Is Mexico Safe?

[noshoes]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

Here is my story (abbreviated) for those thinking of living in Mexico........So let me throw in a pitch for the Rio Sonora if you are thinking about changing your life for the better.

So, uh, are you looking for any employees?

[MikeMike]

Originally Posted by dwj - Donnie

Mike, if you would have just told him that it was the guy that used the words POWER and HARLEY in the same sentence, he would have know exactly who you were talking about!

Good one, Donnie!

For the people that want to take those guided tours and that sort of stuff, why not just plan a tour where you can meet up with people on this forum? You'll save a pile of money, make some new friends, see things the other people on those group cluster tours will never even get near, and have your own personal guide for free (or maybe a beer or two) that will show you what they know and you choose the route. You want coastline, no problem, you want mountains, sure thing, you want history or geography, okey dokey, it's all possible, I think of it as a "kharma tour", if we all help each other out, everyone benefits and enjoys themselves. If you don't want to meet up with someone, just ask for an itinerary and the collective experience on here will give you some straight up advice and route planning.
Either way, you'll set the pace for riding, and enjoy the sights in a much more relaxed setting without the control freak element or "everyone get on the bus, now" attitude. Frankly, I've always enjoyed showing people what is available here for riding, and the visitors give the local tourism industry a little boost, that over time, I really hope to see grow and see more and more ADV type riders on the roads here.
You can have some really fun rides with people from this forum.
And yes, as Donnie mentioned, you will actually hear amazing things like the words "Harley" and "power" used in the same sentence, and maybe you'll get deep enough into the sierra off the beaten track and you'll hear the Pemex boys speaking in a regional dialect of Nahuatl, instead of someone moaning and groaning about there not being enough oat bran left in the chase vehicle cereal box.
The best time to see Mexico is right now, don't hesitate, plan a trip and just go for it.

[dwj - Donnie]

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

If one of your issues is prescriptions you might want to check around. Most meds in Mexico are cheaper although every so often I find something that is actually cheaper at WalMart in the USA.

Fortunately, I have a prescription drug plan as part of my retirement, so I only pay a small co-pay. Not as small as it used to be, but still small. I just need to be able to get them relative easily every few months.

have stayed in Piedras Negras and Del Rio. Can't say that I know them particularly well - some of the other guys here have more experience. Del Rio is in the same county (Dimmit) that I am working in and I am trying to think of a nice way of saying this ... I am a bit burned out with oil patch Texas and while I like the work I don't care to settle out here. This is genuinely No Country For Old Men (much of the film was shot in Piedras ).

Several of the guys that I work with have families and property in Piedras Negras. They like it and it's inexpensive. Del Rio is a small town but they are big enough to have an Applebee's and a WalMart, so that makes them a big town in the oil patch.

I can't remember, does Eagle Pass have much of a hospital?

Everyone has their personal preferences. I was born in a small town in Kentucky and was delighted when the family moved to Cincinnati; not everyone likes bigger cities. With that said I have been looking casually for some cheap property around Laredo. Laredo is quite a bit more urban than Del Rio and has good shopping, an Interstate directly to San Antonio (don't discount how freaking big Texas is), easy access to Nuevo Laredo (surprisingly vibrant from what I have see), both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo have a good motorcycle scene, and you can hop on the toll road and get to Monterrey quickly.

Nuevo Laredo does have some appeal, but I would assume from past history that it has quite a bit more crime than Piedras and probably Ciudad Acuna also. I have a friend that's daughter is married to a man with relatives in Nuevo Laredo. They sound much worse than the news media when it comes to talking about issues there. So it does concern me!

Conversely, with a little peace beginning to return, you can ride Mexican Rt. 2, or take the old road to Monterrey if you want some more adventurous riding. Once you get to Monterrey there is a world of riding available.

Places to live in Mexico? I really liked Reynosa and the Rio Grande Valley. The downside is that it's a long slog from there to get to San Antonio and frankly, for myself, I see working in the Eagle Ford off and on for some time so Laredo is much closer for me.

