Is Mexico Safe?

[Arte]

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

I was joking with him and my comments are a bit tempered by the fact that I am currently sitting in the desert 20 miles from Del Rio and, yeah ... all the border areas around here are disgustingly hot right now.

But yeah, I have also been in the mountains of the Copper Canyon and seen snow on the ground. Just not at this time of year.

YES! IS 99 F Degrees, so since this was a cooler temperature for us, we decided to ride to the DANGEROUS BORDER, the meeting of the waters of The Rio Bravo with Gulf of MEXICO




view to the USA side














So since my compadre Andres and myself felt kinda endangered, we decided to retrieve ourselves to safer shores

and found this....








we still felt unsafe and rode to more populated area and found this,,,










probably we will be thinking real serious our next ride, since it was unsafe.


Saludos !

Arte

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by acejones

Wish I was there also. I know a good place for Pollo Mole and cooold cerveza.

Table for three, please

Pollo in a sublime mole negro. This one's in Oaxaca.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by Arte

[acejones]

Well, this really sucks ! Now I'm torn between the mariscos and the mole. Luckily they'll both go down well with cold cervezas

[Skowinski]

I've dug through this long long thread a bit, and not seen anything lately on Baja, so apologies if I've missed it. From what I've heard it is still a relatively safe place (perhaps omit Tijuana) compared to the mainland. Any news lately on travelling in Baja on motorbikes? Thinking about a trip in late September to early October.

[Joe Mc]

Originally Posted by MikeS

I respect why you don't want to go. You keep posting about this, so I don't understand why. If you really want to go, ride south from Presidio, TX through Chihuahua to Creel then in to the Canyon. I had your apprehension after earlier experiences at other border towns farther east. Absolutely no issues, no problems, no concerns from Presidio south. It's a very good route for safety. We took the free roads, which are very isolated. There's the toll road instead, with more traffic and better feel of safety. Creel feels like a northern US tourist town; Ely, MN comes to mind as a comparison for me. Batopalis and the Canyon was a great experience. I'm going again this winter/spring, with no hesitation.

Either put the trip out of your mind, or do it. Born to Run is a great book to have read prior to a trip to the Canyon. Very fun to see the places, terrain, and the people described in the book. The canyon is absolutely stunning, and I've ridden around North America a whole lot. Either do the ride and the experience, or put it out of your mind and stop talking about it.

Tarahumara at the bottom of the Canyon, who let us take a picture of him. Experiences like this are what it's all about, not the narcos, who I think I saw in a pickup or two. They were also polite, while meeting and passing on the canyon switchbacks:



And, looking through and enjoying my photos of that trip, here's another reason I'm glad I went. It's all about risk and reward, and I'm very glad I took the risk:

Um Mike I'm not quite sure how to 'take' your post. You respect why I didn't go and in the next sentence you seem annoyed that I still post about it. "Put the trip out of your mind or do it". That being said my original plan was to enter Mexico at Presidio after a stop off for some ribs at a joint in San Antonio recommended by Mr. Tricepilot who touted them as the best on the planet.
Your pictures are spectacular and the trip sounded wonderful. Glad you guys had a great time. I 'may' retire next year so perhaps I will hang out at the border and wait for an ADV poster to tag along after seeing as how none of my friends want to go.
Oh and Mike, the trip is never far from my mind and I will talk about it. You don't have to listen..

[MikeMike]

Arte, what's with the knee pads?
You guys going to the misa on the way home or something? Where I go the benches have cushioning!
It's a luxury church for BMW riders, none of those codo KLR or DR 650 types allowed.
Touratech even makes an aftermarket handle for the confessional door! And the screen is by K&N to trap even
the nastiest pecados!

I wish I was in Guanajuato, too.
The leftovers of Harvey just started rolling through an hour or so ago and the wind and rain is pretty good right now.

