Mexico

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Mérida or Bust — Day Ten: Villahermosa, Tabasco, to Mérida (Actually Chelem), Yucatán!!!!!

Total Kilometres to Drive: 5,442

Kilometres Driven Today: 602

Total Kilometres Driven: 5,442

Kilometres Left: 0

Amount of Trip Completed: 100%

I MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I slept so well last night that it was almost torture to get up when my alarm rang at seven. I just wanted to stay in bed. But I knew that I just had this final push to do and I would be able to recoup. I had a decent breakfast again (they had good coffee, but no salsa or tortillas!) and was pleased to discover that I was on the correct side of the highway to head out of town. I’d actually considered backtracking to take the bypass, but both Google and my GPS assured me that would not save me any time at all. Traffic was pretty light anyway so getting out of Villahermosa wasn’t a big deal.

The first part of my day was very easy. Crossing into Campeche, I got my very first document check of this trip, which was pretty amazing since a half dozen checks and stops of various kinds a day are normal on Mex-15 between Maz and Nogales. This federal police officer was quite thorough, checking both my immigration status and my truck’s temporary import status. He also asked me what kind of business I have.

After that, I soon got to more populated areas with lots and lots and lots of topes that meant slowing to a crawl. I had to go through a few communities, so that meant some defensive driving. I hit a guy’s sideview mirror with my passenger side mirror as I squeezed through Champoton, but it thankfully didn’t break and he just waved me off. I had to pull over to readjust my mirror, which had folded flat against my truck and was absolutely fine.

This drive felt like being in “my” Mexico, with the ocean on one side and coconut palms on the other.

The only two cities ahead of me. 🙂

I had another checkpoint most of the way through Campeche. This guy pulled me over for having a non-Mexican license plate and he was quite agitated about it, is about as best as I can describe it. If I didn’t understand Spanish, his frantic tone would have terrified me and made me think I was in big trouble. I just pointed to my TIP sticker as proof that I was legal and showed my passport when he asked for it. No biggie!

Literally riding the Yucatán state line! Ignore the fact that my GPS is saying I was speeding. The limit was 110.

I’ll admit I burst into tears here. I was just so relieved to be so close that if I got in an accident or anything else happened with the truck, it would be no big deal to get a tow all the way to Chelem or to get my things home even if I had to transfer them to someone else’s vehicle. You have no idea how stressful the last 5,400KM have been.

There was a military checkpoint at the Yucatán border (hence why I was parked and had time to take the above picture). A very young kid came to check me out and said that I had no license plates. I told him my Canadian state (did not know the Spanish for province and figured that state would be less confusing to him anyway) does not have a front license plate. This is when I understood why I’d been pulled over the previous two times — not having a front license plate made me stick out and then they zeroed in on the fact that I’m a foreigner. While annoying, these stops are not a big deal to me. I know my paperwork is in order and that I’ve done nothing wrong. So I just answer their questions and am then on my way.

Driving by north Mérida on the perifico.

I was going beyond Mérida, right back to the coast. Thankfully, the last stretch was on good highway and I was able to zip north towards Progreso. Even though the day had felt very long, I’d made good time and was going to land at about 4:30.

My hosts had told me to meet them at a hotel near their home and call them. I did that and could not reach them because the cell signal was too poor. I went into the hotel and asked for a landline phone (none available) and directions since I had an address and a crude map. Two boys managed to send me off in the right direction. When I knew I was close, I asked a family sitting outside for further help and they got me even closer to the house. Soon as I saw the house in the distance… Moya got caught in a sand trap. 5,440 uneventful kilometres and I got stuck within sight of my destination. I have to laugh now even if it wasn’t funny then.

An expat lady and two Mexicans tried to winch me out with her truck, but she started to dig in, too, so we gave up. She managed to get my hosts’ attention (they have a deep yard with a front gate and no intercom so they hadn’t heard me knocking) and both came out to see what could be done about my truck. F worked out a plan of attack and told me to go back to the house with V. I did so and V mercifully had me sit down in front of some wonderful food! That restored my good humour and before I knew it, F came to grab my truck keys. I went back to Moya with him and he’d jacked her up to get traction material under her. He started her up and with a bit of gas got her out! I was very impressed.