If you need to be within a day's hard ride to Dallas then you can't go too far south. Monterrey is a great, urban European city. Tampico is very tropical. Tuxpam is tropical and the downtown along the river breathtakingly beautiful. If you like hunting and fishing there used to be quite a few gringos living a bit east of Victoria and handfuls living in different small towns along the coast. I have considered all of these places for myself but you would have a hard time getting to Dallas in 24 hours from that far south.

I want to live where I am the only gringo!



Thanks for your input!

[Turkeycreek]

It is getting harder to be the only gringo in Mexico

[Turkeycreek]

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

You are fairly close to San Carlos, aren't you? I have always thought that if I won the Lotto San Carlos would be one place that I would see a lot.

PJ, we are an hour and a half north of Hermosillo and another 1 and a half to San Carlos. Great town but lots of gringos and those damned Canadians. The Rio Sonora route is a whole lot more interesting than HWY 15

[SchizzMan]

Originally Posted by dwj - Donnie

Mike, if you would have just told him that it was the guy that used the words POWER and HARLEY in the same sentence, he would have know exactly who you were talking about!

Laugh it up, Big Guy!

I know some roads where we could meet and settle the matter once and for all. Put a new rear tire on that GS and we'll see who has the POWER.

[Turkeycreek]

MikeMike, Since I'm a tour operator and a hotel owner in Mexico (www.turkeycreektours.com and www.losarcossonora.com) I'll come to the defense of organized tours. When we do a tour, I lead the tour and my wife (who does all the logistics) is in the chase truck telling me exactly what to do on the radio. She is the brains of the outfit. While she is driving, she is calling the hotels and the restaurants checking on reservations or even calling looking for parts if someone needs them. Or, when the ferry from Santa Rosalia didn't run for 2 days, reworking all the downstream reservations and keeping the group happy. Sometime you have to be the gas stop Nazi but that happens on a ride with a group of friends. On our tours, you have the maps, you have the phone numbers and the reservation numbers so if you want to take off and ride fast, have at it, we'll meet you there. (I'll admit we don't like dawdlers) So you can have your fun however you like, with a pickup group, solo or with a fully guided tour. Since I have a hotel, I'm happy to see anyone riding Mexico and even happier if they visit us in Banámichi.

[miguelito]

Another safe, solo trip into Mexico for me today. I'm approaching "professional" status, though, so consult your doctor/don't try this at home/blah-blah-blah. I did blast through a lot though. 10 hours from Laredo to San Miguel de Allende, including about an hour at the Aduana getting the vehicle permit. Now, post Jacuzzi, all is well in my world.

[rockymountainoyster]

Amigo, I hear that a lot of people like Skippy but he sure left me hanging. I was traveling by myself and a few weeks before the trip was scheduled he wanted considerably more money from me because he couldn't find a roommate for me. Once I paid more then he had me room with one of his employees....

Wow PJ, that does indeed sound like a nightmare trip without a lot of satisfactory redress. Putting people together, especially motorcyclists, and more especially old cranky motorcyclists who have the kind of scratch to pay for a guided tour is a risky business. My South America tour with MD was fraught with personality clashes that required a fair amount of Zen mastery, not always available at the end of a long tough day of high winds and ripio.

I am finding, and will proof the pudding in November, that reading the important posts on this thread, Donnie's RR's as well as Radioman, Crashmaster and the many others who have contributed here and in their own blogs is really good prep as far as having some fundamental ideas and a basic understanding of how things work but there is no substitute for just going. I plan to do just that. I know that what I don't know could fill 678 pages and counting and that doesn't even include what I lack as a motorcycle mechanic or competent rider. One thing I do know is that if I get in a real jam because I, or someone else has been a real dumb ass that there is a place to go to find answers and even help. Thinking here about Throttlemeisters adventures in Venezuela and Donnie's fine wallet adventure on the coast of Mexico. This is a great bunch of companeros... I shudder to think what might happen if we all were gathered in a room together or on an "organized" tour as there are clearly no strong opinions or attitudes in this group, it might take the leadership of a Salma Hayak to keep the group focused!

I truly enjoy meeting other riders on the road, sharing the adventure for a time, learning from each other and then moving on to the next destination that may be one we never imagined until our chance encounter on the road.

