Retire in Paradise for Less – Page 4 – your travel and retirement guide to paradise

Ecuador jungle, mountains and bus rides.

22 July , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

Perhaps you have already read my other 2 articles on the big cities of Quito and Cuenca; now details and my experiences with the smaller lesser known places.

Having my map of Ecuador in hand, the first area I explored off the beaten track was a 2-hour journey by bus from Quito: The Mindo Rainforest. It gave me a taste of what the Amazon Jungle itself might look and feel like. The town of Mindo is the entrance to a huge swath of land and is a nature reserve full of rivers, waterfalls, wildlife, stunning views. I stayed at a beautiful place called Hosteria Arasari .. click the link to check out the gorgeous grounds.. location and cabins. It was not expensive.. I think I paid about $30 a night. They have a bird viewing platform above the basic restaurant onsite.. great views! The town of Mindo itself was a tad hippie.. a nice cozy feel and friendly faces everywhere. On arrival I was confused as to why I could not get a coffee except for a Nescafe (no thanks), I trekked about 1.5 km to the Hosteria and they gave me the same line. Then, entering my cabin and finding no light switch working it dawned on me..no electricity! Mindo had had no power for 3 days! I never did find out why; welcome to crazy life in Third World Countries. I hiked several kilometers outside of the hotel area.. some amazing views, lots of wildlife and especially birds -the toucan! I have never been one for heights and so I passed on the zip-line experience (yet again). This day was June 23 and the temperature in this cloud forest was just a little above comfort for temperature and humidity, especially hiking.

I decided to take the road back to Quito from Cuenca. I wanted to head to the edge of the Amazon Jungle and so settled on the towns of Banos and Puyo. Each of these towns deserve an article all of their own! From Cuenca I took a bus to Ambato, then a bus to Banos. A few nights in Banos and then on to Puyo for a few nights. The buses were not as nearly as good as the first class buses that go from city to city in Mexico.. but sufficient for a few hours at a time. Also, Ecuador buses are VERY inexpensive. Expect to pay just $1 for a 1-hour journey. The Ecuadorians getting on and off the bus en-route were all very pleasant and at no time did I feel unsafe or uncomfortable in any way. I do have a rule in my life though: “I never worry, but I do manage the risk”. So traveling by bus at night does not seem like a sensible idea. Many travelers like to travel on overnight buses because it is cooler temperature wise and they can sleep and save on a hotel bed. My thoughts on overnight bus travel: bandits attack at night, many more traffic accidents happen at night and I would miss all the scenery along the way! Trust me, the bus on the narrow, winding road which is laid on the ridge of the Andes Mountains is something you do not want to miss. Breathtaking scenery and lots of interesting people and places to see along the way.

Map of Ecuador

A short story: A bus I took from Mexico City airport departed at 11 pm and in 3.5 hours I would be home in San Miguel de Allende. Along the way, in the pitch black night the bus stopped and outside were several large black trucks and many men with machine guns. A Federal officer asked us to get off the bus and present our passports, at the same time ALL of the luggage was removed from the bus and inspected thru an x-ray machine. We were on our way in less than an hour, but let me tell you, this was a very unnerving experience to say the least. In the dark it is hard to figure out the where, who and what of the situation. Enough said.

OK, so for more details about the spa town of Banos and the edge-of-the-jungle town of Puyo then please click on the links to those articles. All in all traveling around Ecuador was very pleasant, fresh air, cheap buses and a cleaner roadside experience than Mexican roads. Less trash here, more of a tidy place, even the junk is often piled neatly here!

Puyo, Ecuador. The edge of the Amazon Jungle

22 July , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

A “penis tree” AKA: Iriartea. Just go with “penis”.. hard to say the other word 🙂

The town of Puyo sits at the edge of the rainforest known commonly as the Amazon Jungle; in Spanish Selva Amazónica. Most of the rainforest is in Brazil but the far Western edge is in Ecuador and also spans 6 other countries to a small degree. I chose Puyo as a gateway to the jungle. The jungle! Cool!

I arrived here from Banos, taking 2 buses via Ambato. A trip of about 5 hours total. The buses were comfy with a large TV monitor playing a movie, in Spanish and no subtitles. The town itself is nothing spectacular or remarkable except to say the locals were very friendly, even a police officer zipped me to my guest house on the back of his motorbike when I asked him for directions.

