Simple life and cheap housing: how I lived half a year in Mexico

How realistic is it to spend six months in Mexico? AT material The author of Tinkoff Magazine, Ekaterina Nikolaeva, can learn how to implement this idea and how much it will cost.

In 2017, I spent half a year in Mexico. For three months I lived in the city of San Cristobal: I rented a house, paid bills, traveled around the state and worked remotely in local cafes. In the article I will tell you how to organize life in Mexico and how much it costs.

Main street of San Cristobal - Real de Guadalupe

Why San Cristobal

For a comfortable life in Mexico, suitable for many cities. For example, in Cancun on the Caribbean coast, azure beaches and good infrastructure, and in Merida - a vibrant nightlife.

I liked San Cristobal in Chiapas the most, so my friend and I stayed in it for three months. Here, affordable housing and food, interesting people, a lot of activities, beautiful nature and even stable Internet.

San Cristobal is located in the south of Mexico. To the oceans can be reached by car: to the Atlantic in six hours, to the Pacific - in three hours

San Cristobal is located on 2200 meters above sea level, therefore it is not as hot as on the coast or in the desert. The average year-round temperature is + 18 ° C, in summer it is even hotter - around + 23 ° C. The main season is from May to September.

The population of the city is 200 000 people, half of whom are Indians. Together with them, people of 40 nationalities live, each making the city more colorful: the French bake croissants, Canadian and Korean sell vegan fast food, Romanian brews craft beer.

Most Mexicans speak Spanish, and Native Indians speak a mixture of Spanish and Maya, so it’s more difficult to understand. But we have no problems with communication. In San Cristobal, major cities and resorts local know basic English. On rare occasions when we did not understand the Mexicans, he was helping out sign language or bystanders who helped explain.

Other streets of the city look like this. It's almost always sunny here.

If you want to learn Spanish, Mexico is perfect for this. Mexicans have a clear pronunciation - it's easy to understand. They are also always happy to help and suggest the right word.

Visa

If you have a multishengen, USA, Canada, UK or Japan visa, then you do not need a special visa to Mexico. Upon arrival in the passport stamped, you can stay in the country up to six months.

If there are no visas to countries from the list above, you can apply for an electronic entry permit on the website of the Mexican Embassy. With it you can cross the border only by plane. Ready permission will be sent to the post office, it needs to be printed out and shown when boarding an aircraft. The document is valid for 30 days, you can stay in Mexico for 180 days.

If you are going to cross the Mexican border by land or water, you will have to apply for a visa to the embassy of mexico. Such a visa costs $ 36, it is issued for six months or ten years. It usually takes four days to issue.

Upon arrival at the airport, you need to fill in the migration card and keep the spine from it. When leaving, it will be taken back. Insurance for entry is not needed.

Money

The local currency is Mexican Peso. In the summer of 2018, the 10 peso costs $ 0,5. The course is stable, a year ago it was exactly the same. Pesos can be bought at foreign currency ATMs or at casa de cambio - exchange office.

In major cities and resorts willingly accept dollars. Change in the grocery most often given at the rate of the central bank in the peso, but in small shops and when paying on the street, the course may be unprofitable.

The most advantageous to remove the peso at an ATM: the course as close as possible to the Central Bank. The commission from 30 to 50 pesos will be removed regardless of the amount. Cash withdrawal limit - $ 300.

Mastercard and Visa cards are accepted almost everywhere. Major stores have Paypass and Apple Pay. In small shops, buses, taxis and inexpensive cafes accept cash only.

In Mexico, mainly in the course of the banknote, coins can be paid off in public transport or thrown into the hat to musicians

In Mexico, mainly in the course of the banknote, coins can be paid off in public transport or thrown into the hat to musicians. We made money at the ATMs of the banks Santander and HSBC: they have a minimum commission.

Where to live

San Cristobal is a small town. There are no tenement houses, all live in houses on the 2 — 3 family.

For the first time, I recommend to rent a room or house. via Airbnb.com. Then you can bargain with the owner for a long-term lease. Landlords often meet each other: once we have 50% discount.

