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Daffodil

Jul 28, 2014, 5:15 PM

Post #1 of 9 (15293 views)

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anybody in Cuetzalan?

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I am hypoxic at high altitude, at risk for stroke and other bad stuff up there. I'm one of the few whose body just can't adapt. (We lived in Pátzcuaro for 8 years, our house was at 2400 meters, so I found out the hard way.) We're here in the state of Colima now, at 900 meters, but we find ourselves missing the dreary/damp/misty/foggy/sometimes intense down-pours of the rainy season in Patzcuaro. The rainy season here in Colima is a joke, in our opinion. So far we get rain about once every 8 or 10 days, and for maximum 30 minutes each time, and then it's back to the blazing hot sunshine. So I'm studying other options. My parameters: We don't like heat, mid to upper 80s in the hot months are okay. We love rain, don't mind humidity. Doctor said I can't go above roughly 1200 meters (a couple hundred meters more won't kill me though) and we prefer to not go lower than 900 meters due to the heat. My question is, does anybody live (or has lived) in Cuetzalan, and if so, can you tell me what it's like? Does it have a good rainy season (lots of rain, usually daily, damp, foggy, misty, what others might call dreary)? From online photos it looks similar to Pátzcuaro. It was also recently named a Pueblo Mágico. If you live there, where do you go for big box shopping (not that we can't live without them, but curious nonetheless)? How are the doctors? Hospitals? We're also looking at Orizaba and Córdoba, so if anybody would live to give feedback on those, or if you know of other towns that meet the above parameters, it would be much appreciated.

citlali

Jul 29, 2014, 6:49 AM

Post #2 of 9 (15264 views)

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Re: [Daffodil] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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I have only visited Cuezalan. It is in a beautifl green tropical area. It is warm and humid.
The town itself is attractive but you have to be in a pretty good shape as it is hilly. The houses are stone houses.
The food is delicious
It is is extremely isolated , some towns around have heavy fog I am am thinking of Hueyapan and Papantla is not too far from there but you do have to go through heavy fod sometimes to gt there.
I did not see many foreigners. The tourists there and there are many are mostly other people from Puebla and Mexico City.
A beautiful area to visit but pretty far from anywhere maybe not in km but the road is very windy and seems to go on for ever no mtter what direction you come from.

citlali

Jul 29, 2014, 6:55 AM

Post #3 of 9 (15263 views)

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Re: [Daffodil] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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Are Xalapa or Coatepec too high? I do not know what the altitude there is.. They are attractive have way more amenities than Cuetzalan and have drizzle which you seem to enjoy. Orizaba and Cordoba also have rain and drizzle. I think the shopping there is in better in Cordoba.

RickS

Jul 29, 2014, 8:40 AM

Post #4 of 9 (15253 views)

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Re: [Daffodil] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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Orizaba altitude is 4,000 ft and Cordoba is about 2800'.....

Daffodil

Jul 29, 2014, 9:31 AM

Post #5 of 9 (15238 views)

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Re: anybody in Cuetzalan?

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Thanks y'all! Hmm, Cuetzalan sounds more isolated than we prefer to be, beautiful but a bit remote. Orizaba, Córdoba, and Coatepec sound promising. I checked annual rainfall for all 3 and it looks good. Coatepec sounds pretty nice, and close to big city shopping and airport in Xalapa. Do any of y'all live in Coatepec and could give feedback on how you like it, your general take on life there, a ballpark figure of how many North Americans live there, and maybe some input regarding the current situation with Los Zetas and crime in general. I know the subject of crime is forbidden on some message boards so if it's off-limits here, I understand. I read Spanish, my husband is Mexican, so we can search for crime news online, but a lot of times this stuff just doesn't show up in the news, so that's why I thought I'd ask. And maybe I should start a new thread on life in Coatepec.....

citlali

Jul 29, 2014, 2:11 PM

Post #6 of 9 (15217 views)

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Re: [Daffodil] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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There are few foreigners in Xalapa from what I have seen . I think there are more foreigners in Coatepec an Xico . Coatepec is an attractive old town, the surrounding are very pretty and Xalapa is close , so you may want to check out these towns.

Daffodil

Jul 29, 2014, 3:14 PM

Post #7 of 9 (15207 views)

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Re: anybody in Cuetzalan?

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Thanks again for this feedback. I read some posts on Lonely Planet regarding Coatepec and a couple of people said that it's not all that attractive and they couldn't see why it was a Pueblo Magico. Another fellow even said it was stripped of its title as a Pueblo Magico 2 years ago. Is it a quaint town, or am I spoiled from living in Patzcuaro for so long (they wrote the book on quaint imo)? Seems like all the super quaint and charming towns are all at super high altitude. Shucks.

joaquinx

Jul 29, 2014, 3:23 PM

Post #8 of 9 (15205 views)

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Re: [citlali] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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In Reply To

This is true and probably more in Xico. Xalapa is at 1,400 m. and Coatepec is a few hundred lower.

Like most colonial towns, Coatepec is very colonial in el centro while a few blocks away it becomes a typical pueblo.

(This post was edited by joaquinx on Jul 29, 2014, 3:25 PM)

citlali

Jul 29, 2014, 5:22 PM

Post #9 of 9 (15188 views)

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Re: [joaquinx] anybody in Cuetzalan?

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That is true for all the colonial cities I can think of. The colonial center are from quaint to beautiful and the rest of the city is ugly, True for Morelia, Puebla, Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las Casas,Merida, Cordoba ,Queratato , San Miguel Campeche, name it.
Michoacan villages in the highlands tend to keep the quainr Spanish syle. all way through.same in the Tapalpa area in Jalisco.
I think most cities in the State of Vera Cruz are not that attractive but the ones with colonial center have attactive centers. It is true for Coatepec, Naolinco and Tlacotalpan.
If you want quaint villages all the way through you have to go to Europe where they implemented architectural norms long ago. Mexico is different.

If you like the Patzcuaro style at low altitude go to the French or Spanish Basque COuntry. There is plenty of rain there, wonderful wines and food etc..

(This post was edited by citlali on Jul 29, 2014, 6:07 PM)