Travelling in places where bling and a high profile are not wanted

[DiploStrat]

Arrgh!!

"Crossing a border is still an amazing experience - just a few hundred metres, and all the rules change!"

Funny thing is that, after more than 30 years, the border crossing is what holds us back. I'm not sure I still have the patience to put up with that agony any more! I don't mind a new country; it is just the pain of the border. And the odd roadblock.

 

[bat]

I have a few friends doing the surfing thing in baja and say it is great the crowds are all gone.

 

[michaelgroves]

Funny thing is that, after more than 30 years, the border crossing is what holds us back. I'm not sure I still have the patience to put up with that agony any more! I don't mind a new country; it is just the pain of the border. And the odd roadblock.

I'm with you on that! Considering they actually typically take less than a couple of hours for both sides, it's actually no biggie in the scheme of things, but I agree, it's painful. Our personal records are <1 minute within Euroland, and 3 days, Laos-Vietnam. In 1995, Zaire-C.A.R. took us 2 days. (I see you're in Bangui - oh joy! :bike_rider: )

Nigeria has our personal record for roadblocks - more than 60 in the first 100km! A mix of police, military, and "unofficial", all looking for spare money...

 

[NothingClever]

Let's try to formulate an educated answer without any prejudice.

There are more and more nice shinny trucks in Central America and South America. Some locals (and foreigners) have been doing very well in the last 10 years and everyone wants a nice SUV. Have any of you been to Panama city lately? It starting to ressemble Miami.

It's much more a question of attitude, interaction and drawing attention. I have travelled a lot and I have yet to see a bunch of "bandidos" by the side of the road just waiting to steal a nice 2002 4Runner.

Your truck is much more likely to dissappear if you stay somewhere for a while, start acting innappropriatly and get too much bad attention - just like here in the U.S. Things rarely happen just randomly. Furthermore, it's usually quite easy to spot the bad guys - just stay away.

You could also put it that way - would you rather have a good reliable truck that will get you to your destination, or break down along the way in the middle of nowhere? Which situation is more likely to put you in a bad position?

Of course if your goal is to go down to South America, don't put too much extra stuff on the truck - they are much more likely to dissappear in the container while it gets shipped than anywhere else.

Just don't look like you are an easy target - act like you know where you are going and what you are here for.

Just to put a perspective, Scott is going over there with a $120K truck.

Also, as I said several time before, speaking at least some Spanish is probably the best asset you can possess on such a journey - no matter what you are driving.

I hope you go.

+1....well said.

 

[NothingClever]

efuentes

I feel a bit sorry sometimes for people having such a bad image/impression a Mexico.
A few years ago I rode my motorcycle all over the country for the whole summer.

We went from Matamoros all the way down to Guatamala City through Chiapas (which had just reopened after V. Fox had taken power) and back up through Palenque and Veracruz.

All I have are positives souvenirs - great people, excellent food, awesome sceneries. Of course the border towns are always a bit dodgy and there were a couple of more "disturbing" situations but it would not be a true adventure without.

We feel in love with this country and I can't wait to go back.

+1 again with nearly an identical trip on a European bike.

One time I left my bike unattended while I went inside a bank in Orizaba. I was in the bank for quite some time, enough for an opportunist to start getting curious at least about the tank bag. Everybody, and I mean everybody, passed my bike without so much as batting an eye.

The bad reputation about Mexico is earned by the people of the border zone, the 5 miles north and south of the border that for the most part is a separate country in and of itself. Once down into the real Mexico, people are friendly, gracious, honest and hardworking, IME.

And as for the Estatales (state police) and the federal checkpoints, I always get the VIP treatment. If you're any type of a public servant that wears patches at work, take a handfull of patches and you'll be fine at the checkpoints.

I'm sure the fact that I speak fluent Spanish helps a bit, too .