Although technically, Mexico is in North America, I posted
this here because most posts regarding Mexico seem to be
placed here rather than on the North American board.
I have recently returned from spending two weeks in Mexico.
This trip focussed on visiting some of the old colonial
cities. I took an old model Suzuki Samurai [late '80's] on
the trip and had a great time seeing many parts of northern
and central Mexico. Didn't make it down to Oaxaca or
Chiapas...next time.
Crossed through Laredo and took the carretera libre
[4-lanes] and bypassed Monterrey entirely. Headed down
through San Luis Potosi [dry and incredibly dusty during
May...my recommendation is "avoid it" during April-June] and
then drove to Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. BOTH
Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are highly worth
visiting. The best thing about these cities is the
architecture and the narrow streets where you can walk and
look in the windows of stores actually built to the scale of
a real person [rather than a giant]. If you go to these
cities, you should take some time to walk all around and
look at the details of architecture. San Miguel's streets
are laid out in a grid while "a drunk cow" laid out
Guanojuato's streets.
The fun thing about *driving* in Guanajuato is that I wound
up driving in the Subterranea not exactly intentionally!!!!
What is the Subterranea? It is an amazing system of
underground streets [one thoroughfare and some small
branches] that were built, many years ago, under the city.
It's one way. The traffic that goes the other way travels
above ground. You just sort of come into town and if you
drive long enough, you'll wind up in the Subterranea!!!! The
Subterranea is a mild adventure...they don't exactly grow
roses down there and the traffic goes about 10 mph, but you
haven't lived until you've tunnelled!
From Guanajuato I drove westward to Patzcuaro in Michoacan.
Patzcuaro is neat. Some of the buildings in the old town
square were built in the mid 1500's. It's a small town with
a lot of souvenir shops. If you're there on a weekday,
you'll avoid the crowds from Mexico City and have the place
almost to yourself.
From Patzcuaro, I went to Uruapan, also in Michoacan. This
is a pleasant city in the middle of an avocado-growing
region. A large number of the people of Uruapan have worked
in the United States so it's sort of a "little United
States." The climate is great [like California] and lodging
at the Hotel Alaska on the outskirts of town was pleasant
and affordable. Not exactly an architectural highlight, but
it's a pleasant place to just kick back and relax.
From Uruapan I drove a circuitous route designed to *avoid*
Mexico City. I had several reasons for this. The first is
that I was by myself [safety] and the second is that my
family has a history of respiratory problems and I needed to
avoid the horrible pollution in Mexico City. Also, didn't
really care to put up with the traffic.
The next interesting destination that I had was Taxco. The
best thing to do in Taxco is to park the car at a hotel and
walk around, as the streets are extremely narrow and more
crowded, with less parking than those of Guanajuato.
Bring a little $cheese$ to Taxco - it's the center of the
silver smithing industry in Mexico. My short visit was lots
of fun.
From Taxco, I drove down to Puebla [didn't stop except for
gas - large cities aren't my thing] and from Puebla took the
toll road down to Veracruz. I highly recommend this drive
for anyone who enjoys viewing natural transitions [ecotones]
because you go from a relatively dry highland to the
rainiest area in Mexico within a couple of hours as you
drive down the eastern slope of the Eastern Sierra.
The only questionable thing that I observed in Mexico
happened on this autopista [toll highway]. There was a guy
lying smack in the middle of the right lane of the highway!
Fortunately, I saw him in time and got in the other lane. He
was in his early 20's, pretty big, and wasn't visibly
injured or anything. He had two buddies close by. I asked
a local if this was the way that people commit suicide, and
he said, no, that this is a scam. The guy and his buddies
were waiting for some "good samaritan" to stop and "render
assistance" to the guy who was lying down in the middle of
the highway. Then they would all gang up and rob the "good
samaritan." My source said that this scam is common on the
autopistas that surround Mexico City. So...car travelers,
be careful of this scam. I did a lot of my traveling on the
free highways and never saw anything of the sort. I think
this scam mainly happens on the autopistas.