The town is full of shops with suggested tours of the rainforest some of which include hiking, zip line, canoeing and climbing. I chose a day tour that included a drive of 1 hour east to an animal sanctuary, then a canoe ride down a river to a village and meet with the shaman of that village and have lunch with him.

Inside the village were about 20 homes/huts all colourful and a garden/crop area. The shaman greeted me and his attire was a little shocking to me, in a funny way. I expected the “spiritual leader” of this village to be wearing a long robe, with beads and maybe a funny hat. Instead, he was dressed in jeans and a very oil stained red t-shirt. It’s interesting how I had romanticised the truth of the matter! The wooden table was filled with food and was hard to see given the very dim light in this large hut. I also had the company of a monkey (or two?) and outside large colourful parrots guarded the entrance to the hut. The food was delicious consisting mainly of freshwater fish and corn.

Both the Amazon Jungle and any rainforest had always been on my bucket list of places to see and here I was breaking bread with a shaman, in the Amazon along with the company of a monkey, or two.

My two tour guides were also my protection from god knows what lays ahead. Before entering into the jungle my face was painted with symbols which would protect me from wild animals. I was told not to touch anything just in case it was poisonous or had had an allergy to it. I can also see how getting lost in the jungle could happen quite easily, the tree canopy is high and so reference points are difficult. I found myself recalling some TV shows featuring Steve Irwin and other intrepid adventurer/survival type guys as a “just in case” scenario. Fortunately I was back in my hotel bed that night.

No matter what time of year it is in Ecuador, the sun rises at 6:25 and sets at about 6:20 PM. The longest day in June and shortest day in December differ by only 6 minutes of daylight. Trips like my trek into the jungle have to be started early in the day for fear of still being in the jungle after dark. No thanks!

The whole experience of a few days in Puyo was terrific with a good balance of relaxed and exciting and I can highly recommend such adventure.

Ecuador. Cities in the Andes. Cuenca

15 July , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

After a week in Quito, the capital, I am learning more and more about the geography, distances and transportation. I opted to fly from Quito to Cuenca and arrived early morning; too early. Not even the coffee shops were open. This is always the problem with the least expensive flights: they are also the least attractive timetable-wise.

I told the taxi driver to take me to the “city centre”, my Spanish was improving bit by bit having now lived in Mexico for 15 months so far. My drop off point was a seemingly deserted spot on a road. “THIS, is the hub of Cuenca? Oh dear, not a good start. A building with the words “hosteria” caught my eye and so I went there to ask for directions and to my pleasant surprise this hosteria was a beehive of activity. Turns out that a “hosteria” does not mean “hostel” in this country, translated it means “guest house”. Very confusing.. especially if you were really looking for a ..hostel!

Cuenca is also high in the Andes sitting at 2,550 m (8,370 ft), just like the capital Quito and so the temperature at 7 am on a winter morning was a brisk 7 c. Not a lot of warmth in the air. I was traveling light on this trip with just a backpack, one that I can highly recommend is THIS BACKPACK for such a trip. So I decided to wander around after breakfast to get my first impressions of this old Spanish Colonial town in Ecuador. Windows.. with no metal bars! Lots of them here in Cuenca! In Mexico it is rare to see a glass window with no bars. I think it is partly due to the obvious… anti-theft but also glass in windows is fairly “new” to Mexico since the opening maybe had some wooden shutters but those would close out the light completely.. so bars on the windows! However here in the quiet streets of Cuenca I see many shops and homes with no bars, in fact one store had thousands of dollars worth of power tools on display in this window.. no bars. That was amazing to me, having lived in Mexico where this sort of thing I never saw!

One thing about this town that differed from San Miguel de Allende: In SMA you can stroll past most shops, bars and restaurants and scope out the place before you enter. However, because of the temperate climate in Cuenca, most places have closed doors. In a few instances, I opened the door and entered a place looking for a certain vibe only to leave immediately. A little awkward for me.

Just outside the city of Cuenca are the Cajas Mountains (box mountains). Take a day pack with some snacks and water. If you are chilly and damp in the city you will absolutely freeze in the mountains without a jacket and good shoes. The average elevation is 3,500 meters (11,500 feet). Take a bus from the city to one of several bus stops alongside the Caja National Park and be sure to get the timetable for the return bus to Cuenca.

I would definitely suggest a trip to Cuenca for a retirement destination.

