Mexico one more time

In the morning we took on another border crossing at Chetumal, this will be our second last border for the trip, kind of sad in a way really. The border is the usual process of Immigration and Aduana for both countries, luckily the Belize side was very organized and quick, the Mexico side is less of both. We have to laugh at the logic used when the layout of the crossing station. First navigate through the parking area manned by what appears to be blind attendants, then into the building to get the declaration form, then back outside to stand in line to get back into the same building in order to get your passport stamp. This of course is followed by going across the parking area to pay the visitor visa fee, and then back into the first building to deal with the importation of the bikes. Wow, Mexico again...here we go.


We were once again surprised by the differences in the countries, the poverty is much more prevalent but with that comes the ingenuity of the people to make a go of it. We once again see everyone from young children to seniors doing some sort of work or selling some sort of product in order to make a living. Making a living in Mexico takes on a different meaning than in Canada, in Mexico it is more like making enough to live another day while in Canada it is more like making enough now to live comfortably in retirement. I guess that is why have not been haggling on prices, if the first offer is reasonable we just pay it and be happy that we can afford to pay an extra dollar or two here and there, and really how can you negotiate down from $3 when the same product at home would be at least triple the price.

After a very long and straight highway across the Yucatan peninsula we found ourselves in Escarcega and the Gran Hotel for the night. The city is located in a good area for seeing ruins and some natural beauty like waterfalls and such. We will have to save those activities for another trip though.

This time we had a roast chicken dinner from a cocina and slow roasted sweet potato, yam, and banana w/cream from a vendor cart. We found the vegetable vendor when a car pulled over next to this cart type thing and ordered some food, we were standing on the sidewalk and seen the transaction so we asked the vendor what he was selling, were pleasantly surprised when we tried ours. Definitely something I am going to try at home.

As it took us three weeks to get through Mexico going South we figured that it should take about the same going North, of course the East side of Mexico is shorter but we would still have to cover from Brownsville Texas West to Phoenix, so in the morning we packed up and made more miles. Villa Hermosa was just too big to deal with so we drove through and stopped in Cardenas, one of the smaller centres just past, really more like a suburb of Hermosa if there is such a thing.

Keeping with a system the next night we stayed in Looma Bonita, where we met a friendly kid in clothing store. He asked us all types of questions in Spanglish and we did our best to answer. Bonita is a commerce centre for the agricultural area surrounding it. We had passed through field after field of pineapples, sugar cane, and oh yes more pineapples. Thus, in the city central park there is a large pineapple statue. We woke the next morning to a thick fog, practically raining. This worried us slightly as we knew we would be heading into the mountains in order to get to Oaxaca (Wa-hawk-a). We have heard nothing but good things about this place so we made the side trip to see for ourselves. Good decision.