Hostel If you want more communication, I advise you to look for a hostel. Owners often make a discount when paying for a long time: if you reserve for a month, you can save up to 30%. The hostels have delicious breakfasts and interesting colonial architecture. I did not live in hostels - only went there to visit friends and to parties.

I divide hostels on quiet and fun. For example, hostel snail suitable for those who love silence and nature. Here you can sign up for a cooking course or buy farm products. Accommodation will cost from $ 10 per bed in a ten-bed room. Breakfast is included, it will be served in the courtyard.

Another variant - Puerta Vieja. This is a hostel for those who come to have fun. The territory has its own bar and courtyard for parties, every day - themed. Accommodation in a room at 10 costs $ 7 per person, breakfast is included.

This hostel often hosts parties. For tenants the entrance to them is almost always free, but sometimes the organizers are asked to buy a ticket. For example, the entrance to a barbecue party cost me 100 pesos, the price includes a plate of meat and beer.

The hostel has wide and comfortable beds, but no curtains. This may be uncomfortable. Source: Booking.com

Community homes - housing, which rents one person and invites others to live. So he surrounds himself with interesting people and, as the Indians say, returns the debt to Pachamame, the mother earth. To find such a house, ask musicians or Argentines selling home-made decorations on the street: they often stop in such houses.

The room is small, but everyone has a personal space thanks to the curtains. Source: Booking.com

In community homes, tenants throw off the communal apartment, take turns buying and preparing food. My friend and I lived in such a house for a month. Food, electricity, and water cost us 50 pesos per person per day.

A huge plus of such houses are unusual people. We met with the rising star of the Chilean romance, the boyfriend of the actress from “Game of Thrones” and the motor-travelers from Russia. Of the minuses of common houses - weak Internet and the lack of personal space.

Rent a house. To rent a house, look for signs "se renta" in the city. So you can find a good home without intermediaries and ask for a discount. You can also search on Locanto and Vivanuncios, but there at home, most likely, will be more expensive. At the same time, there are few photos of houses on the site: the security policy does not allow showing them entirely.

We rented a house for 3000 pesos a month. Our local friend agreed on a low price with the owner. This is a guest house on a common area with the owners, so there is only one room and a loft for the mattress. The contract was not signed: there was enough photocopy of the passport. Paid at the beginning of each month, without prepayment and bail.

If you rent a house, I recommend to pay attention to the water pressure: sometimes it is weak.

Life

In general, living in San Cristobal is simple and pleasant. There are no mosquitoes and water shortages, and the electricity was cut off once when the hurricane broke the wires.

Communal expenses. We paid for electricity and water by ourselves. On winter nights in San Cristobal it gets colder up to 5 — 7 ° C, but there is no central heating, so it was necessary to turn on electric heaters. In the warm season, we paid for a communal 100 — 150 peso per month, and in the cold — 600 peso.

Gas for cooking and heating water in the shower, too, had to be ordered by ourselves. Mexicans are not very mandatory, so the balloon could wait a few hours. One tank for 700 pesos was enough for us for a month. Before you go to the shower or wash the dishes, it took about 20 minutes for the water tank to warm up. At first it was annoying, but we quickly got used to it.

Water. Drinking from the tap is not recommended: the rivers are very dirty, you can pick up salmonellosis. We ordered bottled drinking water, the suppliers were advised by the owners of the house. The company brings the first bottle of 19 with pomp for 130 pesos, each following costs 30 pesos.

I advise you to buy water from official suppliers, because on the street they can sell poorly purified water. Once we brought a bottle of garbage inside - had to return it. If you want to save money, you can buy purified tap water in stores. It costs 8 pesos for 19 l.

Laundry. Mexicans do not have a washing machine at home - we washed clothes in the laundry. In San Cristobal, they are at every turn. Wash and dry 1 kg of clothes costs 8 pesos.

If you put things in the laundry in the morning, after lunch you can already take everything clean and dry. It's comfortable

The Internet. Mobile Internet in Mexico is fast and reliable. But we didn’t use it: Wi-Fi was at home, in almost all coffee shops and restaurants. Open chains also exist in large supermarkets and malls, and sometimes in central squares. The Internet is almost everywhere average. There was enough speed for work and calls, but watching video in HD was no longer possible.

