Mexico Road Trippin'

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I am seriously wanting to load up the Cummins TD & take a long road trip that will encompass most of Mexico, possibly later this year. I enjoy (for the most part) the experience of being in a totally different world with little American influence and there is so much to see down there. It can be an adventure (though not always in a good way)



My idea is to spend about 2 full weeks exploring anywhere between the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, south of Guadalajara to as far as the Guatemala border.



There are some terrific colonial towns, extensive Myan and Aztecan ruin sites, excellent museums in Mexico City, and splendid scenery in Central-SE Mexico with the mountains, oceans, beaches, etc. Not to mention the Senoritas, Mujeres, tequila. . lalala! LOL



I spent 6 weeks in Chiapas (next to Guatemala border) back in 1987 and travelled around to a number of places and really enjoyed it. The highlight of the trip was driving to Guatemala City. There was some incredible scenery on that drive.



I am posting this because I wanted to see if anyone has recently travelled at least as far as Mexico City in the last few years and if you could give some feedback as to how it was. When I was there I felt safe and never had any problems travelling all over Chiapas. I know the roads are really bad in places but I expect that and that it'll be slow going. It took 8 hours to drive 220 miles from the Mexico border to Guatemala City. . . and that was driving Vaughn MacKenzie style



If anyone is planning a trip down there or know someone or a TDR group who is, let me know



I know keimmo lives near Mexico City. . . I'll drop you an email if you see this.



Thanks,

Vaughn

 

[illflem]

Vaughn, I drove my '95 down to Costa Rica when it was new, no problems whatsoever. From what I understand new laws have been passed in Mexico that make crimes against tourists muy malo and apparently it's working. Mexico knows where their bucks come from and is doing it's best to protect it. I drove down the Baja and ferried across at La Paz, didn't cost much and eliminated a lot of boring scenery in northern Mexico.

 

[baby.driver]

That ferry

Bill the last time we tried the ferry they wanted $433 for the p-up and our 21' 5th wheel. If the price has gone down since then I would like to know. And that was straight across from Topolobambo to Los Mochis.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Thanks for the info Bill

 

[illflem]

The La Paz - Mazatlán ferry cost me $45 USD each way in '95, no trailer though. Trip took 19 hours. Of course as with anything this may have changed.



One cheap investment I made for the trip was a paint strainer to put over the diesel fill nozzle to prefilter out the big stuff. Stored it in a glass screw top jar. Most times the fuel was clean but once I picked up at least a quarter cup of rust flakes in a fill-up. That one time made it well worth the hassle.

 

[shoveljunk]

I went to Mexico in Feb 2001. I went to visit family I had not seen for many years. I had a great time. Diesel is available at almost all stations (99%). I never got a bad load of full but the price has gone higher than US prices. 1. 80/gal or so. I had a small crash with a bull on the hi way in chiapas. The deductible for the Mexican insurance(1000 US dollars) so read the fine print. I bought mine through AAA. I think it was Seguros Nasional provensial; Or something like that. There was a lot of road construction going on and the road are getting better. Not many pot hole but rough non the less. My uncles met my mom and I at Brownsville TX So I don't have a clue on what it would be like to travel with out an escort. I know that the road signs can be vague at time. And yes they still have many many TOPEZ (speed bumps). All in all I had a great time and will return on first opportunity. the Mexican population was great! The strainer is a great idea.