"JerryB" wrote in message
news:1143262049.507744.12510@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Just returned from my annual trip to Mexico driving over 6000 miles
> this time. Most of the stories you hear about driving in Mexico have
> been going around for ever and most have no relavence for the past 20
> years including banditos, cattle, morditos, most foods etc. One
> exception being I still do not recommend driving at night unless you
> know the road, not because of banditos, but poor markings when the road
> is in disrepair and the unmarked Topes (speed bumps).
>
> Oddly enough I haven't paid a mordida in many years until I arrived in
> Acapulco three weeks ago and had to pay two morditos in a 30 minute
> period. Needless to say I moved on to other venues.
>
> Most of the highway along the Pacific coast are very good in the north
> as most sections offer toll road options, but less toll roads and the
> general disrepair as you go south of Mazatlan. Busses are an option as
> the bus system in Mexico is excellent.
>
> If you take your car, get the mexican insurance before entering the
> country. Just google
> Mexico auto insurance and shop around. You will also need to have some
> proof of ownership and if the car has a loan something from the bank,
> Check with the local Mexican consulate prior to travel. When you enter
> the country you will post a bond at the banjercito via a credit card.
> The bond is to assure you will return with the car. The bond is aorund
> $15, not $400 as someone else quoted.
>
> Expect to take at least four long days driving time.
I think all the old hands would agree that driving at night in Mexico is not
for the uninitiated. I think too, that as we give advice to the newbies we
all prefer to err on the side of caution. While I feel I know where I can
drive at night I wouldn't recommend that a newbie do it. Keep in mind that
on any given day in mexico there are probably a few thousand gringos driving
around the country. 95% of them will return home incident free, perhaps
having paid a mordida here or there for an infraction real or imagined.
(Though I already stated that every time I've paid a mordida in the last
twenty years , I EARNED IT !) That would include speeding, driving in the
left lane ( which is posted, "for passing only", one way street
violation,illegal U turn, and last but not least, entering the DF with a
lisence plate that was not allowed to circulate that day! (US $100.) Guilty
as hell every time.....most cost US $20. Also of that group of thousands,
there are liable to be a couple of horror stories. But its not always becuse
you're an American, its simply the odds. A similar number of Mexican
travelers would probably yield almost identical numbers. So, newbies, if
some of us seem overly cautious its because we would be remiss if we told
you simply to "go for it" without at least some stern warnings, but at the
same time I doubt that any of us would tell you don't do it. In my case at
least, I guess its a case of "Don't do what I do, do what I tell ya".
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