Ecuador. Cities in the Andes. Quito

6 July , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

Whenever I travell somewhere, no matter how old I was/am, I often asked myself the question “would I like to live here”. An invitation from a friend who once lived in the town of San Miguel de Allende took me to Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

Peter did not enjoy SMA as much as I did and his stay in San Miguel lasted only 4 months and so his next choice as a working expat was to Quito. High in the Andes of South America at an altitude of 2,850 m (9,350 ft) it too is a colonial town that once belonged to Spain, I thought the British were bad at forcefully building Empires, but Spain didn’t too badly at raping and pillaging the lands all over the globe. So I decided to leave my Mexican town for 3 weeks in Ecuador.

My flight on COPA airlines (Panamanian Airline) was the best I can remember in decades. Like service used to be, with flight attendants that are actually happy to service you and not just be there “for your safety”. My flight was from Mexico City, Bogota Columbia and then on to Quito. The second leg was only a 1.5-hour flight, but even then a meal and hot beverages were served by very young, enthusiastic and willing flight attendants.

My first impression of this capital was that it was so “European” with a very good mixture of 300-year-old buildings and an ultra-modern skyline. The whole place had a very good vibe. Although Peter did warn me about not going out after dark..which really surprised me. Not wanting to put his idea to the test, I heeded his advice. Some great modern shopping malls (a great social place), fantastic bus system both in town and inter-provincial. Like so many cultures, put that same relaxed man or woman, that earlier that day was sipping on a latte for 2 hours just watching the world go by, behind the wheel of a car and zoooooom. They are so impatient that the horn is used to tell people to get out of their way! Very sad and very odd behaviour.

I was in Quito for a week in June.. the dead of Winter.. but the geography and climate is, to me, very odd in many ways. The city literally lays exactly on the Equator, so why on earth would there be a winter or a summer? Turns out that one the biggest and coldest ocean currents on earth is the Humboldt Current and flows right up the left side of South America bathing the coast of Ecuador with “cool”water. Add to this that the largest jungle, the Amazon, on Earth which lies to the east of Ecuador and the ocean to the west with the Andes squeezed in between gives this country a very odd mix of climate. I was actually on the Equator and I was too cold!! OK I was also at a high altitude, but still, it boggled my mind that the weather could be so cold and damp. Be forewarned, several people have issues with living at altitude. So if you enjoy stuff like breathing and having your heart beat on a regular basic.. then go to Quito for a visit first to see if your body is up to the task at these elevations.

The next city I want to visit in Ecuador is Cuenca, it is supposed to be the cultural capital of Ecuador, just as San Miguel is supposed to be to Mexico.

What Will it Cost to Live in Paradise

15 April , 2014 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

We each have our own priorities as to the “must have” in choosing best places to retire. In my mind there is little point living in one of the cheapest places to live if the town is dangerous or has awful weather. We each have to decide what is important to us. I am living in Mexico at the moment and the cost of living in my town of San Miguel de Allende is much higher than most places in Mexico. For me, the culture of this town, the many events and the towns beauty is worth the price.

My standard of living is somewhere in between my ex USA lifestyle and how a Mexican would live in a village. That is a HUGE difference in the quality of life! I know expats here who “get by” on $400 USD a month while others I know spend in excess of $3,000 a month. I am in the middle. If you are trying to recreate your USA life here in Mexico, or ANY expat community around the world then you will spend top dollar. Imported foods and clothes made for the USA markets are expensive. Buying a late model car in Third World Countries: very expensive-perhaps 35% higher than Europe or USA. Dining out at non-local food: twice the price. Similar story for the latest and new computers and electronics. Asia may be about the same or less than Euro and USA prices.

Buying used items, eating local ethnic meals, renting/buying a local styled home and so forth, then this is the smarter way to spend your money when retired. Some costs in your new paradise come unexpected and often at the worst times. Many people here in San Miguel trip on the hazardous sidewalks and end up having to pay medical expenses. Traveling back “home” can also be a huge expense. Certain things we can all control with our day to day living expenses, but just like my non-retired life, there were and still are many things that I have little control over costs.

Check out my articles on countries and towns that I have information on, that will help you choose your best choice for the cheapest places to live. Also go to THIS WEBSITE for general information about the cost of living around the world. Bottom line here is really, really, really consider what you can afford, what you would be willing to forgo (priorities) and try to look realistically at current and possible future expenses.

Search my website for more in-depth articles on various towns around the world.

Senior Living in San Miguel de Allende

24 July , 2013 By John Arnold Leave a Comment

This article will be a more in-depth look at my life, my “senior living life”, in San Miguel de Allende. I hope you find this real-world information useful.