So that was that. I was officially landed! I unpacked a bit, had a few beers, gabbed lots, met my canine charge, etc. I am going to be wonderfully comfortable here in the lap of luxury. The pool was tempting tonight, but getting into my suit felt like too much effort. 🙂

It’s now past midnight and I need sleep. Hope y’all are grateful for the post because I really didn’t feel like writing it tonight! 🙂

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Mérida or Bust — Day Nine: Xalapa, Veracruz, to Villahermosa, Tabasco

Total Kilometres to Drive: 5,442 (based on distance driven and distance remaining according to my GPS and Google Maps)

Kilometres Driven Today: 560

Total Kilometres Driven: 4,840

Kilometres Left: 602

Amount of Trip Completed: 88.94%

Today, I drove as far south as I’ve ever been in my life and tomorrow I’m heading back north! 😀

I slept solidly in Xalapa until about 6AM when someone got on the treadmill in the gym next to my room. GAH. It was such a comfortable bed and such a shame to not be able to get a couple more hours of shut-eye. I finally gave up and got up around seven and went to check out the included breakfast. I don’t normally eat much on travel days in this climate, but it didn’t make sense to leave on an empty stomach. Which reminds me, I felt the climate change as I was coasting into Xalapa yesterday, with the humidity increasing exponentially with each kilometre I got closer to the coast. I’ve been so itchy because of my dry skin since I got back to North America and being back in this climate is a soothing balm. I won’t need body lotion again any time soon!

But anyway, breakfast today. The coffee was as abysmal as expected. Shame that they can’t put in an automatic coffeemaker like you see in Europe that always dispenses a perfect cup. That was the Camelot Inn in Amarillo’s secret! But beyond that, there were a lot of good offerings. You could do a continental breakfast (pastries, breads, fresh fruit, cereal, yoghurt, cottage cheese, etc.). I went over to the hot table and found eggs with ham and also black refried beans. I had those with salsa verde, queso seco, and some crema (YUM). I was shocked that there were no tortillas and I had to settle for toast!

Before heading out, I topped up the oil in the truck since she’s due for an oil change! She’ll need a bit of work when I land since she’s developed a few squeaks that I think are a chassis that needs lubrication and brakes that need attention. Nothing worrisome at this point, but I’ve ridden her hard and she needs some time at the spa! Of course, a guy came by as I had the hood up to ask if I needed help.

Getting out of Xalapa was as difficult as expected because of the lack of retornos. I went almost 10KM out of my way (roundtrip) before I could get turned around in the right direction, and that was better than what my GPS thought I’d need to do. I’ve gotten really good at making illegal U-turns over a low median in this country…. In fact, the more I drive here, the more I like it. You have to be really present when driving here and so it forces me to focus and get out of my head instead of zoning out like I would on a long stretch of interstate. I’m never bored driving in Mexico!

The first couple hundred kilometres of my day just flew by. I had good pavement and traffic was light. I ended up taking my only break of the day at a Pemex/Oxxo about 250KM from Xalapa, where I downed a much needed Elecrolit hydrating drink and noshed on a granola bar. Croft had warned me that that stretch of highway was really bad the last few times he drove them, but they were so newly paved that I started to feel sick from the fresh tar fumes and smells! In fact, the road didn’t get ugly until the section after the bypass he’d suggested that would have added hours to my day. So it’s a good thing I stuck to the cuota.

Coming out of one of the tollbooths I passed (none too pricy today, thankfully), I saw my first sign announcing Mérida! And then, they were everywhere!

I was literally parked there. The off ramp was so bad that it took that truck several minutes to get through. See that little sticker on my windshield? I still make it a point to donate to the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) regularly. It’s a cause I believe in. When you have that sticker, they tend to leave you alone, but I always put a peso or two when I see a kid collecting and every few times when it’s a grownup.

Even with a very long section of teeth rattling road, I made very good time to Villahermosa, arriving just shy of 3PM. There is a bypass around the city that I found tempting, but that would have meant finding a motel before, which was way too early to stop, or after, which was way too late. I had options for both, but as I realised that I would be arriving into the city so early, I decided to stay in it so I could possibly go see a movie this evening!

