International Flair

We have been walking for hours each day and often end up at our favourite outdoor restaurant, not far from our apartment.  Yesterday was no exception.

While we were enjoying our beer we noticed something that caught our attention.  Right in front of us there were five different nationalities represented....can you find all five?  To be fair, you wouldn't know that the gentlemen beside us were from Argentina - okay, find the other four!

As you can maybe tell from this "nothing happening" blog, we are truly being lazy.  For the first time since I have been retired we have nothing on the table.....no renovations, no yard work, no RV cleaning or setting up, no house cleaning, no laundry, no gym, no golfing, no farm work, no selling of land, no subbing at school, no family to check on....absolutely nothing!!

Walk to the Market

On Christmas Day we didn't stray very far, but on Christmas Eve we walked to the local market in the afternoon for fresh vegetables and some fruit.  The walk itself was a chore as the Mexicans were out in full force buying Christmas gifts and food supplies.  The streets were crowded and it was difficult finding a straight pathway.

Added to that, we couldn't remember exactly where the market was located from the Plaza Grand [remember we don't have any use for maps!] so we did a little extra wandering.  Well, actually a lot of extra wandering.

We will try the market in a day or two as we need more supplies, but first we will look around home to find a smaller market with the same low prices and the same good quality of food.

Our Apartment

The hotels we had booked on-line from home were hit and miss, but not so with our apartment.  We had researched this place thoroughly so we were quite confident in our choice.

From the outside it looks like all other homes in Merida - a door opening directly from the street. Many Canadians and Americans are buying the older complexes and recreating a beautiful home behind the walls.

The apartment is large, around 135 square metres, with two bedrooms and two baths.  The kitchen, dining room and living room is open concept with the balcony off the living room.  We are on the second floor so we get a great view of the small plunge pool below.

The apartment itself is L shaped so we get two views of the garden and pool area.

The maid comes once a week to clean and change the bedding.  She also does our laundry for 20P per load.  If we want the bedding or towels changed more often, she will do that also.  Drinking water is supplied.

The best part of this apartment is its location.  We can walk to the main square, along with many other squares located near there.  Many restaurants and entertainment are all within a fifteen minute walk.  The main local market for fruits and vegetables is within walking distance although it is a little farther out.

Fred and I are quite comfortable here, but Maggie not so much.  She hates the sound of wind on trees and is very agitated much of the time.  Her favourite sleeping spot is in the back closet...the farthest spot from the open windows.  The wind on the trees will continue to be a problem for her as this place has a large amount of foliage in the small garden.  Not much direct sun, but lots of branches to drive Mags crazy!

A Long Drive

We left San Carlos on December 14th and spent the first night in Mazatlan.  I have never been a fan of that city and that impression remains with me.

We drove from there to San Pancho with the intention of spending two full days looking for a condo for next year.  We found some nice places in Rincon de Guayabitos, but none would even consider us as long as we had Maggie.

We then switched our attention to finding a small house in San Pancho....we had a little more luck here, but in true Mexican fashion we are still waiting for a reply from the realtor.

Just to be on the safe side we put a deposit down on an RV site in Lo de Marcos.

The drive from San Pancho to Villahermosa was uneventful and very pleasant.  The roads were all toll roads....we made 40 toll stops a for a cost of $270 Cdn.  The Villahermosa to Campeche leg was a bit of a chore.  The roads were a throw-back to twenty years ago - all pot holes and topes!  And we paid for this!

We had to sneak Maggie into two hotels, but with the rest she was able to prance through the lobby, in true Maggie style.  Princess Maggie!

We forgot to take a Mexico map so we had to rely on the printouts that Fred had for finding the hotels....that and GPS.  Not that Garmin was any help for all we heard was "recalculating"!

Even so, we only got lost once and that was in Merida when we were looking for our apartment.  It took about an hour, but we eventually stumbled upon the place.  More about our apartment tomorrow.

We saw places that we had previously visited and were pleased to spend some time visiting these towns and cities.

It was a fun drive, but not one that I would want to do every year.  On the drive back to San Carlos we are going to break it up with stops in Palanque and Tequila.

One of the Best

We have been having huge difficulties finding hotels, condos and bungalows that will accept our dog.  We completed the bookings back in Canada and just didn't know what to expect.

Mazatlan was okay...clean but very basic.  San Pancho was very, very tiny.  We were becoming uncomfortable, thinking we would have hotels like this all across Mexico.

The good news is the Villas Montana in Morelia!  We had booked this in September and all day while we were driving today we kept thinking of the last two rooms.

But, we hit the jackpot! This is possibly one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in for a long while.  It is an old hacienda complex that is like a maze.  A very well kept maze!

We had booked a Junior suite with a king bed and the room was spectacular.  It had a fireplace as Morelia is higher and it gets very cold at night.

The restaurant and bar were also superb, with great meals and great service.

Highly recommended!

Lobby of the hotel.

The grounds around the hotel.

