23rd December 2016
Time to head off across the border to Mexico, but Lyn looked out the window at about 6.00 am, and it was pouring down, so we thought we may be staying another day. By 8.00 am there was patches of blue, with storm clouds blowing across occasionally, so the decision was made to go and we packed up the bikes. By 10.00 we were on the road, fuelling up, (petrol is a lot cheaper in the US than Mexico), and heading for Brownsville, where we were crossing the border. Exiting the US was easy, then we hit the Mexican side. We could have just ridden through, there was nothing to stop us, but the consequences would not have been good later if we did, so 4 hours later, we finally rode into Mexico legally, complete with insurance, and a much lighter wallet. The bikes needed a $400 USD deposit paid for each one for the temporary import permit, which is refunded when we leave Mexico with them. There is also a fee of about $40 US each for our personal entry permit, and then the insurance for the bikes, about $230 USD for the two of them. There was a computer glitch when paying for Lyn’s insurance, that added another half hour to the time, so we eventually left about 3.30 pm, with 300 klms to ride to get to Monterrey, where we had a room booked. It gets dark around 5.30, so we knew we were going to break one of our rules of not riding in the dark on our first day! Trying to get out of the city, with a GPS that was not functioning, we ended up on the wrong road, heading back to the US border! It was divided road, with a high concrete wall between the lanes, so there was no way we could turn around, and we had to crawl along with the stop start traffic, knowing we were going the wrong way! At the border again, we shifted a barrier and got in a quick U turn before we had to exit and enter again, and were then stopped by the guards wanting to see our passports again. Still fuming from crawling along in traffic the wrong way, we were not in the best of moods to have to go through this again, and that didn't help us at all. We tried to explain that we hadn't left Mexico, but they wouldn’t believe us, so we had to unpack our paperwork that we had put away as we thought we had finished with it, show passports, then they wanted to check registration papers and VIN numbers. I may have made some derogatory remarks about their parentage, which just made things worse. Finally we were released, and found our way out of the city. Around 50 klms down the road the traffic suddenly stopped, so after a bit of lane splitting, we got to the scene of an accident, with a vehicle on it’s side, and police and the army everywhere. They turned us back, and we found a side track through a field where some other cars had gone in front of us, so a bumpy kilometre or two got us around the site and back on the road again. It really looked like the gods were conspiring to stop us reaching Monterrey. Since we crossed the border, we hadn’t been able to find an ATM, and had used all our cash at the border, so were totally broke, except for our credit cards. Further down the road we found out we were on a toll road, no problems we thought, we have our cards. Wrong!!! They wouldn’t accept our credit or debit cards, as they weren’t Mexican, even though they were Visa cards, and had worked in most places all around the world. We showed them our empty wallet, didn’t even have any coins to offer, as we hadn’t been in the country long enough to get any. It became a stand off, (Mexican standoff, of course), they wouldn’t let us go any further, the line of honking cars behind us was getting longer, and the security guy who had arrived to see what the hold up was couldn’t help either. No one spoke any English, and that didn’t help. Eventually a guy from one of the cars behind us came and asked what the problem was, and then paid our toll for us when he found out. He didn’t want anything for it, and was happy to help. We felt guilty we hadn’t prepared for this, but had seen nowhere we could get cash, and still don’t know why they won’t accept an international Visa card. Continuing on, it was dark by this stage, and the road was passing through empty country, no lights anywhere, except for the traffic. There was a OXXO store beside the road along the way, so we stopped and checked for an ATM, but they didn’t have one, so rode on. A guy there said there was a fuel station about 100 kms further down the road, and that worried me, as I thought we would have been pushing to have enough fuel to get that far. There really wasn’t another option though. It was getting cooler now the sun had gone down, but I didn’t want to stop again and put a liner in my jacket, so kept riding. before too long we came across another toll pay point, here we go again I thought. Once again they refused the cards, and once again we had the standoff. They diverted the line of cars behind us to another lane, while we tried to resolve the issue. A lady from a car that had gone through came back to see why there was a hold up. It turns out she was living in Canada, and of course spoke good english. She explained she had had the same thing happen to her in the past, they wouldn’t accept her Canadian cards, so she understood the situation. With that, she paid our toll for us, and then handed over some cash to us as she knew there was another toll gate further down, and we would be trapped again. As she was also going to Monterrey, and knew the hotel we were staying at, we made her promise to meet us there so we could pay her back, but I doubt she will, she just said there is no need for that. What an amazing and kind person, thank you so much who ever you are, (she did not give her name). With the situation resolved, we continued on, and limped into the fuel station down the road with our fuel lights glowing brightly, and almost 70 klms on the fuel trip meter. A further 40 klms down the road we hit Monterrey, and our last test for the night, trying to find the hotel with no GPS, and no wi fi to use our phones, as the promised coverage in Mexico we got from AT & T in the US wasn’t working. Stopping in a shopping centre that was still open, Lyn managed to find out it was roughly 9 kms down a certain road, which we had jagged finding, so went from there. At 8.5 kms we started looking, and Lyn saw a sign for it from the corner of her eye as we rode past. A block later and U turn, and we found it! At 8.30pm we checked in, had a feed in the restaurant, and went to bed, it had been a big day.
