Donas Donuts, our first time in.
22 pesos each.
Hello, how are you? Good, thank you!
What can you recommend to me?
This is a chocolate donut. This is a blackberry donut.
And this is vanilla.
And this?
This is cream filled. I would like one (cream filled).
One bite. [Laughter]
What's up Tangerineys! What's up guys?
So as you guys know, we are here in Ajijic, Mexico right now. We've run into
so many of you guys who said "I'm here because of you" or "I'm here partially
because of you." And that just reaffirms how we want to always be completely
honest with you guys, and not only share what we love about a place, but also the
downsides! And we understand that that's sometimes not what people want to hear.
But we think if someone's making big life decisions, like moving
here, or planning an expensive trip, that they should know the full story. So we're
not gonna delay this anymore, we're gonna get right into the list of the ugly
details about Ajijic.
This might be somewhat of an obvious one. People do typically talk about this a
lot, and that is the traffic. There is one main road that goes through all of the
towns on the shore of Ajijic, or no, on the shore of Lake Chapala, and that's the
carretera. We are walking by this right now. And sometimes it can get pretty
congested. We are in the offseason right now which means there aren't, there isn't
as much traffic, but it's still pretty noticeable. And if you wanted to try to
avoid that, you've got the side roads which are very cobblestone-y and not as
ideal. And not very many of them go all the way through either. Exactly, that as well. So
We've talked to quite a few people here, and it seems like a very common theme
that people are having a lot of trouble finding a place to rent! There's a lack
of rentals and the prices are going way up! So people are venturing outside of
Ajijic and looking in Jocotepec, or Chapala, or where we're at right now in
San Antonio. Which is - All these little towns are right along in the same
strip. But even still, venturing outside of there, they're still having a lot of
trouble. And the same thing is true with house prices. We have heard of multiple
times where a house is listed for a certain price and people are having to
go way above that price just to get the house that they want. And we hear it's
very difficult. There aren't many houses available under
a quarter of a million dollars in Ajijic. There is definitely a shortage
of rentals right now and homes for sale too, but there's places like this behind us
that are being built right now because of that shortage. And we've also talked
to plenty of people who are taking the opportunity to refurbish, revamp places
and rent them out. So another thing that we've been hearing a lot is "stop telling
people to come here" "Don't make Ajijic seem too great, we don't want people to
ruin it." This is something that we said we were gonna talk about, like the other
side of that, or kind of what we think about that statement. And we get it, it's
really nice here! The people are friendly and sociable. It's a really great
atmosphere. What people are kind of saying is they don't want assholes, they don't
want people being douchebags and bringing everyone else down. And we've
seen this a little bit. We walked by this restaurant and this lady, this total
Grinch, had ordered a hamburger and she got it, and it was just a plain hamburger.
So she holds up the plate in disgust like "Uh tomato? Lettuce? Onions? Hello?!" And
It was just, in English too. In a restaurant here, which is just like
That's what people don't want. They don't want people that are closed-minded, that
are jerks coming here and ruining it. So although that's the exception to the
rule, most people are super great. There are people coming in that are kind of
like that. If you're coming just for price, like you should have a lot of
other reasons you want to be here, other than just, it's cheaper
retirement. Exactly, or you're probably gonna be disappointed that it's not the
exact same culture that you're used to and you might have to learn a new
language. Oh! [Laughter] So this kind of relates to heavy
traffic, but with heavier car traffic also comes more people, and with more
people, it's very difficult to get a seat on the bus. Particularly in the high
season. We've heard that complaint and it can get
really bad! This kind of ties into a question we get asked a lot - "What can
people do here to make money?" Well, with every one of these problems is an
opportunity to make money if you come here with the right entrepreneurial
mindset. For example, with traffic or not enough seats on the bus,
Someone could start up a luxury mass transportation company that charges like
20 pesos instead of 10, but it's a much nicer seat, you have more room. Another
idea you had was that people could start utilizing the lake over here because
there's no water taxi services that we know of. Yeah, and there's a gigantic lake
that could have a ton of boat traffic on it that no one's using. And hey, you
could make it more luxury and serve margaritas or glasses of wine. And if
that's the case, sign me up! [Laughter]
I'm a tree! What's up!
[Laughter] Alright, so the next thing on this list is kind of a
hot issue right now. What's the hot issue?
It is the Sun and the temperature, no I'm just kidding.
[Laughter] What's that?
Random dude: I recognize you from your videos.
[Laughter] We're actually shooting one right now. [Laughter]
Random Dude: Don't put me on. I'm a wanted man.
Oh, well I better turn this off then, we were just rolling.
Okay, so this hot issue. Hot, hot, hot! What's the hot
issue? This hot issue is prices, and we mentioned this briefly in the ten dollar
challenge, but we really can't talk about how the prices have changed over time.