View from one of the many terraces!

Pathway to some of the rooms.

Entrance to our suite.

Roosters and Bungalows

We have a nasty neighbour...a loud rooster.  This particular rooster was noisy all night keeping us awake most of the time.  I love waking up to the sound of a rooster in the early morning, but this one is perched on a fence not more than five metres away!

We are in San Pancho, just north of Puerto Vallarta looking for a bungalow to rent next year.  We are staying in a pet friendly one right now which would be ideal if only it were a little larger.  We only have a queen bed, shower, and a sink....not much room for anything else!  No kitchen or closets!

When we finally drag ourselves out of bed and away from our pet rooster we are going to start another search in Rincon de Guaybitos,  concentrating on condos on the beach.

We did find time yesterday to walk to the beach for cervezas and a meal.  Not much has changed since last year with the exception of a price increase, but that is happening all over Mexico.

Old Friends

Our old "go-to" restaurant is not doing so well and is closed more often than it is open.  The Fiesta is located across the street from us so we used to stroll over for dinner when neither of us felt like cooking.

Last year there was an accusation of food poisoning and that was it for the restaurant.  The staff had to move on to other venues and we lost track of them.

On Friday, we finally ventured out to La Palapa for the first time since arriving and we ran into Luis.  He was the bartender at the Fiesta and now works in that capacity at La Palapa.  It was great to see him again!

This is the same man who so openly flirted with Fred's mom when she was last down!

Finally

After almost 6 years we finally signed the final papers for our house.  It has been a long and frustrating journey, but it is over!

Because we purchased a house near the water, we can never actually have the actual title of the property....the bank holds the deed in trust.  We have to pay a yearly fee of $735 Cdn for the bank to do this.  Plus, we had to pay for someone to work with the bank in getting the trust transferred from the previous owner to us.

The transfer usually takes a year to complete and costs somewhere around $4000 to the Notario [like a lawyer] and $2000 to the person hired to do the work.

After we bought the house we hired a gentleman who was highly recommended and we have regretted it ever since.  He did not do anything to secure the transfer.  He lied to us at every opportunity and even had the nerve to take us to the Notario to sign papers.

Two years ago we realized what he was doing so we chased him trying to get back $5000 Cdn that he had of ours.  All he did was "deny, deny, deny"!

Last year, we gave up and hired a realtor friend who completed the transaction in nine months.  We had to absorb some costs that weren't ours [previous owner's capital gains] just to get the ordeal over with.

Between the theft of our previous monies, absorbing the capital gains cost and this successful transfer, we paid $12,000 Cdn for a $6000 job.  BUT...it is complete and legal.

The sad part of this story is that it is happening to many people.  Friends of ours have been told recently that their papers are all forged and they need to start over....a $15,000 loss.

This is our second purchase in Mexico, but our first problem.  Even so, it does sour my thoughts on making another purchase in the future.

Termites

Termites are common in Mexico so we were not surprised to see the lines in our house.  They often come out of the light switches and move to a wood product.  In this case, they attacked our cupboards.  If they go unnoticed they can destroy your cupboards in a matter of days.

We have our house fumigated once a year, but sometimes it doesn't work 100%.  We controlled this batch of termites without calling the fumigators back, knowing full well that we need to have them here before we leave for home in April.

This particular type of termite that we find in San Carlos comes from the ground so when it is a rainy summer they move up, which often means into a house.

Golfing

We have had an extremely busy few days so we decided to end the week with a day on the golf course! It was a great day.....if you exclude getting stuck in the sand.  The carts are older and don't always carry their charge for the full round, nor do they have the best of tires.

Fred found that out when he tried to drive through some sand near the green - he needed a push to get him on the move again.

Beverages were a necessity! 

Don, you may know of the gentleman in the burgundy shirt....Dave Garvie, brother of Gord and Neil Garvie from Saskatoon.  He and his partner live in Tecalai not far from our house.

Day at the Beach

The weather continues to be ideal for beach bumming and we have been unable to resist the urge to head to the Soggy Peso.  The Soggy Peso Bar is no longer the only kid on the block...there are three restaurants/bars, almost side by side.  A fourth is set to open soon.

Today a group of us went to the Peso for lunch and margaritas.  Monday is the Independence Day holiday so the place was busy with Mexicans enjoying their long weekend.

A rarity at the Soggy Peso beach.....no wind!  That meant no kite boarders, but it brought in lots of shrimp boats.

Some Things Never Change

When Walmart showed up in Guaymas and Leys in San Carlos, everyone thought that the small businesses in San Carlos would start to fail.  While there must have been some decline in profit, the smaller stores have learned to adapt.

They have brought in more American products along with trying to bring in fresher vegetables and fruit.

When coming down, we noticed that the food prices in the United States are beginning to rival Canada's prices.  Upon arrival here, we saw that prices have gone up in Mexico as well.

We try to support the local economy and continue to buy our fruit and vegetables at an outdoor market.