Time to head off across the border to Mexico, but Lyn looked out the window at about 6.00 am, and it was pouring down, so we thought we may be staying another day. By 8.00 am there was patches of blue, with storm clouds blowing across occasionally, so the decision was made to go and we packed up the bikes. By 10.00 we were on the road, fuelling up, (petrol is a lot cheaper in the US than Mexico), and heading for Brownsville, where we were crossing the border. Exiting the US was easy, then we hit the Mexican side. We could have just ridden through, there was nothing to stop us, but the consequences would not have been good later if we did, so 4 hours later, we finally rode into Mexico legally, complete with insurance, and a much lighter wallet. The bikes needed a $400 USD deposit paid for each one for the temporary import permit, which is refunded when we leave Mexico with them. There is also a fee of about $40 US each for our personal entry permit, and then the insurance for the bikes, about $230 USD for the two of them. There was a computer glitch when paying for Lyn’s insurance, that added another half hour to the time, so we eventually left about 3.30 pm, with 300 klms to ride to get to Monterrey, where we had a room booked. It gets dark around 5.30, so we knew we were going to break one of our rules of not riding in the dark on our first day! Trying to get out of the city, with a GPS that was not functioning, we ended up on the wrong road, heading back to the US border! It was divided road, with a high concrete wall between the lanes, so there was no way we could turn around, and we had to crawl along with the stop start traffic, knowing we were going the wrong way! At the border again, we shifted a barrier and got in a quick U turn before we had to exit and enter again, and were then stopped by the guards wanting to see our passports again. Still fuming from crawling along in traffic the wrong way, we were not in the best of moods to have to go through this again, and that didn't help us at all. We tried to explain that we hadn't left Mexico, but they wouldn’t believe us, so we had to unpack our paperwork that we had put away as we thought we had finished with it, show passports, then they wanted to check registration papers and VIN numbers. I may have made some derogatory remarks about their parentage, which just made things worse. Finally we were released, and found our way out of the city. Around 50 klms down the road the traffic suddenly stopped, so after a bit of lane splitting, we got to the scene of an accident, with a vehicle on it’s side, and police and the army everywhere. They turned us back, and we found a side track through a field where some other cars had gone in front of us, so a bumpy kilometre or two got us around the site and back on the road again. It really looked like the gods were conspiring to stop us reaching Monterrey. Since we crossed the border, we hadn’t been able to find an ATM, and had used all our cash at the border, so were totally broke, except for our credit cards. Further down the road we found out we were on a toll road, no problems we thought, we have our cards. Wrong!!! They wouldn’t accept our credit or debit cards, as they weren’t Mexican, even though they were Visa cards, and had worked in most places all around the world. We showed them our empty wallet, didn’t even have any coins to offer, as we hadn’t been in the country long enough to get any. It became a stand off, (Mexican standoff, of course), they wouldn’t let us go any further, the line of honking cars behind us was getting longer, and the security guy who had arrived to see what the hold up was couldn’t help either. No one spoke any English, and that didn’t help. Eventually a guy from one of the cars behind us came and asked what the problem was, and then paid our toll for us when he found out. He didn’t want anything for it, and was happy to help. We felt guilty we hadn’t prepared for this, but had seen nowhere we could get cash, and still don’t know why they won’t accept an international Visa card. Continuing on, it was dark by this stage, and the road was passing through empty country, no lights anywhere, except for the traffic. There was a OXXO store beside the road along the way, so we stopped and checked for an ATM, but they didn’t have one, so rode on. A guy there said