CJ Mexico trip (long)
11-23-2006, 01:03 AM
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Tom,
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
11-23-2006, 01:03 AM
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Tom,
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
11-23-2006, 01:03 AM
#13
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Tom,
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
halt of money from tourists.
3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
old Jeep on a trail.
4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
than, say, driving around New York.
7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
Mexican Consulate about blades.
8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
people to steal or beg from up there.
The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
--
Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
to
fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
mabar wrote:
> Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
>
> I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
>
> 1. Corrupt police
> 2. Corrupt military
> 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> 4. Possible kidnappings
> 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> weapon.
> 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> country,
> away from the tourist areas
>
> Am I wrong?
>
> Tom
>
> <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> >
> > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> >
> snip
11-23-2006, 09:25 AM
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Two things come to mind.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
11-23-2006, 09:25 AM
#15
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Two things come to mind.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
11-23-2006, 09:25 AM
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
Two things come to mind.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
One was stories my uncle used to tell about driving from the Panama Canal
Zone to Connecticut (to visit grandma) via the Pan Am 'highway' and stopping
along the way and paying a local peasant to watch the car. "Tengo mi propia
pistola señor."
The second happened a few years ago when an Ohio tourist was shot dead as he
stepped from the bus.... (actually he was dead before his foot hit the
pavement) NY tried to hush that up saying it was a fluke.... I guess
tourists normally get robbed before they are murdered there...
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
11-23-2006, 10:11 AM
#17
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
I currently live in Monterrey and would agree with the above. One
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip
11-23-2006, 10:11 AM
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
I currently live in Monterrey and would agree with the above. One
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip
11-23-2006, 10:11 AM
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: CJ Mexico trip (long)
I currently live in Monterrey and would agree with the above. One
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip
thing though, folding knives are no problem. It would be better to
carry it on you at all times since the military is not normally
authorized to body search unless they find something (drugs or guns) in
your car first.
michael.white@charter.net wrote:
> Tom,
>
> 1) I've run into the corrupt police myself about six years ago, and
> have had to pay them $10. That's why I avoided Neuve Laredo (lots of
> horror stories) and went through Ciudad Acuna instead. This added
> quite a bit of time to my trip to Monterrey (my first stop), but the
> problem is -much- less prevalent in Ciudad Acuna. When I was walking
> around Acuna at night, one bar owner got a little pushy. The cops came
> over and made sure that the bar owner was not harrassing me. I
> encountered one cop in Monterrey who started to give me trouble, but
> when all my paperwork was in order and I was doing nothing illegal and
> my Spanish was atrocious, he waved me on :).
>
> 2) The corrupt military has also improved. They stopped me at a
> couple of checkpoints, and searched my lockbox once, but I wasn't
> harrassed and nothing was stolen. But then again, I made sure that
> there was no temptation - all money was on me or in travellers checks,
> and nothing screamed "steal me" in that box. They never looked up
> front where the nice camera and the new GPS receiver was, but even
> then, that's a bit harder to steal than cash. If they do steal from
> you, especially in one of the areas that live for tourists (Baja,
> Puerto Vallarta), get the commanding officer involved or call the
> American consulate. The last thing the Mexican government wants is a
> halt of money from tourists.
>
> 3) Didn't see any badits. Or maybe I did - but they're all guarding
> the MJ plants :). They don't care about some fool driving a beat up
> old Jeep on a trail.
>
> 4) I've heard about the kidnappings, but the worst of those are in
> Nueve Laredo. Avoid that town like the plague.
>
> 5) The water is definitely questionable. The hotel in Ciudad Acuna
> explicitly had a "water is not potable" sticker above the sink. I
> lived on well water in my youth, so maybe that's why I didn't get sick.
> But the cure for most of that is Pepto-Bismol. And once your body
> recognizes the germ, you won't get sick from it again.
>
> 6) The protection issue bothers me too. I would have loved to have my
> shotgun and pistol out there. But I figure it's only a little worse
> than, say, driving around New York.
>
> 7) And the jail time for #6 is why I went there without. I -probably-
> could have gotten away with a small gun in my toolbox or, say, in some
> compartment on top of the transmission, but it's not worth the risk,
> especially given that most of the guys in the hills were carrying
> M-16s. If I go again, I will throw my Leatherman in my toolbox,
> though. I left it behind after conflicting information from the
> Mexican Consulate about blades.
>
> 8) The folks are poor there, no doubt. I saw the most begging in
> Chihuahua, Chihuahua with the Indians. But back in the mountains, you
> don't see that. A lot of towns don't have electricity yet, and homes
> run off of generators (at best). There's not a whole lot of other
> people to steal or beg from up there.
>
> The things you heard are definitely things you want to be aware of, but
> they're not much worse than things north of the border is a lot of
> aspects. I was harrassed more by the fatherland security JBTs crossing
> back over than at any time in Mexico. And I've been harrasssed much
> more by the cops in the US than by the Mexican cops.
> --
> Michael White "To protect people from the effects of folly is
> to
> fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
>
> mabar wrote:
> > Wow! Sounds like quite an adventure!
> >
> > I am VERY reluctant to ever go to Mexico, mainly for security reasons. Some
> > of the things that I have heard (please correct me if I am wrong:)
> >
> > 1. Corrupt police
> > 2. Corrupt military
> > 3. Lots of Banditos all over the countryside
> > 4. Possible kidnappings
> > 5. Water that will probably make me sick
> > 6. No way to protect myself, since it is illegal for a "gringo" to have a
> > weapon.
> > 7. Big-time jail time for possessing a gun or even possessing one bullet!
> > 8. Grinding poverty for much of the population, especially in the back
> > country,
> > away from the tourist areas
> >
> > Am I wrong?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > <michael.white@charter.net> wrote in message
> > news:1164129708.062501.118290@k70g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> > > Been away from this news group for a while, as the only access to this
> > > group I have now is via the web (switched from Mindspring to Charter).
> > > Guess I'll be using web access from now on.
> > >
> > > I spent a couple of weeks driving around Mexico in my '82 Scrambler.
> > > This included a three day stint of crossing the Sierra mountains
> > > between Culiacan, Sinaloa and Hidalgo Del Parral, Chihuahua using
> > > trails that are on no map I could find. I thought there might be some
> > > interest in this group of the portion of the trip.
> > >
> > snip