Despite having a map and directions from Siri, Google, and my GPS, coming into Villahermosa was like driving in Xalapa yesterday, going round and round near the hotel without being able to find it. Just as I was about to flag down a taxi to guide me there (a tip from Croft), I finally saw the hotel in the distance and managed to make my way to it. It wasn’t cheap ($1,200), but I did much better than expected my last two nights here and I’m actually under budget for accommodation thanks to Amarillo, so I didn’t care. I definitely upped the accommodation budget on this trip compared to last ones and that removed a lot of the stress and meant that I got to stay in nicer and more comfortable places. I’m getting to that age where the fleabag motel just doesn’t cut it anymore. I really like this Latin American chain I’m discovering, City Express. The rooms are a bargain for their location, super clean and well appointed, and they have a free breakfast. Unfortunately, they don’t all have great beds.

First order of business was to find a cinema. There was a Cinépolis not even 2KM away that seemed walkable! There was nothing playing that I would have paid to see at US and Canada prices, but for $55, the mostly comedic “Going Out In Style” with Alan Arkin, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Christopher Lloyd, and Ann-Margaret sounded perfect! The movie started in about an hour and I decided to head straight to the mall and then grab a very late lunch if I had time.

My walk was through the “real” Mexico that I love so much. It’s not pretty and it’s chaotic and smelly and loud, but it’s also very communal. I didn’t know if this was a bad part of town or not, so I kept my phone tucked away so as to not draw attention to myself as I strolled purposefully to my destination, which explains the lack of pictures. 🙂 I passed a Paletería La Michoacana, so I popped in to get a paleta, which is just a fancy popsicle. The owner didn’t seem to know what to do with me, reminding me of the juice vendor in Mazatlán who gave me a “I’ve never served a Canadian before!” discount. No discount here, but I came out with a coco paleta for $15. It was very drippy and I had to eat it fast, but I was happy with my choice since there was real coconut in it and so it was surprisingly filling.

Shockingly, the directions I’d memorised were perfect and I found the Cinépolis with no detours. I still had about 30 minutes to the movie, so I went to the food court and ordered two tacos arabes, which is another name for al pastor. 🙂 They were pretty good — very generous with the meat for $18 each, but there was a lot of gristle and no onions, cilantro, and only two salsas (the guacamole, which isn’t spicy, and the salsa mexicana/pico de gallo that was and tasted like home!). They didn’t double up on the tortillas, so the second taco was so soggy by the time I got to it that I had to eat it with a spoon! I can’t even begin to describe the happy dance my taste buds were doing!

There’s a Mega right by the cinema, so I went there after eating to see if they might have a Scotiabank ATM by their bathrooms. They did! I initiated a transfer to that account so I could make a withdrawal after the movie and then went to buy my ticket. I almost asked for a “bilet,” rather than a “boleto.” The former is Bulgarian, LOL!!! I thought the last time I went to the cinema was in Bulgaria, but no. I went once in England.

The movie was exactly what I wanted. There was a lot of suspension of disbelief needed, but the actors were all in fine form. It was great to hear other audience members laugh at the same time I did. Oh, for those who don’t know this, most movies in Mexico are shown in their original language with Spanish subtitles. Just look for “subtitulado” or “sub” next to movie name when looking up showtimes.

It was just coming on seven when I left the movie theatre. I checked my email and my transfer was complete, so I moved the money into my Scotiabank account. Last time I did that was in Brighton on my iPhone 5C and it took ages since I had to type my password on a tiny screen. With my “new” iPhone 6, I just had to give the phone a fingerprint! I was then able to take out enough cash to cover fuel tomorrow and leave me with a bit to get me through until I locate the nearest Scotiabank to where I’m staying in Chelem, which is very likely the one on Pasejo de Montejo since I know there is no Scotiabank in Progreso, the nearest city to where I’m going to be living. Let me tell you, soon as I get my residency card, my first stop will be a bank to get a Mexican account so I can go directly from the USD in my PayPal account to pesos, have access to more ATMs, and also have access to a debit card system!

