Ruth enjoying her 29th (or was that 49th?) birthday in Mexico!
First on the agenda was a walk over to the "other" RV park in town. We wanted to meet Les, a fellow RV'er from Canada. Les also has a blog, you can follow him at http://mexicokid.blogspot.com/ . We think this other RV park is actually quite a bit nicer than where we are at the La Siesta , but it's limited to about a 24 foot long RV, and poor Sherman is 28 feet. the entrance way requires a bit of a tight turn, and we don't know if Sherman would make it.
Found our way into the courtyard, and knocked on Les' door. And there he was! The internet is an amazing place to meet people, isn't it??!! Sat out and chatted for a few minutes. Les is a pretty easy guy to chat with, and we hope to spend some more time with him over the next day or two.
Speaking of which, we have signed on for two more nights here. Despite what we consider to be a high price, we are in need of relaxation and the place is definitely convenient...so we bit the bullet and paid our dues until Monday morning.
The main church in San Miguel is certainly impressive!
San Miguel has a population of around 60,000, but the main difference with this town is that about 7,000 of those people are Canadian and American expats. That makes it quite a bit different here than in more traditional Mexican communities. We have to come right out and say that if we were to move to Mexico (very possible at some point) it would not be to an area with a lot of expats. Probably more because we are "frugal" and that number of expats cause local pricing for just about everything to increase. But also because if we were to live in Mexico, we would like to do so as a Mexican...not as a Canadian living in Mexico. Not sure how else to explain our thinking on this, but maybe we'll write more about it another day.
Quite a few churches in San Miguel, and we like to explore that part of the local architecture.
We did a lot of walking today, and had left Whiskey behind with Sherman. San Miguel is at 6,400 feet altitude, so daytime highs are around 25C (77F) which is perfect. But still, we were concerned about leaving Whiskey alone, so we headed back to the motorhome around 1:30pm. Turned out she was fine, and the temperature inside Sherman was about what it was outside.
This washing area is still used by some of the local ladies who come here to do their laundry. Nobody was using it today, but Ruth would have if we would have been closer!
Here is where we are right now! Pretty much the center of Mexico!
Great post! I didn't know so many expats were in that area. Interesting note about the increased prices due to the expats, I had not considered that. The local arch and the San Miguel Cathedral are beautiful. Glad all is going well for the three of you and happy that Ruth had a good birthday!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy very much reading your blogs...sounds like a good time in Mexico. Also went to mexicokid (Les) and read all his blogs. Thanks for sharing all your daily adventures....I really look forward to reading them each day.
ReplyDeleteA couple of questions for you. How do you deal with the Mexican water? I remember a visit to Mexico City years ago and got a bad case of Montezuma's revenge from the water. Are things better now? Also, do you speak spanish? I'm hoping your travels take you to the coast!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Ruth!
John and Ellen...And today we are going to walk to a lookout over the city. Should be a nice view of the cathedral from there!
ReplyDeleteMichael...and we enjoy sharing our adventures with you!
Karen and Al...Almost everybody in Mexico drinks purified water now, including the locals. We haven't had to buy any yet, but going from memory from last time we were here it costs around $1.50 for 23 litres (5 gallons). Even the small village communities have purification systems or a guy who delivers bottled water by truck. Our Spanish is improving. Ruth remembers the words better than I do, but I can get the pronounciation right. Every day, we learn a little more. Had a funny conversation yesterday morning with the couple from Quebec who are here. They don't speak much English, and we don't speak much French, so we talked for about 15 minutes in a mix of English, French, and Spanish. It was really comical!
If the WIFI at the hotel craps out (regular occurrence) just aim your Hawking at the Polo Feliz next door as they have WIFI. Or use your Telcel. Nice to have choices!
ReplyDeleteA belated Happy Birthday Ruth. Good to see you enjoyed your day. Those wash tubs reminds me of the ones we saw when we were in Portugal.
ReplyDeleteCroft...We actually haven't found out which connection is the hotel's, but have had no problem connecting with the Hawking. There are several networks we can access without having to use the 3G. Definitely nice to have options:)
ReplyDeleteTony and Helen...That was what I thought when I first saw them too! A little easier to get at though, then the ones we saw in Portugal. We exactly find that at times Portugal and Mexico seem quite similiar.
Kevin and Ruth
Just a quick note to put in my two cents worth regarding expats causing the prices of things to increase in San Miguel...
ReplyDeleteRegarding housing, this is true...in the Centro. Elsewhere, prices are still pretty much in line with everywhere else in Guanajuato.
As far as restaurants go, you will find many, many restaurants in San Miguel which are far superior to those you will find in most typical Mexican towns...and of course you get what you pay for...you want cheap? you get Montezuma's Revenge!...and believe me, you can still find all of those type of restaurants in San Miguel as well. Once you know the town, you will find that there is still a very large part of San Miguel which has not been "gringo-ized"! One just has to get away from the "gringo zone" to see that San Miguel is still rooted very deeply in Mexico! I've either visited or lived in San Miguel full time since 1983, so I can say with much experience that if it's the Mexican life you want to live, it is still readily available in San Miguel...but with all those extra wonderful benefits San Miguel offers, those too are always there for those who appreciate being able to partake of the BEST Mexico has to offer...PROVECHO!