there was a fuel station about 100 kms further down the road, and that worried me, as I thought we would have been pushing to have enough fuel to get that far. There really wasn’t another option though. It was getting cooler now the sun had gone down, but I didn’t want to stop again and put a liner in my jacket, so kept riding. before too long we came across another toll pay point, here we go again I thought. Once again they refused the cards, and once again we had the standoff. They diverted the line of cars behind us to another lane, while we tried to resolve the issue. A lady from a car that had gone through came back to see why there was a hold up. It turns out she was living in Canada, and of course spoke good english. She explained she had had the same thing happen to her in the past, they wouldn’t accept her Canadian cards, so she understood the situation. With that, she paid our toll for us, and then handed over some cash to us as she knew there was another toll gate further down, and we would be trapped again. As she was also going to Monterrey, and knew the hotel we were staying at, we made her promise to meet us there so we could pay her back, but I doubt she will, she just said there is no need for that. What an amazing and kind person, thank you so much who ever you are, (she did not give her name). With the situation resolved, we continued on, and limped into the fuel station down the road with our fuel lights glowing brightly, and almost 70 klms on the fuel trip meter. A further 40 klms down the road we hit Monterrey, and our last test for the night, trying to find the hotel with no GPS, and no wi fi to use our phones, as the promised coverage in Mexico we got from AT & T in the US wasn’t working. Stopping in a shopping centre that was still open, Lyn managed to find out it was roughly 9 kms down a certain road, which we had jagged finding, so went from there. At 8.5 kms we started looking, and Lyn saw a sign for it from the corner of her eye as we rode past. A block later and U turn, and we found it! At 8.30pm we checked in, had a feed in the restaurant, and went to bed, it had been a big day.
24th
After breakfast, Sergio, a guy that we had been emailing, and who works for the company Gruma that Lyn used to work for in Bendigo, came around and picked us up to show us the sights of the city. A visit to the museum, the Macroplaza, and up to Chipinque made for a great and interesting day, thanks Sergio. The other priority was to get the phone issue sorted out, so we checked for AT & T offices nearby. Uber got us to the location, and dropped us off, and after he had driven away we found the office was closed! We had no idea where we were, and had no phone or wi fi to find our way back. Hailing down a cab, the language barrier again came to the fore, as we couldn’t explain that the AT & T office we had been to was closed so wanted to find another one that was open, so gave up and came back to the hotel. With wi-fi in the room, we found there was an open office within walking distance from us, so we set off for that one. Found it, it was open, and with a new sim card and another phone number, we had resolved that problem. KFC for dinner, and a fairly early night finished our Christmas eve.
After breakfast, Sergio, a guy that we had been emailing, and who works for the company Gruma that Lyn used to work for in Bendigo, came around and picked us up to show us the sights of the city. A visit to the museum, the Macroplaza, and up to Chipinque made for a great and interesting day, thanks Sergio. The other priority was to get the phone issue sorted out, so we checked for AT & T offices nearby. Uber got us to the location, and dropped us off, and after he had driven away we found the office was closed! We had no idea where we were, and had no phone or wi fi to find our way back. Hailing down a cab, the language barrier again came to the fore, as we couldn’t explain that the AT & T office we had been to was closed so wanted to find another one that was open, so gave up and came back to the hotel. With wi-fi in the room, we found there was an open office within walking distance from us, so we set off for that one. Found it, it was open, and with a new sim card and another phone number, we had resolved that problem. KFC for dinner, and a fairly early night finished our Christmas eve.