Tony has been here for years with a loyal following....to help with his business he has added a small taco stand next door that seems to be busy most of the time.

Anyone Know?

We are pretty sure these are Monarch butterflies.....there are thousands of them on the golf course.  Maybe they are migrating to Southern Mexico!

Any guesses?

Sorry for the poor photos!

Perfect Weather

The weather was perfect for a round of golf so we joined friends and spent the morning trying to hit that damn ball!

Fred and I decided that we wanted to start walking the course, but maybe today wasn't the best of days to start this project.  The temperatures are 30C - 32C which meant we were pretty dehydrated by the time we finished.  The water we carried with us seemed to be at the boiling point by the sixth hole.  All the more reason to have some beers after finishing!

Maggie's Travels

We have to sedate Maggie to keep her safe and quiet in the car.  If we don't she whines and paces constantly - if we drive for 8 hours, she paces for 8 hours.

She mellows out somewhat with the sedatives, but she never sleeps...she is a determined dog!

Yak Restaurant?

Friends...who needs them?

Last year when we arrived our house was for sale....this year they turned it into a "Certified Yak Restaurant"!!!  

Great Start!

We had originally planned to leave for San Carlos on Sunday, October 27th, but when Fred heard the forecast for Monida Pass he decided we should leave a day early.  That meant a couple of late nights getting things in order.

We finally got on the road on Saturday around 9:30 am.  The crossing into the US was a little strange with the customs agent asking us questions like: "How do you plan to finance this trip to Mexico?"  He kept us there longer than usual and we were beginning to wonder what was happening.  Eventually he just waved us through.

Not far from the crossing we hit something on the road and heard a pop..we knew right away that we were looking at changing the tire.  No problem with that, but to get to the spare we had to remove everything from the car....and we were loaded!

We crawled into Havre with boxes on laps and junk all over Maggie.  We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies when we finally made it to the lube shop at Walmart.  They were excellent, getting us on the road within an hour.  We needed a new tire, but at that point we didn't care!

We were determined to make it to Helena and we were able to accomplish that - two hours later than planned.

Farewell July 29, 2013

It's time to say good bye to China. Travelling like this for a month is not easy as there are constant decisions to be made, sites to see, hotels to check in and out of and planes to catch.

We had seven domestic flights and although most of them were comfortable and safe, it is always a strain dealing with the lack of communications and the huge crowds.

In a country of 1.5 billion people there are bound to be some pushy people....our elbows have callouses on them from fighting to keep our spot in line!

Sometimes I felt that the noise level had reached the top end of the scale.  People were having to speak louder than we are used to, just to be heard.  

I'm not complaining, we chose this trip knowing what we were up against and we were prepared for most of it.  The poor table manners, the spitting and the snorting were all new to us and I'm trying to be polite here.

But, no matter how tired I may look in the picture, it was a great adventure.  Give me a few weeks and I will be ready to take on Egypt or Mongolia or India, but not Africa.

Exploring the City July 28, 2013

Our plans for the last two days in Beijing were to take it easy....let's just say we tried.  It's pretty hard to sit and rest when a city of 22 million people is offering so many things to do.

In the morning we wandered around our hotel area, finding new side markets and different eating stalls.  

The pigeons didn't appeal to either of us....where is Jim when we need him?  

In the afternoon, we decided to tackle the subway system.  Why didn't we take the time and try it before?  It was so easy to use, and it is new and clean.

We got lost in the hutongs later in the day, and eventually had to fall back on our tried and true method of finding our way out of alleys like this.....we followed a group of older women   who looked like they were going somewhere special.  Worked like a charm!  

We didn't realize that the Beijing sky could be so blue as up until now we have had nothing but smog.

Too much beer?  Or just plain tired. One sign in a little restaurant caught our eye!

On the Way Home July 27, 2013

Half the China team left tonight for a 2:00 am flight to Vancouver, leaving us all alone in Beijing for two days.

They look particularly happy....maybe it's the eleven hour flight ahead of them that brought out those smiles!

Bamboo and Pine July 26, 2013

Not bad for a day of unwinding !!

This morning we were driven to the rice terraces at Longsheng. We really didn't know what we were getting into, but by the end it the day we were experts in all things Longji.

We were so high up that pine trees were everywhere and yet this place is so tropical the bamboo trees were growing beside the pines.

It's too bad we had to drive on more hairpin and switchbacks, but again I was successful in hiding my terror.....I'm not so sure about Alice.  She had this terrible tick in her right foot - much like she was stepping on the brakes!

We had to walk the last kilometre to a village built into the side of a mountain.  Absolutely beautiful.

We climbed too many steps to count, wanting to see every part of this fascinating village.  There were very few tourists in the village so we had the place to ourselves.

The rice terraces are so different from Vietnam. These are narrow and split into smaller plots.  Other than that, the people working the fields were doing the same hard work to support themselves and their

families, even the young children.