Wow! Where do I
begin??? Do I start with the
roads? Do I start with the
gigantic speed bumps?? Do I start with the cool guy we met at the
border??? Do I start with the
border?? The food? The “towns”?? The tiredness??
The angel who eased our anxiety about the border?? There is a lot to
write.
To begin with I would like to describe the moment I knew we
were no longer in Kansas. It
actually took me by surprise. We
had crossed what I assumed was the US border since it was an obstacle
course. I mean literally, it
was an obstacle course. The one
narrow lane twisted and turned with gigantic concrete barriers, not to be
incomplete with large speed bumps and what looked, to me, to be upside-down metal
mixing bowls that you had to cautiously make your way over. In a car this wouldn’t be that big of a
deal, but on a motorcycle…it’s not so easy. Oh, and lets not forget armed guards. Just standing there.
So we get through this obstacle course and the guards just
nod us through and we thought “Wow.
That was easy.” But no,
there was still more to come. We
are funneled onto this 2 lane highway that is straight. I kept seeing signs that say 13
Kilometers. I had no idea what
they meant, but I guessed it had to do with another check point of some
sort. We obeyed the speed limit
and were being passed by semi’s.
As I think back on today I am completely overwhelmed that I
am having a hard time concentrating and writing all of this down.
13 kilometers later we come to another check point with a
sign that says “Tourist Permits” that were mandatory for US citizens. We pull up and what did we see? Well, I’ll tell you. We saw another motorcycle loaded down
with gear so I knew immediately that it was a fellow motorcycle traveler. I say traveler and not fellow rider,
because he was obviously traveling and planning on staying in the country for a
while and not just riding his bike to his friend’s house.
Speaking of friends…we made 2 new friends today. The first I will simply refer to her as
our border-crossing-anxiety-shattering-confidence-building-fellow
American. We were loading up to
take off and had our helmets on when she walked out of the hotel in Tucson,
Arizona and asked us a question. I
don’t remember the exact question but she initiated the conversation and we
chatted for about 10 minutes. We
found out she lived with her husband in Mexico and she couldn’t stop saying how
much she loved Mexico and the people and the town she lived in. We asked her about the border, what it
was like, how the roads were, safety, etc. She was an absolute angel in every sense of the word.
She has a farm in Northern California, and lives in
Mexico. She is an older woman, and
she told us that she used to ride motocross. In fact, she was one of the first females to ever compete in
the Baja 1000. Anyhow, I
digress. She told us that she travels
the road from Tucson, past Hermosillo, to her home on the coast,
regularly. She said that she has
no problem traveling it by herself, and feels quite safe. This tid-bit of information was
precisely what we needed to hear.
We had so many preconceived notions built up in our minds that we were
anxious about the day’s journey.
But, following our conversation with her, we traveled with peace of
mind.
Now, let’s be clear—there is a considerable difference
between peace of mind from a safety standpoint, and the inexplicable chaos that
is inherent at the US-Mexico border crossing. There is nothing
sane, nor efficient, about the procedures for entering this country.
After standing in one line to be issued piece of paper, we
then had to go to another line to purchase our visitor’s permits and vehicle
permits. Now, this is where things
get crazy (imagine an “org” chart that looks like a pile of spaghetti and you
might begin to visualize the ridiculousness).
First, “oh by the way”…
After spending an hour waiting in line to get our permits,
we found out we had to have both original
copies of our vehicle registration, as well as photocopies of ALL of our documents. But, that’s in another line! (Luckily there were two of us, and one could go and get the
copies while the other held our place in line!) But, for the privilege of getting these photocopies, you have to pay MEX$40
Next, the vehicle permit…
Each vehicle requires a deposit, price based on the year of
vehicle. For both bikes, the
deposit came to US$600. (That took
us down a few notches.) But, don’t
worry, we get it back when we leave.
Oh, but wait…they return it to us in Pesos, so we get stuck with paying the exchange rate.
Third, the visitor’s permit…
Now, this is pretty easy. You pay MEX$588 per person. But, that’s too easy.
You see, both motorcycles are in my name. But, LaNova is driving one. Now, her visitor’s permit has to match the name on the
registration. Why? Really? Why drag logic into this!? What you need to walk away with here is the understanding
that this predicament demands that you go to ANOTHER line where you can prove
marital ties to the owner of the vehicle.
Next, the marriage certificate…
It was by pure happenstance that we had scanned a copy of
our marriage license. That was NOT
something that we had been prepared for by any website. (Note to any future travelers to Mexico
who would be driving a vehicle not
owned under their name…) But, the
problem here is, we didn’t have a hardcopy. So, LaNova was able to sweet-talk her way into the good
graces of the attendant, who let us copy the marriage license over to the
attendant’s thumb-drive, who then made a physical copy.
Step Go-Back-To-Beginning…
After proving marital status, LaNova returned to the line
where she was able to finalize her visitor’s permit. (Not without plenty of scrutiny by the officials.) Oh, and did I mention that there was
only one attendant for the entire line?
It averaged 15 minutes per person…we were #6 and #7.
Final step…
Once the proper permits were requisitioned from the land of
the lost, we then returned to the first office where we were finally given the
almighty stamp of approval.
Phew!!!
During this entire process, we had the fantastic support of
our fellow rider. Although he had
finished processing before us, he stuck around to make sure we made it through. He waited so long, however, that we all
decided to ride to Magdelena de Kino.
Because the border took over 2 hours, we missed our window
to go to Hermosillo—our destination with a nice house and beds waiting for
us. So, the three of us road to
Magdelena.
It’s a quaint town.
It stands right on the way to Santa Ana, and has a well traveled
thoroughfare. But, navigating the
town in search of a place to stay took some doing. We rode over some slick cobblestones and pavement of every
texture, there were speed bumps from hell, and pedestrians and semi’s
and…well…you get the point.
Finally, we found a hotel. For a mere MEX$400, we found a sanctuary. The clerk let us park our bikes on the
grass right in front of our rooms, and we were none-too-happy.
Overall, it was a successful day. But, notice I chose the word ‘successful’ rather than
‘good’. We were successful because
we arrived safe. All of our
prayers were answered, we didn’t push ourselves, and we made solid
contacts. But, I must say that it
was a very taxing day. There was
so much anxiety, stress, and delay that by the time we got to our room, we were
done. We still love each other, we
are still happy, and we are still glad to be embarking on this journey. But, we’re also very glad to be done
for the day!
***
Magdelena de Kino is a very old town. There is a church, with a gorgeous
plaza, that is dated 1711. Located
in the plaza is an enclosed structure that entombs an excavated skeleton, with
placards and photos narrating the plaza’s long history. Vendors dot the perimeter of the plaza,
and a gorgeous (yet empty) fountain adorns the center.
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| Happy we're at the border. |
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| Annoyed that the guy at the counter cut in front of us! |
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| 3 bikes because we met a fellow traveler. |
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| Look at that smile...the food was soo good. |
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| Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico town square...free wi-fi. |
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| Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico town square built in 1711. |
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| Riding on slippery cobblestone is hard! |
1 comment:
Glad you made it safely and were able to relax.
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