Banking done, I went down to the main level to look for a taxi. I found a stand where I could order one. As it turned out, there are a few City Express hotels in this city and I didn’t have the address, but saying the one 2KM away near the Walmart did the trick. I was quoted $45, which sounded very fair for the distance to travel. Am I glad I didn’t drive because the driver had to take me through a warren of streets to end up on the correct side of this main thoroughfare to drop me off!

I was ready for dinner by this point and asked the front desk clerk for a suggestion. She said I’d have to drive as there are no sit down restaurants within walking distance and she doesn’t recommend the taco stand right in front of the hotel. There was no way I was getting back in my car, so I went to the Oxxo next door to put together a picnic. I almost got a beer there, but spotted a proper beer store in the distance (look for the word SIX in big red glowing letters!) and knew their beer would be colder. When I got there, the grill was down, but the lights were on. I called out and a guy came out from an inner office to serve me. I asked for a Tecate and he asked me if I wanted red (regular) or blue (light) and what size. A small red was $15, about what I’d pay on Isla for a single.

The desk clerk was surprised to see me back so soon. I held up my bag and said, “¡Viva Oxxo!” She and the security guard burst out laughing. I wasn’t super hungry and I had a cold beer, so a decent ham and cheese sandwich with some Fritos were absolutely fine for supper. I even found a packet of honey mustard at the bottom of my purse to dress up my sandwich!

I can’t believe it’s the end of my last full day on the road and while I’m definitely DONE with living out of a suitcase (been doing it for more than 10 months!), I’m still in good spirits. It’s been an uneventful trip and I have to say that a lot of that has had to do with my being focused on just getting there. The more detours one takes, the more can go wrong. Croft is sad that I haven’t done any tourism, but I have to remind him that I’m going to be living here full-time for at least the next four years! Soon as I can afford to take a vacation, I can come back out to this part of Mexico and explore some archaeological sites over a long weekend. Or I can get on a cheap flight and take a longer trip further afield. All my travel money in the next few years is going to go to exploring Mexico instead of having so much of it spent on going back and forth between Canada and the US.

So patience readers. Give me time to settle in, replenish the coffers ahead of my move in the fall, and soon, we’ll set off and discover this magical country together. I want to do it just like I did with the US and Canada, thoroughly and purposefully and at a leisurely pace.

I can’t believe I’ll be in Chelem tomorrow!

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Mérida or Bust — Day Eight: Matehuala, SLP, to Xalapa, Veracruz

Total Kilometres to Drive: 5,600 (change because I need to fire my GPS)

Kilometres Driven Today: 850ish (at least 50 and maybe as much as 100 don’t count)

Total Kilometres Driven: 4,280

Kilometres Left: 1,320 (ish)

Amount of Trip Completed: 76.43% (ish)

My Garmin, Google Maps, and Mexican road signage were all smoking crack today apparently.

Until 4PM today, I thought I wouldn’t have anything worth writing about today. Now, I’m two hours out of my way and ready to fire whomever makes Mexican signage as well as Google Maps and my Garmin. But let me start from the beginning…

I slept all right in Matehuala and got an earlish start around 7:15. I stopped at an Oxxo for a coffee and then just drove… The landscapes were pretty uninspired, just mountainous. I could have been anywhere. I took the Arco Norte bypass around Mexico City and got to Puebla almost an hour earlier than expected, 4PM. I was feeling really good and decided that I might as well push on to give myself a shorter day tomorrow…

Before I knew it, I was going around in circles in downtown Puebla. To my amazement, I was super calm and not at all stressed out. For some reason, I seem to have taken to the defensive form of Mexican driving like the proverbial duck to water. I finally got back on a highway and my GPS assured me that I was still headed towards Villahermosa. The directions looked good as per my paper map as well.

The road I was on was really good and would put me in Xalapa by quarter to seven at the latest, giving me a full hour before dark to find a hotel. Perfect!

Well, my day finally turned into an adventure. I was about half way to Xalapa from Puebla when my gas gauge did that lovely thing it does sometimes and went from telling me I had a full quarter tank of fuel left to running on fumes to giving me the you need fuel NOW light. I was going up and down so much I had no way to gauge just how far I could go on what I had. No problem, my GPS promised me there were several Pemexes nearby…

All of which were on the wrong side of an impassable median.