Because obviously we haven't been here that long. It doesn't seem too much like
they're like exorbitantly higher than other cities, for most things, there are
exceptions to that. But one thing that we do want to mention is that, people, for
gonna sakes, stop saying "Oh this is only this?" or "Oh my gosh, this is just x pesos?"
Because the more you say that, the more prices are gonna go up in instances
where it's kind of like a monopoly-type deal or niche market, where there's like
maybe one person selling the thing. You were saying how we can't talk about
prices going up because we haven't been here this long. But we can talk about
what people have told us who have been here, and even over the past year they've
Seen prices going up at restaurants and such. And obviously that's not the only
reason prices are gonna go up because people are saying "Oh that's only this?"
But there are cases where that definitely affects the prices. This is
what I like to do: They tell you price and I try to conceal my emotions,
whether I think it's too high or too low. I think about it for a moment "hmm okay"
And then maybe I'll go ahead with the purchase or I'll walk away. Sometimes
you'll see that the price drops pretty fast when you decide to walk away. But
anyway! It's that prices are fluctuating right now, so that may be a consideration,
Especially if you're thinking this is going to be a very affordable place for
you and you need the prices to be XYZ.
Something to keep in mind. They're trending up. Trending up, yeah.
People are talking about this becoming another San Miguel de Allende where it's
almost impossible to live here and to be able to afford things. And that goes for
the gringos moving here, and also the Mexicans who no longer can eat at the
restaurants that they always did. So it's not trash day today, but this is the
corner of our our place where people put all their trash, and that's three days a
week. Basically, the system is just put your bags of trash here, and the trash
Feries come and pick it up. Thankfully, we have these neighbors here that sort of
educate people not to put it there throughout the week, otherwise it would
Just be one big trash pile that is a an eyesore. But that's kind of something
that happens in Ajijic everywhere. There aren't dumpsters, people just put the trash on
various street corners or on the sidewalk, which it's kind of a dirty
solution. There are cities that are a little bit cleaner about it, like we
didn't really notice that being the case in Guadalajara. And there were cities
that were even worse we thought Puerto Vallarta was the worst. And there
are some right around here that, just like San Antonio (La Floresta, actually). We were just there
And they have big barrels that you go put your trash bags in, which is a much
better solution, and it's a very cheap solution to take care of it. Someone once
commented on our channel saying that we better watch ourselves, and we better
watch what we say, or we're gonna end up in a dumpster. And this is a ridiculous
comment on multiple levels. Yes. We've maybe seen like a handful of actual,
legit dumpsters in all of Mexico. And that's nothing bad about Mexico but
there's just a different trash system and that's not it.
But anyway, the point that we're trying to make about the trash is that if you're
coming from somewhere like the US, I had never seen anything like this before, so
I might have been a little bit put off by that - Moving somewhere and then
having there be trash everywhere. It's not the most beautiful thing but that's
just the way it is until someone comes in and changes it. [In a southern accent] So how's the internet
in these here parts? [Laughter] The internet leaves a little bit to be desired. We originally
had Telmex at our place and it was super super slow for uploads! It was usually
Good enough for watching Netflix, but we ended up having to get another provider
to upload our videos. So our upload times went from like 36 hours to an hour. Or
less. Yeah, so it's much better now and that's pretty common for people
around here to have two internet providers. Because our internet goes out
pretty frequently. Although it's usually only for a few minutes, but it's, it is
nice to have another provider to just go over to when one goes out. We've also
asked around, and people have said that it is the internet is better in some
parts of the lake versus others. And then also at sometimes times of day versus
others. So that around 7 p.m. or so when everyone wants to get on and watch their
favorite show or movie on Netflix, the internet might slow down a little bit.
You might have more outages but it really seems like it fluctuates
throughout the day and throughout the area. Having a YouTube channel, naturally
we need internet, and we need it every day. But, what was I gonna say?
Nothing has
Ever been so bad, like an outage, or the speed, or anything, that it has prevented us
we're doing what we need to do. So this is something to keep in mind. It's
probably not gonna be the laser fast internet speeds that you might have
where you're moving from, but it's not the worst ever, and you can
easily overcome that with two service providers. Which is still probably going
to cost you less than you're paying for Cox or what are the other ones? I don't know,
It varies throughout the country.
And other ones throughout the country. [Laughter] For
example, AT&T Internet en Casa, it's three hundred and fifty pesos a month
plus the cost of the modem. So the next one on the list isn't exactly an ugly
side of Ajijic, but it is kind of a sad one.
And that is that there are a lot of
stray dogs. So this is something I personally have a big soft spot for and
we've kind of made a point to buying, made a point of buying food or something
for dogs whenever we see them. Or trying to get them water but there are a lot of
strays. The good thing though is that they have a very mild temperament.
They're not aggressive, most of them, and so it's not really - I don't consider this
a huge problem. Like if you have pets, it might not be a huge deal. It's
something you would want to look out for. But they're not like gonna tear your
dogs apart most likely. And they're well-fed.
