Is Mexico Safe?

[BobLoblaw]

Originally Posted by eakins

i've been to talpa several times on day trips from sayulita. Way cool town to visit. Another must see near by is san sebastion de oeste. there is a coblestoned high-mountain mine road from ss that climbs to over 8k to an overlook. I love it how you can ride from sea-level to over 8k in a few short hours from pv. Pm me anyone, if you want the track to it from ss.

+1

[norschweger]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

I just realized - We have been full time in Mexico for 5 years as of today. In that time, we have been hit up for a mordita all of twice, have never been accosted or molested or hassled by anyone in Mexico. I can say the that the US Border Patrol has hassled me when leaving the US to return to Mexico but that's all. m It has bee a great five years and it went damn fast. The weather is good, the riding is great and the people wonderful. Yes, Mexico is safe.

Damn!
I could be there by now and celebrate your anniversary! Congratulation!
It got too late yesterday, so i stayed in Cananea, met a very nice and helpful guy,Marco, who owns an internet cafe. Offered beverage and snacks for free, organized and refilled a SIM card for me, tried for hours to make my GPS maps work, introduced me to the mexican street cuisine...Nice, nice, nice!
His friend even had the Mustang horse I have been looking for so long (for my nephew) and guess what he wanted for it? Nada! Excellente!!
The border crossing was easy, thank you Turkeycreek for an excellent description. Delivered my US waiver one day late, no problem! The "helper"got away with a package of Jerky, even though I did not make use of him, told him, I had done it before.
Later I was stopped at a checkpoint, looked like a military base but was police. I guess these guys were just curious what I had. Had to open my bags but not to dig, nor to open my campingbag. Thy were kidding that one of them was guy and wanted my glasses...I got away with them....: )
Today, on the way to Hermosillo I had to cross another border checkDo not understand where this one came from. My map is obviously not exact enough and as mentioned, my GPS is not able to unlock the mexican map?!
In Hermosillo the kids came running across three lanes of traffic to ask for dollars! Later in front of a shop (Oxxas) two teens did the same! How do you react on these situations? They always say they need food, so that is what they get, no money, so far..
After 1.5 days in the country that so many people warned me about, I do not see ANY reason why to avoid it! Just nice, tasty and beautiful! Adios

[norschweger]

btw:
at the second "bordercrossing" they were much more curious about the registration and asked when it expired. i told them: in Canada they do not expire, only the insurance expires. Aha, ok...good enough.
These guys were more curious in the bike itself. "How much?" 950..."No, how much?"ah, 49000km...I know...: )

[Turkeycreek]

There are fixed military and floating checkpoints and checkpoints set up by the federal police and sometime local and state cops. They typically don't care about your papers, just looking for drugs and guns. The aduana is the only entity looking at your papers. I have never been asked for my visa except when getting a vehicle permit.

[MikeMike]

It's different down south, I have been present on a few occasions and watched foreign riders being asked for passports and the sticker was inspected. Never with US or Canadians, though. Go figure!

[kobukan]

Originally Posted by norschweger

. . . These guys were more curious in the bike itself. "How much?" 950..."No, how much?"ah, 49000km...I know...: )

That's been the case at just about every checkpoint I've been through . . . they're always more interested in the bike than me, especially in Baja.

[tricepilot]

Mexico travelers:

One more plug for insurance - in this case MedJet insurance, again.

Justin, a friend of Ulyses, here in Ulyses' ride report, crashed bad in El Salvador.

Take it and process it how you will. When everything goes right, some people say its a waste of money. When things go like they did for Justin, it could be the best money you every spent.

I'm glad Justin is going to be ok. But take a look at the impact on that truck. He must be one tough hombre to create that and survive.

[mark883]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Mexico travelers:

One more plug for insurance - in this case MedJet insurance, again.

Justin, a friend of Ulyses, here in Ulyses' ride report, crashed bad in El Salvador.

Take it and process it how you will. When everything goes right, some people say its a waste of money. When things go like they did for Justin, it could be the best money you every spent.

I'm glad Justin is going to be ok. But take a look at the impact on that truck. He must be one tough hombre to create that and survive.

Ouch. Good he's still here




Is that Schizzman on the billboard? Is that a 'wanted' billboard?

[SR]

The Two Moto Kiwis also just totaled a bike on the west coast of Mexico. Thankfully just some bumps and bruises. They had an insurance policy but it didnt cover them in Mexico. DOH!

[tricepilot]

Liability insurance is to get you out of a potential jam/keep you out of jail.

Motorcycle damage/theft insurance is on an inanimate object - for your own bike, this depends upon how you value a piece of metal.

MedJet insurance really isn't for you when you think about it. Who cares about you**. I'm concerned for your family - how are they going to get your sorry rear end out of Mexico if you're broken and they want you home. Look at it not from a selfish perspective, look at it from the perspective of your loved ones.

**I'm being a bit facetious here with "Who cares about you", but I think most people will get the point.

If you bust it up and sit in any hospital, not just a Mexican hospital, when you could be transported the next day to your hometown, it will only take that one time and you'll be buying MedJet the rest of your life.

[tricepilot]

For the so-inclined, a PayPal link has been set up to donate to Justin's recovery fund HERE

In related news, JDowns is punting his El Mirador hike plans and is breaking off from Guatemala to head to Justin's hospital.

Keep Justin in your prayers/thoughts, and factor in what happened into your own risk management protocol the next time you travel south.

[MikeMike]

Now, imagine if he was at fault and someone in the truck had been injured. Suddenly things get really complicated.
As it stands, he is damn lucky. Why? We'll let Jim Redman, the old school gran prix world champion explain with two of his best quotes. First, in case of an accident, it isn't the slide, it is the sudden stop that is troublesome. Second, in case of an accident you first have to survive the "first aid".
Compound femur break is probably one of the more dangerous fractures other than a rib through the lung, makes getting traction on it really difficult and transport really complicated especially at the side of the road in Central America.
The Two Moto Kiwi spill was interesting. Not sure what happened there, I thought maybe she had been distracted and lost the road for a second at the wrong time and was off in the weeds before she knew it.

[PirateJohn]

Originally Posted by mark883

Is that Schizzman on the billboard? Is that a 'wanted' billboard?

Looks to me like a woman seeking information on a missing father of her new infant. Can anyone see how much the reward is and where to claim it?

[airdale7]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Mexico travelers:

One more plug for insurance - in this case MedJet insurance, again.

Justin, a friend of Ulyses, here in Ulyses' ride report, crashed bad in El Salvador.

Take it and process it how you will. When everything goes right, some people say its a waste of money. When things go like they did for Justin, it could be the best money you every spent.

I'm glad Justin is going to be ok. But take a look at the impact on that truck. He must be one tough hombre to create that and survive.

Insurance is a great investment.
It appears the Pelican case and it's contents also survived.

[SR]

Originally Posted by eakins

I've been to Talpa several times on day trips from Sayulita. Way cool town to visit. Another must see near by is San Sebastion de Oeste. There is a coblestoned high-mountain mine road from SS that climbs to over 8K to an overlook. I love it how you can ride from sea-level to over 8K in a few short hours from PV. PM me anyone, if you want the track to it from SS.

Eakins, a Canadian mining company is currently doing exploration at San Sebastian to possibly put it back into production.

http://www.edrsilver.com/s/sansebast...eportID=471267

http://www.edrsilver.com/i/pdf/San_S...an-TechRpt.pdf

There is a technical report here with some background information on the area and a nice photo from el Cerro de la Bufa. That Panzon Bigoton, Luis Castro lives here in DGO. I know he loves working there, he just needs to find something with some size then maybe he can stay.