Today is my birthday and tonight I will be going to the local Gringo bar, Hanks. This pub/restaurant used to be called Harry’s up until 2012 and Bob, the owner has this New Orleans style establishment in about 4 different locations in the USA and 2 in Mexico. The food is moderately priced (for SMA) and the quality is excellent. Try the salmon BLT, wow! That sandwich with a ton of french fries is priced at 140 pesos, about 10 USD. I do not eat here a lot because frankly, $10 for me is too expensive for my tastes and totally not necessary, plus I would put on weight if I were here more than a few times a month. The music is also awesome at Hank’s playing mostly 70’s music along with all the standards. All in all a great place to hang out, good food, music, decor and vibe with both Mexicans (the wealthier ones) and gringos alike. The later, enjoying their gringo senior living life here in beautiful San Miguel de Allende.

At the other end of the dining-out scale is street food. Eating a taco from street vendors can be very hit and miss. However I, fortunately, do not have any first-hand information on the bad ones that may/will give you a stomach upset or worse. Word-of-mouth can be a killer for any place of business so how accurate these second-hand accounts are I am not really sure. I go to one street vendor in the evening, for beef tacos and they are just mouth-wateringly fantastic and cost 10 pesos each.

The nightlife for me may mean that I sit on a park bench in front of La Parroquia and watch the families, kids playing soccer, young teen lovers and often a town organized art performance. These performances include music for all tastes, folk dancing, choirs from local schools and more. The plaza is also a huge source of people watching for most people. The Teatro Angela Peralta, in the town centre, has events on a weekly basis and also offers a wide range or live performances and some movies. Speaking of movies, we have 2 movie theatres here in San Miguel de Allende. A short bus ride out of the old city centre takes you to a small shopping mall, which has a large multi-screen modern movie theatre. They offer movies in both Spanish and English dialogue, but some with only English subtitles.

In another article, I describe my USA plated van here as a “boat anchor” and so I got rid of it. Getting around San Miguel is often accomplished on foot now. I live at the extreme east end of the cento area and to walk across town to the west side is about 1.5 km and 20 minutes of walking. Mostly downhill and returning home a 30-minute walk, uphill. This town is not for everyone. The altitude here is about 2,000 meters, so less oxygen available for stuff like breathing. It is also a VERY hilly town and there are not too many occasions that will not take up a rather steep hill. The stroll across town can also be accomplished in a tax for 35 pesos and the 10-minute bus ride to the shopping mall is just 5 pesos.

Many people have accidents when walking in San Miguel de Allende. All the streets are some sort of cobblestone. Very smooth and slippery cobblestone. My feet are big, so my shoe spans at least one stone, those with smaller feet do not and sometimes twist an ankle or worse while navigating the beauty of the street! This town is like many others (all perhaps?) in Mexico; there are lots of obstacles on the sidewalk that, if you are not paying attention, will trip you up. Friends have had their foot/leg trapped and broken down deep holes, fallen through storm drains, and tripped over the myriad of smaller stuff that sticks out the sidewalks. Welcome to Mexico and Third World Country, culture?

Getting around Mexico from San Miguel de Allende is easy without a car. First class buses travel from SMA to all over Mexico and these buses are very comfortable indeed. These buses often having luxurious seating, WiFi and electrical adapter and even a cappuccino machine on the ETN bus line! The cost is around 100 pesos for each hour of the journey. Book online for discounts. If you are over 60 you can use your INAPAM card for a huge 50% discount on the bus fares. The cost of plane fares are on par with those in USA, so not cheap and trains only connect a few cities. Driving a car here is only cost effective when there are 3 or more in the car. The cost of petrol, maintenance, meals along the way and the road tolls add up to a 2 or 3 person break-even cost. Add to that the stress of driving and well, why bother with a car?

Lastly, there are the holidays and processions. Holidays in San Miguel de Allende are amazing festivities of light, colour, and sound. Most of the events are centred around Catholic holidays and tradition. Semana Santa, Easter was the end of March this year, is perhaps the biggest of these celebrations. People from all over Mexico come to this pueblito for the Semana Santa procession and cultural events. The next biggest holiday is the celebration, September 27, of Mexican Independence from the Spanish. The fireworks are not to be missed and this festival last about 5 days!

My life and your life, here in San Miguel de Allende can be as lively or as quiet as you want. A low budget can still be a lively time here because all the cultural events are for the public in the streets and plazas. Plan a visit soon, you will have no regrets.