[SchizzMan]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Um Mike I'm not quite sure how to 'take' your post. You respect why I didn't go and in the next sentence you seem annoyed that I still post about it. "Put the trip out of your mind or do it". That being said my original plan was to enter Mexico at Presidio after a stop off for some ribs at a joint in San Antonio recommended by Mr. Tricepilot who touted them as the best on the planet.
Your pictures are spectacular and the trip sounded wonderful. Glad you guys had a great time. I 'may' retire next year so perhaps I will hang out at the border and wait for an ADV poster to tag along after seeing as how none of my friends want to go.
Oh and Mike, the trip is never far from my mind and I will talk about it. You don't have to listen..

Definitely stop in Cibolo for the ribs. Tricepilot no lie. And be sure to let us all know your plans - someone is always looking for an excuse to ride south.

Personally, I'm gong let things cool down a bit before I return. I'm talking weather here, not crime.

[PirateJohn]

Originally Posted by Arte

we still felt unsafe and rode to more populated area and found this,,,

Holy Cow! Look at those oysters!

Yeah ... I am so damned jealous that I could cry. Mexico is dangerous all right ... we know about the risk of bad seafood.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by Joe Mc

Um Mike I'm not quite sure how to 'take' your post. You respect why I didn't go and in the next sentence you seem annoyed that I still post about it. "Put the trip out of your mind or do it".

I'm not trying to create a flame war or be annoying. Maybe there is some misunderstanding here, who knows?

I encourage you to go, as my two pictures surely suggest.

I'm more a person to approach something and "take the plunge" rather than "talking and researching it forever". That's probably where the impatience or annoyance comes from on my side. Different styles, and I can get impatient with the "talk and research it forever" person. Don't take it personally, I chose to respond to your posts. My approach and my way of doing things differs from yours, and I should have kept my keyboard locked.

This thread and many others on AdvRider helped me with my decision to go south last January, and the experience was awesome! With just one trip to MX interior, I'm definitely a rookie here, but I'm a rookie who had an awesome trip.

[PirateJohn]

Originally Posted by SchizzMan

Personally, I'm gong let things cool down a bit before I return. I'm talking weather here, not crime.

If my newest gig holds for at least a few weeks and I can get the 1.5GS repaired you might want to think about riding down towards Carizzo Springs. When I get some time off I am going to hit Piedras Negras, C. Acuna, and Nuevo Laredo as soon as I can. There is also an Irish bar in Saltillo that keeps sending me stuff on Facebook that I need to check out.

Admittedly these aren't deep Mexican adventures but you might enjoy some of them as weekend trips.

[Tweaker]

Originally Posted by Supa12 Pilot

Mexico is very much the same. For the exception of what happened 3 days ago in Veracruz you do not see random violence. We do not have people here going postal and shooting 30 people at McDonalds or in shopping malls. The people we see hanging from a bridge who were beheaded beforehand knew their killer intimately, they were co-workers.

http://www.poresto.net/ver_nota.php?zona=qroo&idSeccion=15&idTitulo=109308

The pictures on your link are not exactly making your case. just sayin'.

[eakins]

Originally Posted by acejones

Wish I was there also. I know a good place for Pollo Mole and cooold cerveza.

hey i had that for dinner tonight @ trucco 7

[eakins]

it's all good.

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

I was joking with him and my comments are a bit tempered by the fact that I am currently sitting in the desert 20 miles from Del Rio and, yeah ... all the border areas around here are disgustingly hot right now.

But yeah, I have also been in the mountains of the Copper Canyon and seen snow on the ground. Just not at this time of year.

[eakins]

si senor,
that's what it looked like. $55 pesos.

there was a oaxaca festival here 2 weeks ago and i got to try 2 other types of mole that were new to me plus some of the real deal hot chocolate.
i have some boxed mole (dona chonita) from the store that i basically put on everything i eat at home. yummy!

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Table for three, please

Pollo in a sublime mole negro. This one's in Oaxaca.