until 12:30 am the next day.  After kissing the hotels lobby floor when we got back I didn't want to leave.

  We will think twice the next time we take a gay tour on the fly to a foreign gay clothing optional Hot Springs.     

  When we arrived home to Guerneville  we rented  the  movie Night of the Iguana and remembered that fun trip up the mountain.   It was  nice to write this article from  home and not in a Mexican Prison. 
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