Mercifully, I had something like a 20KM downhill stretch into Xalapa. I literally just coasted into the first Pemex I found as I came into the city.

I had almost no cash left by this point because of the ridiculous amount of tolls I had to pay again today (haven’t totalled them all up yet, but just the Arco Norte was $330). The attendant tried my credit card, but that didn’t work. He told me there was a Banamex “that way” where I could get cash, so off I went. No problem getting money, but big problem getting back to the Pemex for lack of a way to get around an impassable median. Seriously. By the time I found two retornos, one to go back the way I’d come and one to swing back to the Pemex, my needle was beyond the red. Thankfully, I made it into the gas station at the nick of time and I took on a full $1,000 of fuel. I had about five litres left of fuel!

It was 6:45 by this point and I wasted an hour driving around Xalapa looking for my hotel. My GPS was absolutely useless and kept taking me into parts of town I had no business being in and telling me to turn where I couldn’t, etc. It was really frustrating that I knew which hotel I wanted to go to and passed it several times, but it took a full hour to get there! I have to stress that I wasn’t really stressed until about 7:30, when it started to get dark. I just treated my evening like the adventure that it was and savoured it.

By the time I checked into the hotel, I still didn’t know I was as far out of my way as I am. If you look at the map above, I should be in Córdoba. I am really unhappy because I exhausted myself today so that I could get a late start tomorrow. But get this… the only restaurant within walking distance serves… sushi. 😀

I went off to find it where the hotel clerk told me to go and was confused because all I found was a café. Then, I noticed stairs in front of the café, so I went up to find a several empty storefronts. As I was about to dejectedly return to my hotel room, I heard music up a further flight of stairs, so up I went and found the restaurant!

I ordered a Bohemia beer and a spicy tuna roll. The server also brought me a bowl of noodle stir fry on the house to start because I looked hungry! LOL Sorry,Vicki, the pics I took didn’t turn out — it was way too dark. I also had a bowl of chocolate ice cream with hot fudge and a cherry for dessert! 🙂

Yes, I am annoyed by the unexpected detour, but at the same time I’m really pleased with how my day ended up turning out. I mean, I found myself driving like a maniac in two busy city centres without breaking a sweat. I was as relaxed and comfortable as I would have been back in Canada or the US and, most importantly, I got landed somewhere safe before it got dark and I was exhausted.

Really, it wasn’t a bad day and now I get to go through Veracruz, home of my favourite coffee beans. Let’s see if I find some! 😀

I went through so many states today. Still need to tally them all up!

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Mérida or Bust — Day Seven: Laredo, TX, to Matehuala, San Luis Potosí (Mexico!)

Total Kilometres to Drive: 5,400

Kilometres Driven Today: 575

Total Kilometres Driven: 3,430

Kilometres Left: 1,970

Amount of Trip Completed: 63.51%

The first time I drove down to Mexico, I was so broke I had to sleep in my truck as much as possible. It hit me last night in Laredo just how much my life has changed as business has improved. I was staying in a studio apartment in an extended stay hotel that was very luxurious (which you can always tell when there are different soaps for different parts of the body!). Sure, I got a great deal on booking.com, but it was still a $75 a night room and right on budget. I’m starting to feel like I’m “middle class” and I’m wondering how living in Mexico, where I will pretty much be wealthy, is going to change me and my values…

At any rate, I actually slept pretty well last night and would have gone the night through if the very loud alarm of the person sleeping in the room above mine hadn’t gone off around 4AM. I still managed to fall back asleep after, a very good pre-border night! I finally got up around seven and refused to be rushed. I’m travelling at a time of year where the days are longer and I only had about 500KM to do past the border, so I had some of my coffee before taking off, although I definitely was in no mood to eat (the hotel sent me off with a granola bar and I had bought more bars yesterday as well).