Got into Veracruz after an overnight stay shortly before
Veracruz and spent a very enjoyable two days looking around
the city. There are loads of internet cafes in Veracruz,
and access runs 10 pesos per hour [approximately $1.20].
There are also lots of pretty tropical plants and the
weather is HOT!
From Veracruz, I drove back home on the eastern coastal
route [start out on highway 180]. The 150 miles or so north
of Veracruz are the prettiest. There are a couple great
beaches in this area, but I'm not going to tell you exactly
where, because they're so secluded. They're Gulf beaches,
so the waves aren't too high but at least they're bigger
than on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Then you pass through citrus-growing country, some
agricultural land, some pasture, and then there are some
very pretty fields of sorghum in Tamaulipas, right before
you come to the U.S. border crossing at Matamoros. This
area used to grow cotton, but there were too many pest
problems, and so sorghum is grown instead. The red heads of
the sorghum make for very picturesque fields.
By the way, some knowledge of Spanish helps a lot in
obtaining luxuries such as food, gas and hotel rooms.
All in all, had a great time, and can't wait to go
"traveling" again.
[There are 3 posts - the latest was added on Wed 12 May, 13:50]
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Wish for it and it appears! I was looking for some current
news on driving in Mexico and you really delivered. Thanks
for taking the time to post. We are planning to drive to
Costa Rica from the Western US leaving the end of June.
Aside from the 'laying in the middle of the road scam', did
you have any other problems where you felt like a target?
My wife is worried we are going to be attacked, robbed,
murdered, and I am looking for current facts on this issue.
We are actually planning just to drive more or less
straight thru observing the standard precautions, (don't
drive at night, use guarded hotel parking lots). My
tentative route is El Paso-Chihuahua-Zacatecas-San Luis
Potosi-Cuernavaca-Oaxaca-Tapachula. This is just the
quickest route according to my route planner but I have
also been told that minimizing your mileage on Mexican
highways by entering at Brownsville is the easiest way to
go. I would be happy to avoid all cities, especially Mexico
City, if possible. We do have a friend to visit in
Cuernavaca which we would not skip.
Thanks for any comments.
Regards,
Albert
You rave about Guanajuato's, Patzcuaro's and San Miguel de
Allende's colonial architecture yet you deliberately
bypassed Puebla, easily of Mexico's colonial gems?!
Albert -
Thanks for the nice note!
Entering Mexico at Brownsville or Laredo does save some gas
money, but what you save may be consumed by the difference
in motel prices between the U.S. and Mexico.
Your proposed route sounds like a good one! Make sure to
bring $$$$ for the autopista tolls, as you will be on
autopistas a good bit of the way. Avoiding Mexico City will
do a lot to cut down on wasted time, hassle, pollution, as
well as make the trip more safe.
Other than the situation with the guy lying down on the
highway, I didn't have any other incidents where I felt as
if I was threatened. My behavior [primarily avoiding big
cities and also stopping at hotels before dark] minimized
the "situations" factor. In some of the smaller towns,
there are decent hotels available where your vehicle should
be relatively safe, despite the fact that they may not have
locked parking if they are located in a small town. Around
the larger cities, however, some of the motels just outside
of town may actually be "motel no-tell" sorts of places
[they often have neon lights] so you may want to avoid
those. The "familiar" [family] hotels are more in-town.
Knowing Spanish helps, and this is especially important for
women who are traveling.
By the way, my impression was that northern Mexico is a
little safer than the central part. So, "ojo" from
Cuernavaca onward.
Driving from Laredo to San Luis Potosi is about 1 1/2 [long]
days, and then you should plan on at least another day down
to Cuernavaca. Then, a day and a half or two days to Oaxaca
and I dunno how long down to Tapachula 'cuz I didn't go
there...but it sounds fun, and will see it "next time ;-)"
Mauricio - I didn't stop in Puebla because I'm not very much
of a "city person." I prefer towns and small cities.
Puebla is quite large - over 2 million, and there were signs
around about, "be sure to lock your car doors," meaning that
parts of the area I was driving through had a crime problem.