Driving into and around Mexico

[Raven1998]

Okay so Ive done some thread reading about people traveling through Mexico on foot, rail or hitching. But what I am interested in is driving ( particularly my school bus) down into Mexico and then some. I have never been to Mexico but people who will be with me have and some of us speak Spanish and have family and friends down there. My questions are about how much attention a bus filled with freaks from the here will attract, from police or otherwise, what zones to avoid driving through, if driving itself is not the best. For the most part Ive heard that its fairly safe and that most hell trip stories you here are trumped up a bit. The bus still looks like a yellow bus with spanglish text on the outside and is fairly incognito as well.

 

[sucuri]

The Policía Federal will probably give you a hard time. There were LOADS of checkpoints last time I was there. Military too. Better have all your papers in order and even then they might ask you for money. Hitchin is easy cause you don't have to have any papers except your passport but a vehicle is hmmm...more complicated.

 

[Matt Derrick]

I've heard that the Baja peninsula is much easier for hitching, and I'd guess the same holds true for driving.

 

[Corinne]

i'm also planning on driving to mexico(in a few months) and i've done alot of research on it. from my calculations it looks like its gonna cost around 500 bucks just to legally drive around mexico. not including gas. at the checkpoints they just ask you to open your trunk and side door. but dont carry a knife or transport vegetables

 

[Kim Chee]

The roads can be very narrow. I hope you can drive that bus like a bauss.

 

[creature]

you might want to stay on the east / gulf side..
i understand there's a lot less cartel activity & more civility over there than central & south.

in Nuevo Laredo, just south of Laredo, TX, the police presence is astounding..
this includes state & federal, driving around by the fucking hundreds in armored vehicles with automatic weapons mounted..

i don't know what they're dealing with, or where, because the don't give a *snail fuck* about automobiles or buses, so you definitely do *not* want to drive where they need to go.. there are plenty of highways in MX that will see you stopped & robbed by bandits.

there was a bus that went down to peru in 2005, i think..
https://myspace.com/supermagicbus2peru

if any of that crew is still around, they may be able to fill you in way better than i..

i'd advise the yucatan / Belize.. had some friends do that some years ago, & even though the folks that busted into their car were 'nice' by taking out the smallest window they could, all their shit was stolen..

that can happen anywhere.. & remember, you take a gun into MX & you'll very possibly be looking at 5 to 10 years or more in a fucking MX jail..

there's not a lot you can do in the way of deterrent..
& yeah, even just over the fucking border, there seemed to be pressure from one sargent..
don't know if he was just going stir crazy or what, but he would show up on our fucking doorstep, asking for help with things...
i dunno if he was asking us to buy the stuff for him that he needed help with, but it seemed a little weird to me..

anyways.. unless you speak pretty good spanish & have a vehicle *registered* in MX, i wouldn't drive..
the american plates, texas, AZ or otherwise, will give you away...

i used an ATM to just check my fucking balance, at a goddamend fucking *walmart*, just over the border, & my fucking card was tagged..
some fucker took out 1000 pesos in the transaction.. 127 fucking dollars..
i did not *want* to use the fucking ATM, but had to.. just a balance check, & some fucker skimmed me..

if shit can be done that clean, that close to the border, you'll need hella luck, further south..

i'm trying to learn some spanish, now..
it might be safer on a motorcycle, or the gulf, but i don't know if you can try & drive a schoolbus like a tank across the borders, down there...

good luck if you do, & let me know, because fuck, despite my fucking negativity, i may try & join you...

good luck!!

jn

 

[happythoughts123]

you might want to stay on the east / gulf side..
i understand there's a lot less cartel activity & more civility over there than central & south.

in Nuevo Laredo, just south of Laredo, TX, the police presence is astounding..
this includes state & federal, driving around by the fucking hundreds in armored vehicles with automatic weapons mounted..

i don't know what they're dealing with, or where, because the don't give a *snail fuck* about automobiles or buses, so you definitely do *not* want to drive where they need to go.. there are plenty of highways in MX that will see you stopped & robbed by bandits.

there was a bus that went down to peru in 2005, i think..
https://myspace.com/supermagicbus2peru

if any of that crew is still around, they may be able to fill you in way better than i..

i'd advise the yucatan / Belize.. had some friends do that some years ago, & even though the folks that busted into their car were 'nice' by taking out the smallest window they could, all their shit was stolen..

that can happen anywhere.. & remember, you take a gun into MX & you'll very possibly be looking at 5 to 10 years or more in a fucking MX jail..

there's not a lot you can do in the way of deterrent..
& yeah, even just over the fucking border, there seemed to be pressure from one sargent..
don't know if he was just going stir crazy or what, but he would show up on our fucking doorstep, asking for help with things...
i dunno if he was asking us to buy the stuff for him that he needed help with, but it seemed a little weird to me..

anyways.. unless you speak pretty good spanish & have a vehicle *registered* in MX, i wouldn't drive..
the american plates, texas, AZ or otherwise, will give you away...

i used an ATM to just check my fucking balance, at a goddamend fucking *walmart*, just over the border, & my fucking card was tagged..
some fucker took out 1000 pesos in the transaction.. 127 fucking dollars..
i did not *want* to use the fucking ATM, but had to.. just a balance check, & some fucker skimmed me..

if shit can be done that clean, that close to the border, you'll need hella luck, further south..

i'm trying to learn some spanish, now..
it might be safer on a motorcycle, or the gulf, but i don't know if you can try & drive a schoolbus like a tank across the borders, down there...

good luck if you do, & let me know, because fuck, despite my fucking negativity, i may try & join you...

good luck!!

jn

Wow that's dead wrong. East and gulf sides are where MOST cartel activity is.

 

[Ezra Fyre]

Wow that's dead wrong. East and gulf sides are where MOST cartel activity is.

4yrs, wall talks, new president, etc - Later.... (2014 post) ....