Getting out of Laredo and to the Colombia Bridge crossing was more trying than it would have been had there been some signage saying that I was on Mines Road, which takes you up to the Colombia crossing road. The portion of the road between Mines and I-36 is a tollway for which you need a pass. So if you don’t have one, you have to go all the way into Laredo and then back up again. I was going about 80KM out of my way, 40KM on each side of the border, to cross at Colombia, but research told me it would be a quiet, non-busy, one-stop crossing, compared to using one of the crossings in Laredo. The only caveat is that staff there don’t have much, if any, English.

It was only as I approached the bridge that I realised there might be a toll to cross it and that I’d left my last few dollars as a tip for the hotel cleaner! Thankfully, they took pesos. The exchange rate for US to MXN today was 1:20. So 1USD=20MXN. My bridge toll was 3.50USD, so 70MXN.

Unlike when you cross at Nogales, the checkpoint is right at the border. Signage was a bit confusing, but I saw a sign for Banjercito and vehicle importation, so I pulled over to deal with that. A customs officer promptly came over to check me out. She said to go in and do the visa and vehicle stuff, then return to the truck and she’d do the declaration thing.

It was maybe 8:45 when I entered into a very neat building where all the windows were numbered to make it clear in what order  to do things. First stop was INM where I asked for a 30-day entry since I have a residente temporal visa sticker in my passport. I didn’t have to fill out anything. The officer just stamped some stuff and gave me my entry paper. I had no fee to pay since I’ll be paying muchos pesos for my residency card when I arrive!

Next stop was a copy shop for a copy of the entry paper, then Banjercito for the vehicle import. That was easy since I’ve done it twice before. The lady started to explain that I only have a 30-day TIP (temporary import permit), but I told her that I know all about that and that I have friends at my destination who will help me get sorted with aduena so I hopefully don’t lose my 200USD deposit (but I’m already resigned to losing it).

I then went back out to my truck and pulled out my inventory list. The customs lady (about my age, maybe younger), came back over and explained to me that I wasn’t eligible to bring in everything for free because I didn’t have a consulate certified menaje de casa (list of household goods). So she was going to have to go through everything, figure out what it was all worth, and then charge me 16% IVA (tax) on it all.

Thankfully, it was still cool out! I began to pull out things and she went though a bunch of it. You can see one of my Mexican blankets there — it was wrapped around a painting, then wrapped in paper and a garbage bag. She actually handed me a knife to get into the garbage bag, which was taped pretty solidly.

I suspected I was in trouble when she started to count the number of DVDs I had in one of my boxes (hundreds!). She made me go almost all the way to the back of the truck bed, but not entirely, and she cut open several bags of clothes while asking me if I had any weapons of any kind (only kitchen knives!). We then went into the cab and she made a note of the printer and stuff I had in a bin. Finally, she told me to leave everything out while she went to calculate what I’d owe for import duties while a colleague came by with a sniffer dog.

I was just rewrapping my painting when said dog came and he was clearly very bored by my truck. His handler gave me a big smile and a gracias before telling me that I could repack. Just as I was doing that, the customs (aduena) lady was back and telling me that I owed 800USD.

Needless to say, I had nothing in the truck save maybe my computer that would be worth paying 800USD for. I didn’t even have 800USD to give her! I finally told her flat out that I couldn’t pay and she gave me a horrified look and apologised for not having been clear. What she actually meant was that she had evaluated my stuff at being worth 800USD and that I had to pay 16% of that, which she pegged at 120USD. So if I agreed to pay that 120USD, she could clear me for customs and I could be on my way. I’m still laughing with relief.

When I met up with her inside, I made sure to thank her for being kind and patient with me so that it would be clear that I was not upset with her and that I respected her job and the fact that I had to pay this money. I’d only been upset because I hadn’t expected to have to pay a huge amount and couldn’t see my way around doing that besides having to leave my things behind! She and I had a good laugh and she said it was a good thing my Spanish is so good or we might have had to wait hours for an interpreter to come! She finally got the bill together and I was able to pay it. She told me to present it to her colleague at a booth I would drive by and I could be on my way.