And they're well-fed. People around
here seem to have a similar mindset. Oh gosh! That was a bee!
[Laughter] Similar mindset as us
Where they try to feed the dogs as well. And there seem to be a lot of
organizations, or groups, or efforts in place to combat that. Like getting them
fixed or finding homes for them, things like that. People on our Patreon know
This really well. That we've pretty much adopted a few dogs, and fed them, and what
not. One of those named is named Maizy, which you saw in the ten dollar challenge. Such a
sweetheart! We were warned not to name Street dogs but we did anyway.
Oops! So at this point, some people might be thinking "Wow, you guys are so
negative, like can't you think of the positive side of things?"
And really, we just have so many people telling us how they're making these big
life decisions like planning a move to Ajijic or something. And so it kind of
feels like our responsibility to be the eyes on the ground and share the - the
whole picture of things. So yeah, not everything is perfect with any place.
Laska, what do you think of Ajijic?
We have mentioned this before briefly but
another dark side or undesirable side of Ajijic are the cobblestone streets. And
We've talked to people who think that it's sort of charming, and gives the
place character, and to a certain extent it does. But at the same time, when you're
walking around it's really easy to twist an ankle!
You're constantly having to look where you're walking. We've heard that one of
the most common injuries here are like torn ligaments in your ankles. I find
myself looking down the entire time I'm walking on these streets, because you
have to have every step right. For other reasons as well like dog poop. But also I
mean, if you're coming here, or you're wanting... Woah! There's mud. If you're
coming here in maybe a wheelchair or something. Or you do have like knee or
ankle problems, then this would be a pretty big problem for you because there
are sidewalks. In some neighborhoods there's more than others.
And some are better than others. And some, yeah, better, wider, more well-maintained.
There, for the most part, are cobblestone streets pretty much everywhere. So that
could kind of be an issue for certain people. Yeah, if I didn't, if I was
confined to a wheelchair, and I didn't have a really good power scooter, I
don't think it'd be for me. We've mentioned in past videos that one of the
things we really like about Mexico is that people are willing to work for
their money. Whether that's washing people's windows
or like doing tricks outside in the intersection, or whatever it is. Just the
odd job, even if they aren't employed. Or even if it's like a handyman job or
something, people work damn hard here for their money. They really have a lot of
integrity and we appreciate that a lot about Mexico! Yeah, and here in Ajijic
we've noticed a lot more begging than other places in Mexico.
And along with that are people training their kids to do the same thing. So we've
noticed a lot of times where very young children come up to the table mumble
some inaudible thing, or potentially say something to you, and they just stare at
you! For, I mean they like stare at you in your face, in your eyes, for like 30
seconds. And to be perfectly honest, that's sociopathic.
And it's kind of scary that there that people are training kids at such a young
age to do something like that. When it's comfortable for a human to look at
someone for no more than six seconds unless they want to have sex with them
or want to kill them. So I think that's kind of a problem and a social problem
too. Which is, I mean it's not a great thing. Yeah. In society. I think that
begging is here because it gets rewarded.
True. So maybe to curb this behavior, for
people who live here, or people who want to live here.
Just don't. I mean, buy Mazapans, from people, buy lollipops from people. We
have a kind of a daily budget for like charitable spending, but we'd rather
reward people who are actually selling something than people, or trying to
provide services because at least they're trying.
Yeah, then people who are begging and teaching their kids to just
stare at you forever. So we never, ever, ever give any of those people money.
But what is the thing that you like saying?
Oh, whenever someone comes up begging, I
like to say "que vende," what are you selling?
Nothing? Si no vende nada, no tengo monedas.
If you're not selling anything, I don't have any money.
There's freaking cow right here!
Eat more chicken!
[Laughter] This has got to be the chick-fil-a cow.
Moo! Come back!
Aye, no!
Oh my gosh!
Mooo.
Eat more chicken.
[Laughter]
So kind of just to wrap this topic up, our personal opinion is: buy items from
people who are selling and working hard to make a living, but don't reward the
begging. There's a lot of great things about the city! So many!
And if you've watched our
other videos, you've seen that! But, there are some negatives too. And we like to point
those out, because as we've been traveling through Mexico, we realized
with each city that there are some things that are just huge deal-breakers!
And they might just be a small aspect like pollution (well, pollution is kind of a big deal),
or cobblestone streets, or
Kind of people's attitudes or something.
So we think it's only right to share
these things because so many people are considering moving to Ajijic and many
people are asking these questions like "What should I watch out for?" "Is there
anything negative?" So let us know what you guys think. Did we get stuff right? Do
you disagree? Let us know in the comments.
Be nice. [Laughter] What don't you like about it? Is
there anything that was not on our list that you would put high up on your
list? And if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up, and subscribe to our
channel! We're putting out more videos in Mexico every week! Lots of times during
the week! [Laughter]
And...
GONG THAT BELL!
To get notified the next time we put out a new video, and we'll see you there!
Ahhh!