Mobile connection. There are three operators in the country: Telcell, Movistar and AT&T Unidos. Telcell has better coverage, and everyone has about the same tariffs: unlimited calls to the region, SMS, Facebook and Whatsapp cost from 150 pesos per month. You can buy a mobile Internet package from 10 MB to 4 GB for an hour to 50 days. 1,5 GB per month from Telcell will cost 200 pesos. We didn't buy SIM cards because open Wi-Fi was enough.

There is a strong sun in San Cristobal, so be sure to take sunscreen with you. There are also American-type sockets, so you have to buy adapters.

Products

I recommend buying fruits, vegetables, greens, etc. in the market Mercado Municipal. There is a large selection and low prices, and sellers willingly bargain. A mango bucket weighing 2,5 kg will cost 30 pesos, a bucket of strawberries or blackberries - 40 pesos, and 1 kg of tomatoes - 25 pesos. Usually the price for local and foreigners is the same, but if in doubt, ask a few sellers.

The market opens around 7 in the morning and runs up to 16: 00 — 17: 00. To buy the freshest, it is better to come before noon

The same vegetables are sold all year round on the market: potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, beets. The potato seemed tasteless to us, but the greens are juicy. Fruits change every season: we caught mango, strawberry, papaya, guava, watermelon and avocado. Even on the market you can find rare for Russia asparagus and artichokes. Three artichoke flowers per season cost 30 pesos.

Products from the market are grown by local Chamula Indians. They do not use chemical fertilizers and at the same time water the gardens of dirty rivers. Therefore, before washing the products, I recommend adding disinfectant drops to the water. They can be purchased at any store, pharmacy or market. Such drops purify water and products from bacteria and microbes.

Bread, cheese, other dairy products and meat is better to buy in special shops in the city. For fresh pastries, we went to the bakery Roots, for cheese and ice cream - in the dairy shop Lacteos Maya, and kefir was taken from a Romanian who cooks it at home. We bought the rest of the products in convenience stores and in a large mall. Plaza Comercial Chedraui on the outskirts.

In Mexico for sale delicious natural dark chocolate and desserts based on it. A tile of 100% cocoa costs around 40 pesos. We did not like the local bread: it is very sweet, so we bought tortillas and French baguettes at the bakery. In Mexico, they drink coffee or herbal tea instead of tea. Tea bags can be found only in large supermarkets.

One bottle of disinfectant drops for water costs 15 — 30 pesos. It lasts for a month

Street cafes and restaurants

At every corner in Mexico they sell rice with chicken or tacos - corn tortillas with meat and vegetables. Such food costs 50 — 100 pesos. It is safe to eat on the street, but we tried to avoid fried: Mexicans do not change the oil in which they fry food for a long time.

Any dish on the street is served with spicy sauce. You can adjust the severity yourself. I advise you to be careful: if a Mexican says that the sauce is “no muy picante” (“not very hot”), it is still better to put a little. The locals have a saying: “If you see a Mexican who eats, sweats and cries, he is very good.”

The most favorite delicacy of Mexicans is Elotes. This is boiled corn with toppings to choose from: butter, cheese, mayonnaise, spicy sauce.

One serving of elotes costs 20 pesos

Even in San Cristobal they like to crunch grasshoppers - in Spanish, “chapulines”. Smiling women fry them in garlic and chilli, sprinkle them with lime juice and put them in a bag, like seeds. Another chapulines stuffed with taco or eaten as a snack for beer.

If Mexican cuisine is fed up, you can find the usual European food. For pasta and pizza we went to the Italians La Minerva, for steak - in the restaurant el Argentino, for rolls and vegan desserts - in veg cafe Todo Vegano. And in the souvenir shop Imagenarte we drank "revolutionary coffee". It is collected on organic plantations by local Zapatistas rebels to finance their movement.

Fried grasshoppers are delicious: they reminded me of dried anchovies. True, paws stuck in the teeth

Back in San Cristobal, it’s popular to walk the streets and trade in food you made at home. This is legal - there will be no problems with the police. Once we were selling vegan rolls with a familiar Frenchwoman. The products spent 500 pesos, and earned 1000 pesos. The whole tray was sold out in a couple of hours, but we did not repeat: it was too laborious.