Well… I got to the booth and was sent off to have Moya X-rayed! Holy smokes are these folks thorough! I followed the instructions to get Moya to the X-ray booth and then stepped out to a safe area. The man doing pantomimes for me was very grateful when I told him he could just speak Spanish to me. LOL We had a nice conversation while we waited for the X-rays. As it turns out, he just recently did most of my drive since he went on holidays with his family to Playa del Carmen. Can you tell by now that this was a very relaxed border crossing with lots of chatty, friendly folks?

I then had to go back to a waiting area just after the booths to wait for the results of the X-ray. Finally, a guy came over to let me know I was clear. Woohoo!

Pause here to make a guess in the comments on what time it was when I finally pulled away from the border station…

It was only about 10:15. I’d been there at most an hour and a half!

Before I go on, I just checked the Montreal consulate website’s fees page and see that a menaje de casa is $178. I paid about $160 in duties, so I not only saved money by not having a proper menaje de casa, I still have the option of getting one done at a later date if I have something valuable to bring into Mexico with me. So my stupidity paid off. 😀 I think the woman’s evaluation was incredibly fair and extremely low ball, just based on the amount of electronics I had with me. I feel that she gave me a break because I declared everything I had with me. She matched my list to my boxes and there were no surprises. The amount certainly didn’t feel punitive.

Moving on, I got about two minutes from the border before I pulled into a very nice rest area to use the bathroom. I then pointed Moya south towards Monterrey, stopping in at the first Oxxo I passed to add $200 to my phone to get 1GB of data for a month since I knew there was a strong chance I would not have internet at the motel tonight (I must be psychic).

The first bit of my drive was painful like driving down MX-15, with huge variances in the speed limits. But once I got onto the cuoatas (toll roads), I was in a whole other world than the Mexico I’m used to, with good speed limits and no endless parade of stops at military, federale, and fruit checkpoints! I did have one inland customs and border checkpoint, but was able to just roll through it.

But the toll booths… OMG. So many tolls. Over $600 (40CAD) worth, starting with a big one at $219! I did something stupid at one booth and got in the wrong lane (in my defence, I don’t think any were actually marked). This was a no cash, tag only lane. Some very angry truckers honked at me for blocking it and a lady in the booth next to me yelled loudly to wait for her. I got exact change change ready for her and was quickly out of there, only to be flagged down immediately by a federale.

Well, it was bound to happen sometime that I’d get a moving violation here. Right? I pulled over in front of him and looked back to see him waving me off. I think he saw my out of country license plate, correctly figured that I’m a stupid gringa, and decided to be forgiving. 🙂

There is a dearth of taco stands on the road most travelled, so instead of not eating all day while hoping to find good food, I stopped at another Oxxo and after much label reading, found a ham and cheese sandwich with no mayo that looked almost edible. It was surprisingly soggy though, and one bite told me why — jalapeños! There is something about the combination of ham, American cheese, and jalapeños that is very “Mexico” to me, probably because of Panamá’s bakery, so my rather uninspired lunch ended up being satisfying.

I drove pretty hard all afternoon since I need to get used to the pace. I was very comfortable, not quite “home,” but definitely more than a tourist.

I was perhaps an hour from my destination when I pulled into a Pemex. I took on $500 of fuel and the attendant tried to scam me when I paid, telling me that I gave him only $50, not $500. He was very young and I let him have it, telling him he should be ashamed of himself. I left him practically in tears, but doubt that he learned his lesson. Always be sure to count bills that you hand over, make eye contact, and get verbal confirmation that you’d handing over the correct amount. I got lucky on this one.

Just as I was pulling out of the Pemex, I saw a sign for “dulces de guayaba” (guava sweets) and I roared to a stop by a couple sitting under an umbrella with their ware. I bought this huge triangular portion for $35. I knew I didn’t stand a chance in hell of eating it all, but I wanted some guava flavour and texture, dangnabit! I got through about a third of it (it’s not very sweet), but threw out the rest after it was in a hot car all afternoon. The texture of this sweet is a bit tough to describe. It’s a little gritty and it holds together. You can’t just break off a piece and it’s not gelatinous like Jell-O. Anyway, YUM.