25th
Well, it looked like Xmas dinner wouldn’t be tacos and Coronas beside the road after all. Sergio and his wife Zoila picked us up from the hotel just after 9.00 am, and took us to see more of the sights, the main two being Cascada Cola de Caballo, a beautiful waterfall to the south of the city, and Presa Rodrigo Gomez, a lake formed by a man made dam nearby. From there we drove back to the city, and had a very nice Xmas day lunch at a restaurant on the way. With our bellies full, it was time for an afternoon nap, before heading out to the festivities tonight at the Macroplaza. The local football team, the Tigres, were playing the Mexico City team for the grand final in town, and the Macroplaza was being set up with big screen TV’s, and bands for the event. Win or loose, the town was going to party! Lyn and I walked to the Macroplaza, found a bar, and watched the game with the locals. The Tigres won in a penalty shoot out, and the town went crazy. Cars were driving round the streets all night honking horns, with people hanging out the windows waving flags, and people everywhere were dancing in the streets. Not a lot of sleep that night!
Well, it looked like Xmas dinner wouldn’t be tacos and Coronas beside the road after all. Sergio and his wife Zoila picked us up from the hotel just after 9.00 am, and took us to see more of the sights, the main two being Cascada Cola de Caballo, a beautiful waterfall to the south of the city, and Presa Rodrigo Gomez, a lake formed by a man made dam nearby. From there we drove back to the city, and had a very nice Xmas day lunch at a restaurant on the way. With our bellies full, it was time for an afternoon nap, before heading out to the festivities tonight at the Macroplaza. The local football team, the Tigres, were playing the Mexico City team for the grand final in town, and the Macroplaza was being set up with big screen TV’s, and bands for the event. Win or loose, the town was going to party! Lyn and I walked to the Macroplaza, found a bar, and watched the game with the locals. The Tigres won in a penalty shoot out, and the town went crazy. Cars were driving round the streets all night honking horns, with people hanging out the windows waving flags, and people everywhere were dancing in the streets. Not a lot of sleep that night!
Presa Rodrigo Gomez, the lake near Monterey. You can just make out the dam on the far side of the lake.
Big rocking horse near the town square in a small town just out of Monterrey
Lyn and I at the Cascado Cola de Cabello, just outside of Monterrey
Not a good picture, but the blue flashing light and the automatic weapons are a bit of a put off. These guys are cruising around the city all the time, often with 2 or 3 guys (or girls) in the back, fully armed and wearing flack jackets.
Sergio, Lyn and I with Santa and his helpers, I think I got the best deal.....
Sergio, Zoila, Lyn and I at the restaurant for Xmas lunch, we had a great time, Thanks Sergio and Zoila
Mexican street food, delicious and cheap.
26th
We found our way out of Monterrey quite easily, and headed down towards Cuidad Victoria, through a nice little mountain range, and fine weather. Good riding. The further south we got, we found fuel was getting harder to get. Pricing was due to go up on 1st January, so people were stocking up, and a lot of fuel stations were running out. With Xmas holidays, deliveries weren’t as frequent, and there were big lines at servos with fuel. We decided we would make sure that we found a hotel early tonight, so started looking around 3.30 pm, and there was nothing for miles. The road was fairly straight for miles, across flat country, and there was just nowhere to stay. We could only keep going, and then of course it started to get dark, then the fuel lights came on. Eventually we hit another main road near San Luis Potosi, managed to get fuel, and just past the servo found a cheap hotel for the night, with bike parking under the room. Once again we had broken our rule of not riding at night!
27th
Talking to a guy at the hotel while packing up in the morning, he said that fuel would be an issue, the servo down the road was out, and there was none in San Luis Potosi, so it was lucky we had just filled up. Riding through the city, cars were lined up for miles at the pumps, blocking roads, and creating havoc. Bloody glad to get out of there! The plan was to get to Lake Chapala tonight, to meet up with Greg and Melanie Turp again, along with some other travellers. We managed to find a servo with fuel, and filled up our fuel bladder for the first time since we left home to start the trip in 2014. As we got closer to Chapala, there were a few servos with fuel, so it turned out we didn’t need the bladder after all. Things went to plan for a change, and we arrived at the hotel around 4.30, and in the daylight for a change. Greg and Melanie were already there, had been shopping, and bought tea, thanks guys, it makes it so much easier when you arrive tired, and things like that are done for you. Another great night catching up over a few drinks, and looking forward to a week of doing not much.