For remote work, I needed cafes with good internet and sockets. It was convenient to work in a cafe Amor negroin the bookshop Abuelita Books and in the family restaurant Valente's.

Transport

In Mexico, a well-developed network of public transport: in the city and the surrounding area you can always ride a bus, and in the state - on buses.

Collective - so called local bus. They move away from the markets and drive around the district within 30 km. The fare is from 5 peso through the city to 50 peso to the next village. It is convenient to go to the shopping center and to travel around the state. They do not have a fixed schedule, so you can ask the driver to wait for you, or, conversely, to go earlier if the car quickly filled up.

Collective terminal near the market in San Cristobal

Buses run without delay. They have free internet, toilet and blankets. Tickets can be bought on the bus station site or in the terminal. A few hours before departure, you can make a discount 10 — 20%, but if you do not want to risk it, buy tickets in advance. Once I could not leave the whole day: it was a summer vacation, schoolchildren traveled around the country. Had to hitchhike. In the end, I did not ride on Mexican buses. But my friends drove them - they were all satisfied with their quality and price.

How much is the bus from San Cristobal

• San Cristobal - Palenque 219 km, from 168 peso;
• San Cristobal - Mexico City 633 km, from 830 pesos;
• San Cristobal - Oaxaca 599 km, from 630 pesos.

Hitchhiking is long and free. We often chose this option because we wanted to see the country. In my experience, Mexico is one of the best countries. for traveling on trips: the roads are excellent, but people are spiritual. Drivers are mostly driven by cars or jeeps, rarely by truckers. The average waiting time is half an hour.

There was not a single case where my friend and I would feel uncomfortable. But just in case, I still wear a ring on the ring finger of my left hand: so fewer questions.

We usually drove about 500 kilometers per day. Once stuck in the state of Campeche: we went on a dirt road to see the pyramids in Uxmal, and could not get out of there for several days. We were rescued by ice cream carriers

Car rental. My friends and I took a car for 3 days to ride around the state. In the local rental Alamo Found the cheapest option: an old Nissan Zuru for 500 pesos per day. The gasoline took another 500 peso for the 3 of the day. The whole trip cost in 2000 pesos. There were five of us, so it was inexpensive - 1320 rubles per person.

Bicycle. In San Cristobal, you can rent a bike, the average price is 200 pesos per day. The helmet and protection on the elbows and knees are almost always included in the price.

We planned a bike tour of Central America, so we ordered special bikes from a local workshop. For a month, the master rebuilt old bikes to make a trunk for bags. For every bike we paid 3300 pesos. Before leaving, they didn’t sell them - they just left them to friends.

Security

Chiapas State count them. one of the safest in the country. The central part of San Cristobal is calm at any time of the day: we walked the streets even at night. But in the industrial areas it is still better not to walk.

Small thefts happen, so I advise you to keep track of your pockets and backpacks. For example, in Cancun, my girlfriend stole the phone. This is the only trouble that happened with us for six months traveling through Mexico.

Police on the streets a bit. Usually they follow the freeways. According to Mexican law, the allowable amount of alcohol in the blood of drivers is up to 0,8 per thousand, so anything happens.

On a long trunk, I fixed a large backpack

Sometimes there are scammers. If you took the car at the box office and a policeman stopped you for a violation, ask to formalize a fine. My friend was driving along the coast and ran into a policeman cheater: a man stopped tourists in a resort town and demanded a bribe.

Medicine

No vaccinations are required for entry into Mexico, but I nevertheless made them because I was going on a long journey through Latin America.

Doctors. For three months, I twice sought the help of doctors: a therapist because of water poisoning and a sports doctor because of pain in my knees. I did not have travel insurance, so I paid for consultations myself.

Reception at the sports doctor cost 500 pesos. He examined the knees, back, feet, prescribed vitamins and advised to reduce the load. The therapist took me to the pharmacy room for free Farmacia del Ahorro.You do not need to register, it is enough to simply arrive at reception hours from 9: 00 to 20: 00. Some doctors speak English, but a friend helped me to consult a general practitioner with the translation.