I had more tollbooth fun when I exited just before the Matehuala tollbooth to find a bar across the road. A man came running in my direction and said, “No worry, no worry. I speak very good English! My colleague he comes for your money. 23 pesos!” His English was not good and I failed at getting an answer as to whether I did something wrong turning off where I did. What I suspect is that traffic was light and instead of staffing the little tollbooth at the off ramp, they just had a young employee run down to collect money and open the bar for the odd car. The toll was actually $24. 🙂

It was then a very short drive to the Las Palmas Midway Inn, which Croft and at least a half dozen other people recommended highly.

I was quoted over $1,000 for a room and asked if they had a better price. I was offered another room for $864, with the only difference being that I’d be at the opposite end from the pool. Not a big deal! I was then led to my room by a man on a bicycle who showed me everything and gave me my key. The room is pretty basic, but nicer than other hotels I’ve stayed at in Mexico except for Durango. The bed is actually pretty comfy!

First order of business was to get my bathing suit out! I jumped into the freezing cold pool and enjoyed the dip immensely even though I didn’t stay in long. Despite wearing sunscreen, my left arm is pretty burnt from the drive today (should have listened to myself this morning and stuck to long sleeves), so the cold water felt nice.

Then, I went back to my room to start on this post before going to the attached restaurant for dinner. I had their pork chop special and that suited me just fine. Mexicans tend to prepare their meat the way I like it, well seasoned and well cooked. Some might have found these too stiff for their taste, but they were perfect for me. I just didn’t expect that much meat! I made it through half of my jalapeño. That’s a Victoria beer in front of my plate and some very bland salsa that I had with totopos. I teased the server that I got served the Gringo salsa and he understood what I meant, bless him. That’s why I have Tabasco sauce to the right of my plate and a jalapeño. LOL I have to get reaccustomed to eating spicy food, but the learning curve won’t be super steep since I did eat hot peppers often in the Balkans.

I added Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, and Nuevo León to my Mexico visited states map today, and also went through Tamaulipas!

The next three days are going to be long. I was going to go all the way to Córdoba tomorrow, but Google is telling me that’s a 10-hour drive (865KM) and I’ve got too much Mexico experience now to commit to that. I’m going to aim for Puebla (713KM, 8 hours).

That would leave me 628KM (8 hours) to Villahermosa on Thursday and 600KM (8 hours) to Chelem on Friday. I’m going to be wiped when I get there but, really, the budget can’t support more than two more hotel stays and, frankly, I’m ready to get there. This was never meant to be a tourism trip and I’m not on holidays.

Well, I think that’s everything. It was a full day! Yay for being back in Mexico!

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The Visa in My Passport Makes It Officially Official

It’s a bit of a complicated story, but I ended up getting a chauffeur for most of my day, which made going downtown to the Mexican consulate to pickup my passport very easy rather than something to have nightmares over. I settled my driver at Starbucks with a coffee while I walked up Peel to the consulate. I arrived around 9:15, gave them my receipt, and was told to have a seat. Less than five minutes later, the visa lady called me over and handed me my passport with this beautiful thing stuck to one of its pages (redacted, of course!):

She then wanted to give me a spiel on how things work from here on out, but when she started off by telling me that I had 180 days upon arriving in Mexico to do the “canje” (exchange to the residency card), which is incorrect, I knew I was better off just saying thank you, I can handle it from here. So I was in and out in less than ten minutes!

We then headed up to Laval for several hours so I could meet my uncle, for whom I do non-transcription work, as he had a big job he wants me to do and it was easier to show me everything in person, plus I got to see the company’s new offices. I also got treated to lunch, where I rediscovered insane North American portion sizes (glad I declined any sides with my burger that ended up having pulled pork and coleslaw on it!).

Coming home from where I’d dropped the car was “fun.” Traffic was already starting and even though I followed all the signs from the 20 to take the 30 ouest to do this route:

I somehow stayed on the 20 and ended up in Brossard having to take this route:

I’m not an idiot. That’s just typical terrible Quebec construction detour signage for you. Surprisingly, I only went 9KM out of my way and I wasn’t lost! Traffic was heavy in parts, but reasonably fluid, and people here are civilised enough to let you merge.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day of driving for me, but I feel confident now that I’ve got some mileage under me again. Busy, busy!