Day two and three - Driving to Honduras
We left Wharton about 6 this morning, and headed to Brownsville a couple hundred miles away.
The roads were all good, and the scenery was all the same - FLAT.
Arriving in Brownsville we went straight to Sanborns - a car insurance company that specializes in Americans taking trips into Mexico. Tim had already purchased insurance from them by telephone, so all we had to do was to pick up the hard copy of his policy and his receipts.
While we were there we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of going into Mexico this afternoon or waiting till early in the morning. The two ladies that worked there said early in the morning would be no problem with lines, and it would very easy. So we decided to take the afternoon off, go shopping for odds and ends that we had thought of driving out, and to get a hotel room.
We found a room at Motel 6 for $42.00 double, so we dropped our bags there and headed for Wal-Mart. Later we had our farewell American dinner at Red Lobster! Delicious.
So, Friday morning, after a great night's sleep, we were up and out at 5 am. We had breakfast at "What A burger", and headed for the border, arriving there a little before six.
Just as the ladies had said, there was no one ahead of us. Hot Dog - we thought - we'll be outta here in a flash.
We went to the immigration office and got our Mexican Visas and then looked around for the automobile registration office. It was closed! Didn't open till 8 o'clock.!!! Now we were stuck. We couldn't get out of Mexican customs without a vehicle permit, and if we tried to return to US we would possibly have to have all our stuff inspected, plus there is always a long, long line of cars waiting at the US border.
So - it was time to practice "travel patience"!! Just smile, pull out a book, magazine, or Sudoku and enjoy the experience. We did, and before we knew it - we had our permit for the car, and a clearance from customs concerning our cargo. Personal effects are not taxed, but all tools or the like are. Tim had to pay a little tax.
And then we were finally off to Mexico. Had a good drive and about 12:30 we pulled over at a little hole in the wall restaurant that had a grill fired up outside, actually the entire place was "outside", and the chicken looked good. We each got a chicken plate which consisted of soup, chicken, rice, tortilla chips and tortillas, and a large piece of sausage, plus a coke and 2 bottles of water. Total bill was 72 pesos which I think is less that $4.00. A good meal. Tim had ordered his water as we were leaving and didn't open it for a while. When he did go to open it, he saw that it had already been opened, but sold as new! I had already opened mine and had not paid any attention to the cap! I need to get back to "cautious" mode.
After that it was a nice drive into Tampico. Tampico is the only town I have ever had trouble with the police in, and today, the police lived up to my opinion of them!
We were in two lanes of traffic when the police pulled up beside us and waved for us to pull over. We did and a policeman came up and asked for insurance papers and Tim's license. Strange to be asking for insurance papers. But we had them - so no problem. Then he said we did not have a permit to drive in Tampico. All we had was permit to enter Mexico. So - me with my horrible Spanish, and my continuing comment, "I do not understand", the policeman said 'follow him'. He said that in English. We followed and what we did was just get off the main road! Uh oh! I thought.... Now, another policeman came, and he was talking about what we needed to pay. I asked - "how much?" - and he said some ridiculous amount like 3 thousand pesos. $230.00!!!
Then in my best Spanish, I started saying we were not paying anything, yada , yada yada. Finally, the policeman gave Tim his papers back and told us to be sure to drive slowly and carefully in Tampico!! We said, "Yes sir" - and he left, and our legs were still a little shaky when we got to our hotel in Tampico!!!
We're staying at the Hotel Monte Carlo. It is an old traditional hotel... lotsa Class. It's fun.
All for now - may add some to this blog tomorrow - but have ta see.
So long for now from Tampico - in Mexico.
Johnny and Tim
The roads were all good, and the scenery was all the same - FLAT.
Arriving in Brownsville we went straight to Sanborns - a car insurance company that specializes in Americans taking trips into Mexico. Tim had already purchased insurance from them by telephone, so all we had to do was to pick up the hard copy of his policy and his receipts.
While we were there we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of going into Mexico this afternoon or waiting till early in the morning. The two ladies that worked there said early in the morning would be no problem with lines, and it would very easy. So we decided to take the afternoon off, go shopping for odds and ends that we had thought of driving out, and to get a hotel room.
We found a room at Motel 6 for $42.00 double, so we dropped our bags there and headed for Wal-Mart. Later we had our farewell American dinner at Red Lobster! Delicious.
So, Friday morning, after a great night's sleep, we were up and out at 5 am. We had breakfast at "What A burger", and headed for the border, arriving there a little before six.
Just as the ladies had said, there was no one ahead of us. Hot Dog - we thought - we'll be outta here in a flash.
We went to the immigration office and got our Mexican Visas and then looked around for the automobile registration office. It was closed! Didn't open till 8 o'clock.!!! Now we were stuck. We couldn't get out of Mexican customs without a vehicle permit, and if we tried to return to US we would possibly have to have all our stuff inspected, plus there is always a long, long line of cars waiting at the US border.
So - it was time to practice "travel patience"!! Just smile, pull out a book, magazine, or Sudoku and enjoy the experience. We did, and before we knew it - we had our permit for the car, and a clearance from customs concerning our cargo. Personal effects are not taxed, but all tools or the like are. Tim had to pay a little tax.
And then we were finally off to Mexico. Had a good drive and about 12:30 we pulled over at a little hole in the wall restaurant that had a grill fired up outside, actually the entire place was "outside", and the chicken looked good. We each got a chicken plate which consisted of soup, chicken, rice, tortilla chips and tortillas, and a large piece of sausage, plus a coke and 2 bottles of water. Total bill was 72 pesos which I think is less that $4.00. A good meal. Tim had ordered his water as we were leaving and didn't open it for a while. When he did go to open it, he saw that it had already been opened, but sold as new! I had already opened mine and had not paid any attention to the cap! I need to get back to "cautious" mode.
After that it was a nice drive into Tampico. Tampico is the only town I have ever had trouble with the police in, and today, the police lived up to my opinion of them!
We were in two lanes of traffic when the police pulled up beside us and waved for us to pull over. We did and a policeman came up and asked for insurance papers and Tim's license. Strange to be asking for insurance papers. But we had them - so no problem. Then he said we did not have a permit to drive in Tampico. All we had was permit to enter Mexico. So - me with my horrible Spanish, and my continuing comment, "I do not understand", the policeman said 'follow him'. He said that in English. We followed and what we did was just get off the main road! Uh oh! I thought.... Now, another policeman came, and he was talking about what we needed to pay. I asked - "how much?" - and he said some ridiculous amount like 3 thousand pesos. $230.00!!!
Then in my best Spanish, I started saying we were not paying anything, yada , yada yada. Finally, the policeman gave Tim his papers back and told us to be sure to drive slowly and carefully in Tampico!! We said, "Yes sir" - and he left, and our legs were still a little shaky when we got to our hotel in Tampico!!!
We're staying at the Hotel Monte Carlo. It is an old traditional hotel... lotsa Class. It's fun.
All for now - may add some to this blog tomorrow - but have ta see.
So long for now from Tampico - in Mexico.
Johnny and Tim
posted by Johnny at
7:42 PM
1 Comments:
$230!! that was a tough stand. But that police man needs to realize the higher the amount the tougher the payer gets. As many times as you've gone through that, does it get any easier? or do the guns make it like the first time all over again?
I guess Tim feels like he got your services at a good price.
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