We found our way out of Monterrey quite easily, and headed down towards Cuidad Victoria, through a nice little mountain range, and fine weather. Good riding. The further south we got, we found fuel was getting harder to get. Pricing was due to go up on 1st January, so people were stocking up, and a lot of fuel stations were running out. With Xmas holidays, deliveries weren’t as frequent, and there were big lines at servos with fuel. We decided we would make sure that we found a hotel early tonight, so started looking around 3.30 pm, and there was nothing for miles. The road was fairly straight for miles, across flat country, and there was just nowhere to stay. We could only keep going, and then of course it started to get dark, then the fuel lights came on. Eventually we hit another main road near San Luis Potosi, managed to get fuel, and just past the servo found a cheap hotel for the night, with bike parking under the room. Once again we had broken our rule of not riding at night!
27th
Talking to a guy at the hotel while packing up in the morning, he said that fuel would be an issue, the servo down the road was out, and there was none in San Luis Potosi, so it was lucky we had just filled up. Riding through the city, cars were lined up for miles at the pumps, blocking roads, and creating havoc. Bloody glad to get out of there! The plan was to get to Lake Chapala tonight, to meet up with Greg and Melanie Turp again, along with some other travellers. We managed to find a servo with fuel, and filled up our fuel bladder for the first time since we left home to start the trip in 2014. As we got closer to Chapala, there were a few servos with fuel, so it turned out we didn’t need the bladder after all. Things went to plan for a change, and we arrived at the hotel around 4.30, and in the daylight for a change. Greg and Melanie were already there, had been shopping, and bought tea, thanks guys, it makes it so much easier when you arrive tired, and things like that are done for you. Another great night catching up over a few drinks, and looking forward to a week of doing not much.
Tacos for lunch from a roadside cart, good, and cheap
28th- 1st Jan.
Dave Hand arrived the next day, as did Jeff Shafer and his father John, then the day after that Doc and Karen arrived, so there were nine of us all travelling on bikes, a bit like a HU mini meeting! Five of us rode up to Mazamitla in the mountains one day, and had lunch up there, quite a pretty little town. Apparently it was started by the Swiss who were here for some sort of project years ago, and it was added to from there. Its background shows in some of the buildings, quite different to the normal Mexican style. On the way back Lyn stopped and gave a lift to a young girl who was hobbling along a deserted road, with one leg bandaged up. At first she didn’t want to get on the bike, but Lyn persisted and she eventually hopped on the back for about 3 kms to her destination. Would have been a long walk with a sore leg! The rest of the time was spent fixing small things on the bikes, like fitting a new chain, and the new “twoxtw.com” stickers that we had made in Phoenix to Lyn’s bike, and a few things on Jeff and his dad's bikes. We all went out for tea in Chapala, and saw the new year in at the hotel. Good times with a great bunch of people. New years day was pretty quiet for everyone after the previous nights festivities.
Dave Hand arrived the next day, as did Jeff Shafer and his father John, then the day after that Doc and Karen arrived, so there were nine of us all travelling on bikes, a bit like a HU mini meeting! Five of us rode up to Mazamitla in the mountains one day, and had lunch up there, quite a pretty little town. Apparently it was started by the Swiss who were here for some sort of project years ago, and it was added to from there. Its background shows in some of the buildings, quite different to the normal Mexican style. On the way back Lyn stopped and gave a lift to a young girl who was hobbling along a deserted road, with one leg bandaged up. At first she didn’t want to get on the bike, but Lyn persisted and she eventually hopped on the back for about 3 kms to her destination. Would have been a long walk with a sore leg! The rest of the time was spent fixing small things on the bikes, like fitting a new chain, and the new “twoxtw.com” stickers that we had made in Phoenix to Lyn’s bike, and a few things on Jeff and his dad's bikes. We all went out for tea in Chapala, and saw the new year in at the hotel. Good times with a great bunch of people. New years day was pretty quiet for everyone after the previous nights festivities.
On the left the two guys that bought down the chain for us, then Dave Hand, then Lyn and I, and Greg and Melanie
With a couple of the local Chapala police, nice guys, even if the younger one had an SLR over his shoulder!
Lined up on the footpath on the edge of the lake
This couple of cuties were outside a church at a wedding in the town, couldn't resist taking the photo!
Street scene from Mazamitla, busy, and a little different to most Mexican towns
