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Does Shangri-La Really Exist? Retired U.S. Expatriate Residing in Mexico Thinks it Might!
Cost of Living: Well Below the U.S. National
Average
| ~ Article by Peter Shuster, a U.S. expatriate retiree and resident of Tequisquiapan, Queretaro, Mexico
Does Shangri-La really exist? Well, people living in the Mexican state of Queretaro think it just may. There is a special town, and it is named Bernal (population 5,000). It is Mexico's Shangri-La and was founded in the 1600s. Bernal has the second largest monolith mountain in the world, and it is known as "Pena de Bernal."
The residents of Bernal have a life expectancy that averages 94 plus years. There are men over the age of 100 who are still working. Is it the good energy that that comes off that rock? Or the pure air they breath? Or the water they drink? The boulder is a magnet for many people. They move close to it and believe they receive spiritual, mental and physical energy. Who knows for sure, but my wife and I go there twice a month for a visit, hoping it helps us live longer, too.
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Bernal is quite a lovely small colonial town with cobblestone streets. It's located only thirty minutes from our home in Tequisquiapan and less than an hour from the large city of Queretaro. Every weekend many Mexican tourists visit Bernal and keep coming back. Its 7,000 foot elevation, dry climate, clean streets, blue skies and cool temperatures almost all year keep bringing people back again and again.
Bernal is also famous for its wool and colorful rugs and jackets. They're make five days a week, and when the weekend arrives, the tourists stroll the streets shopping for good deals on woolen products. There are many lovely restaurants, stores and homes with courtyards; some are open to the public to look into on weekends. Many lovely hotels are around, and they generally have vacancies unless it a Mexican holy day, and we do have plenty of holy days in Mexico.
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There are a few Americans living around the mountain base in lovely Mexican homes. Bernal is known to many Mexicans but not to the outside world. Our town of Tequisquiapan is also a well kept secret, and this has helped keep housing prices low. Many of our American friends living in Tequisquiapan get upset with me telling people about our hidden Paradise, and my reply is always, "There are many good people looking for such a place as we have found, and they should be informed that Paradise does exist." Wealthier Americans may prefer places like the Lake Chapala area or San Miguel, and between the two of them, there are 11,000 Americans living there. Here we boast of having only 30! The plus to that is that in addition to housing, the cost of labor, goods, etc. still remains low compared to more well-known expatriate retirement towns. Our thought has always been, if I want to live where Americans fill the town, why leave America and relocate to Mexico?
Any questions that we can answer about our area, please feel free to contact us by email at mxshuster@hotmail.com
View Bernal Photos
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