Pharmacies can not be tested, and the doctor will be able to advise only on simple questions. If something serious happens, you need to call an ambulance at 06.

For 2 kind of pills from poisoning and drops for water disinfection, I gave 340 pesos

Leisure

San Cristobal is chosen as a temporary refuge by travelers from different countries, because it is cheap and comfortable here. In order not to be bored, they begin to teach what they can do: yoga, dancing with a hoop, French, painting, meditation. Classes are cheap - from 30 pesos per lesson, the cost covers the rental of premises. Announcements about the beginning of classes can be found in cultural centers, hostels and coffee shops.

I myself began to teach the basics of yoga for the residents of a community house twice a week for donations. In one lesson I got around 80 — 100 pesos.

Yoga lesson in nature

Festivals, lectures and exhibitions are often held in San Cristobal. In an independent cinema Kinoki You can watch documentaries about the Zapatista movement, go to the fair in the museum of folk textiles or a culinary master class in the center of Mayan culture. One time my friend and I organized a cultural evening: we baked pancakes, rented a projector and showed the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession” in Russian with Spanish subtitles.

On the main street of San Cristobal the whole city gathers in the evenings. We often watched the sunset on the steps of the Church of Guadeloupe, and then went to drink wine in the restaurant La Viña de Bacco, in front of which always wandering musicians play.

State travel

There are many interesting places in Chiapas, which can be reached by public transport. I'll tell you about my favorite sights.

The ruins of Palenque is the most famous Mayan city, which is almost completely preserved. They are located in the center of the jungle: around lush greenery, creeper vines sprout through cracks in the pyramids. The buildings are diverse: there are temples, tombs and even remnants of public toilets.

In my opinion, these ruins are much more interesting than advertised. Chichen itza: there they are allowed to touch only with their eyes, and in Palenque one can climb on the pyramid and feel the frescoes.

The entrance costs 70 pesos, the ticket includes a visit to the museum. You can get to Palenque by bus from San Cristobal from the ADO terminal.

The waterfalls Misol-Ha and Agua Azul lie on the way from Palenque to San Cristobal. Here you can wander alone under the strongest jets of water, dive off a cliff and climb into a cave. For 10 pesos you can get deep into the mountains: to do this, ask the guard at the entrance to hold you.

Abandoned pyramids in Tonina - another Mayan city. Unlike Palenque, Chichen Itza and other legacies of UNESCO, there are almost no tourists here, and the entrance costs 50 pesos. I recommend to climb the Pyramid of the Foggy Mirror: from a height of a couple of hundred meters there is an incredible view of the valley.

You can reach Tonina in two ways. The first - on the bus or the collective from Palenque. The second is from San Cristobal to the city of Ocosingo, from there to the collective to Tonina.

Chichen Itza Pyramids are far from San Cristobal, but you can also get to them if you wish.

If you have a tent, you can camp at the foot of the hotel ToninaKayab for 50 pesos per person. There you can rent a room for 150 pesos per person in a hut, kindle a fire and look at the stars.

Ceremony in the church of San Juan Chamula. Not far from San Cristobal there is a small village of Tzotzili, the descendants of the Maya. Once a week they gather in the cathedral to exorcise evil spirits. To do this, they stifle a chicken in front of the icon of Christ or the Virgin Mary and drink lemonade before burping.

In the church of San Juan Chamula, they choke a chicken in front of the icon of Christ in order to expel evil spirits. Such is Christianity

Remember

• If you have a multishengen, a US, Canadian, British or Japanese visa, you do not need a Mexico visa. If there are no visas to these countries, you can apply for an electronic entry permit on the website of the Mexican Embassy.
• For the first time, you can rent a room in a hostel or through Airbnb, then find a house from the ads on the street.
• Fruits, vegetables and cereals are better to buy from the Indians in the market, and meat, dairy products and bread - in special shops in the city. All sellers willingly bargain, even in stores.
• Before washing the products, it is better to add disinfectant drops to the water. They can be purchased at any store, pharmacy or market.
• In your free time you can learn language, dance, yoga.
• To climb the Mayan pyramids, it is worth going to Palenque or Tonina.

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