I think more of us, like you, Schizz, Donnie, me and countless others will be looking South as a place to spend our sunset years. As that happens it may improve the life for all of us, gringos and mejicanos alike. Quien sabe? One thing we have to be careful of is not making it "more like los EU" Risk management don't ya know. Mexico has had "collective communities" founded by utopian nortenos that lasted far longer and more productively than any "commune" of the sixties here... people work together and survive when they don't have any other choice. But I digress. Is Mexico safe... I would say hell yes but I am sitting in my warm house in the Colorado mountains just dreaming of it. Ride on bruthas.

[rockymountainoyster]

Now that is exxackly what I am talking about!

On another note: you boys, like the machines that we ride are just way too literal... no you don't have to read all 678 pages to get it... the point was that it ain't the smartest thing to come on here after only two months as a member and fourteen posts and start crackin' wise like you knew your way around the room, dissin' your sister and callin' one of the old dogs dude... just rubbed me the wrong way... not enough helmet time lately.

I drive 4WD tours in the high mountains just outside of town. Flatlanders can rent a jeep and do the tour themselves but I don't recommend it... there have been a number of them who were spending too much time gawking at the scenery and in an instant became part of it. After years of doing this there a places where I just stop talking for a couple of minutes because I have seven or eight souls on board not including my sorry ass and I want to get us all back down the mountain. I am certainly not against organized and guided tours, they help me pay for my unorganized and unguided two wheel tours...

Turkeycreek's comment about "not liking dawdlers" was sufficient warning to me not to book with him. I like to dawdle and meet some of the most interesting people doing so. I really don't have a lot of need to scrub the pips off of my TK60's, especially in a place and at a time when the cavalry may be a long way off. We nearly lost a guy in Argentina because it took six hours or more to get him to a clinic after a bad high sider on the ripio. It was a bit scary. He was an accomplished rider and a hard charger and we all make mistakes. Bato is a recent example right here.

[MikeMike]

Organized tours are the ticket for some, spontaneous get togethers for others.
It's a case of whatever floats your boat.

Personally, I prefer solo or maximum a smallish group. For example, the day when Jimmex rode with myself and two other local riders, that was a decent sized group with room for maybe, maybe, 2 more max. The fog was the only issue, besides some rain and cold (mostly on the way back after Jimmex headed in the general direction of Puebla). That would have been from 4 riders to 6 riders in size, but with one of the other locals being familiar with the route, you have a lead and a sweeper built in. I imagine leading an organized tour group of paying customers could be like herding cats and have logistics issues, personality conflicts, and the dreaded "money is involved" will rear its ugly head at some point.

Oddly enough, I've met up with more members here that rode solo like Bob Loblaw, Guaterider, Nailit2em, etc...than multiple riders. Makes for fun times. I have to admit, I would not want to lead a group of paying customers through Xalapa at a busy time, or any time for that matter. Hats off to anyone who has the patience to do that. If they were on Harleys, you could qualify as a mental health expert, afterwards. Or need one!

[dwj - Donnie]

Originally Posted by SchizzMan

Laugh it up, Big Guy!

I know some roads where we could meet and settle the matter once and for all. Put a new rear tire on that GS and we'll see who has the POWER.

I have been waiting on your response! I had to do a Full Scan on my computer last night and just now seen your post!



On a different note, my computer has been extremely slow since 9/11! I don't know if it is my computer, the scan did not find anything. The hotel hook up or a heavier traffic load possibly due to 9/11. It did not slow down till 9/11. Any ideas out there?

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by dwj - Donnie

On a different note, my computer has been extremely slow since 9/11! I don't know if it is my computer, the scan did not find anything. The hotel hook up or a heavier traffic load possibly due to 9/11. It did not slow down till 9/11. Any ideas out there?

The Taliban are stalking you

[acejones]

Originally Posted by dwj - Donnie

I have been waiting on your response! I had to do a Full Scan on my computer last night and just now seen your post!



On a different note, my computer has been extremely slow since 9/11! I don't know if it is my computer, the scan did not find anything. The hotel hook up or a heavier traffic load possibly due to 9/11. It did not slow down till 9/11. Any ideas out there?

Must be terrorists

[dwj - Donnie]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

The Taliban are stalking you

Originally Posted by acejones

Must be terrorists

That is what I was thinking! Y'all have now confirmed my greatest fear!