The wife and I used two popular FB pages related to travel and life down here in PVR before we made the trek down here. Since being here now for around 3 months, I keep seeing the same questions asked by new people, every day.
So I figured I would make this video, to try and put some of those questions to bed.
Times change, and rules/laws/procedures are changing every day regarding CVD protocols, so who knows how long some of these answers will be valid?
But I do my best to answer them and hope the viewer gets the answers they were looking for.
Thanks for reading & watching!
Nice video, man! Good to address all these questions. I'm surprised nobody was asking about the "gringo discount" a.k.a. getting ripped off due to being a foreigner. That's really the only thing I would add to the medical question:
Yes, great doctors and dentists, at incredible rates, particularly if you're from the States. BUT... I would advise anyone to pick their doctors well. Knowing one personally is the best, knowing someone who knows one is the second best option. Even if you don't know any, checking their recommendations (positive and negative) is really worth it. If you're coming to Mexico City, I can tell you which dentist I can fully trust, but also the one dentist you should stay away from!
The rest is pretty spot on as far as I can tell. (Okay, I have no idea about border crossings, speed-bumps and potholes are everywhere for sure, Covid tests are fast and cheap at most pharmacies, but you'll need your phone and passport. Ah, and as for the afternoon showers and thunderstorms... I've always thought the Central Valley was the worst, but then again I've never been to Vallerta.)
Thanks man! I think most people that post are new which means they haven't gotten to experience the gringo tax yet. I've seen a few people say they got their phones stolen out of their hands, one guy got mugged twice in a span of a few weeks, HA! But leave a bar anywhere at 2 am stumbling drunk and you're bound to find trouble, this isn't just a MX thing.
Totally agree on the physician aspect. Get to know one, or have a referral. MXCD is SO much bigger than PVR and the area I'm in, that I don't think a bad actor would be in business too long, just based on bad word of mouth. But regardless...
I haven't been to the central valley, so I can't speak for it. But I have really enjoyed the thunderstorms here, they remind me a little of back home. Lightning cracks and thunder rolls. Ok, stop me, I'm gonna start singing Garth Brooks in a second...
So my biggest takeaway from this video is: Governments make great roads, those left to private citizens to build and manage on their own are much shittier.
HAHAHAHAHA, technically they're both government roads. The nice one (toll road) is newer and you have to pay for it, similar to how most things would work in a free-market society, meaning, you pay for when you use something, rather than being taxed (stolen from) for things you may never use or even want ;)
The non-toll roads (I believe) are run by the cities they are in (not federal), and they don't give a F, because they don't have the money to fix them.
The toll roads are also safer, due to more police presence, because people are paying to use them, they don't want accidents, and people broken down on the side of the road. The police are incentivized to help the motorists as they are customers, rather than targets who could be fleeced for something like speeding.
I personally saw a few police cars behind cars that had car trouble, and not once did I see one person pulled over for some kind of infraction.
I suppose I could have done a better job of clearing that up in the video, but that really wasn't my goal to talk about muh roads.
But I am glad I could clear up this confusion for you, and elaborate more on why pay as you go is a better alternative and solution to give me your money at the threat of force to pay for things you may not need.
😂 Figured that would get a rise out of you!