Posts
Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well in your respective locations and that the weather is still not too bad. Of course it's always sunny in Chapala so no complaints on that front. However we're not quite in Chapala yet as of this number 3 episode but the time line is getting shorter.Last time I wrote we were staying in a really pretty hotel in Guyamis but only lingered for one night. The next day we were off to Mazatlan not sure if we would be able to make it in one day. The trips are advertised as taking a certain length of time but invariably seem to take longer. This leg or the journey was particularly expensive on the "quota" highways and we're not sure why. The roads were not particularly better than the ones we had already been on but "es muy misterioso". On the highways they have signs which we don't have, two that I especially like: "Do not mistreat the signs", which conjures visions of going up to the signs and verbally and or physically abusing them" and another one "Do not leave rocks on the road". Again this one seems to indicate that you would somehow deliberately load your car or truck with rocks and then purposely leave them there. By the way most of the signs were not mistreated and there were no rocks on the road so I guess the messaging is working.Highway driving may be O.K. but driving in towns is another matter altogether. To slow down traffic at pedestrian crossings and in the towns there are "TOPES" and "ViIBRADORS". Topes are protrusions of varying heights across the length of the road and they can be really hard to see. If you hit them at a good speed it can really cause some damage. I am constantly on the lock out for topes. Vibradors are smaller but once again if you hit them at a good clip it can give you quite the jolt. Yes you do vibrate but not in a good way. HahaWe did get to Mazatlan in one piece. The weather was unbelievably hot and humid. It felt like 45 degrees out there and I'm not exaggerating.We checked out The Belmar an old, labyrinthine like hotel which has certainly seen better days. Nissa knows it. Somehow it didn't look much better the second time around so we went to check out The Siesta next door. I did a little bargaining and we got a beautiful room with view of the ocean and central air...yeh. We spent a lovely 4 days there. The ocean was so warm that it was barely refreshing but lovely nevertheless for our first ocean swim.We went to the cheap "commedores" at the central market. Commedores are like cheap luncheonettes and where Mexicans mostly eat. Breakfast was 20 pesos each with Nescafe coffee. A good deal but don't be too hung up on cleanliness if you want to eat there, luckily we're not and still no tourista so that's a good sign.That's it for now. Next installment will find us leaving and arriving in Chapala. Lots of love,Josiane, Maman, TatieHola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well in your respective locations and that the weather is still not too bad. Of course it's always sunny in Chapala so no complaints on that front. However we're not quite in Chapala yet as of this number 3 episode but the time line is getting shorter.Last time I wrote we were staying in a really pretty hotel in Guyamis but only lingered for one night. The next day we were off to Mazatlan not sure if we would be able to make it in one day. The trips are advertised as taking a certain length of time but invariably seem to take longer. This leg or the journey was particularly expensive on the "quota" highways and we're not sure why. The roads were not particularly better than the ones we had already been on but "es muy misterioso". On the highways they have signs which we don't have, two that I especially like: "Do not mistreat the signs", which conjures visions of going up to the signs and verbally and or physically abusing them" and another one "Do not leave rocks on the road". Again this one seems to indicate that you would somehow deliberately load your car or truck with rocks and then purposely leave them there. By the way most of the signs were not mistreated and there were no rocks on the road so I guess the messaging is working.Highway driving may be O.K. but driving in towns is another matter altogether. To slow down traffic at pedestrian crossings and in the towns there are "TOPES" and "ViIBRADORS". Topes are protrusions of varying heights across the length of the road and they can be really hard to see. If you hit them at a good speed it can really cause some damage. I am constantly on the lock out for topes. Vibradors are smaller but once again if you hit them at a good clip it can give you quite the jolt. Yes you do vibrate but not in a good way. HahaWe did get to Mazatlan in one piece. The weather was unbelievably hot and humid. It felt like 45 degrees out there and I'm not exaggerating.We checked out The Belmar an old, labyrinthine like hotel which has certainly seen better days. Nissa knows it. Somehow it didn't look much better the second time around so we went to check out The Siesta next door. I did a little bargaining and we got a beautiful room with view of the ocean and central air...yeh. We spent a lovely 4 days there. The ocean was so warm that it was barely refreshing but lovely nevertheless for our first ocean swim.We went to the cheap "commedores" at the central market. Commedores are like cheap luncheonettes and where Mexicans mostly eat. Breakfast was 20 pesos each with Nescafe coffee. A good deal but don't be too hung up on cleanliness if you want to eat there, luckily we're not and still no tourista so that's a good sign.That's it for now. Next installment will find us leaving and arriving in Chapala.
Josiane
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Hola
:I hope that I got everybody on my list. I seem to be having a little trouble organizing the emails of people who might be interested in reading of our travels under one list. I was going to do a travel blog but somehow this is easier and I'm not on my own computer. I had been writing a lot of "dispatches" in my head but was finding it hard to actually make them happen. I was in the throes of some existential inertia if one can be in the throes of something basically inert. The use of "dispatches" is done in jest since Mexico or at least the area where we are is not a war zone although things are happening elsewhere but more on that later.We left B.C. with beautiful, sunny weather and that has remained constant throughout. Both Oregon and Washington State were experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and we only had to wear our coats early in the morning and late at night for about two days. Getting to Mexico was not a problem. The roads we took, toll free were beautifully well maintained and often devoid of any "mechanical" life. Entire stretches with nothing but us and the highway not a single car in sight, either coming or going so much so that it got a little creepy at times. We did a stretch in Washington, then crossed into Oregon, a bit of Nevada then California and finished with Arizona. Most of what we crossed was thinly populated except when approaching big cities or valleys where most of the population appears to be concentrated. There are countless little towns in California with populations of 500 max. with one store and one gas station or the two combined. The tracts of land for farming are huge. Surprisingly we didn't see that many signs in reference to the presidential elections but when we did see some McCain always beat out Obama. That rural urban divide is the same one that we're experiencing in British Colombia. It's hard to fathom the American electoral process. Their ballot is gigantic and that's not an exaggeration. Senate, Congress, Councilors, Mayors, Governors, individual state propositions, it's all in there. How could they possibly know who and what to vote for unless they really keep up to date with their reading it's almost impossible. Obama won yesterday so we can all heave a sigh of relief, let's hope it's change that we can see but enough about Politics. In California we dipped our toes in the Salton Sea which is really a big salty lake, pretty cool. There's a movie with Val Kilmer called The Salton Sea. It's very run down as a travel destination, many people who live there, live way off the grid, in grubby little trailers rusty with salt. We crossed parts of the Mojave and Sonora deserts. The Mojave has cool cactus like trees called Joshua trees. The name Joshua was given to the trees (really Yucca plant) by Mormon settlers in the 19th. Century because it reminded them of a Biblical story featuring Joshua with hands held high. This little bit of trivia comes courtesy of Google, not because I'm a fount of encyclopedic knowledge although I suspected the biblical origin but then who wouldn't???After 3 days we arrived in Nogales, Arizona. There are two Nogales, one is in Arizona and the other is in Mexico. Both are sad, little towns but one is sadder than the other, care to guess which one? Nogales, Arizona has a lot of plump Mexicans living there already, they are leaner on the other side. We crossed the border the next day and it was an interesting experience. We arrived at the Mexican border crossing and halted, it's what you usually do at a border crossing right?? Wrong. The guard roused himself from his slumber and proceeded to ask US what WE WANTED, a little mystified we told him we wanted to show our passports but he waved us on uninterested. Apparently the real border crossing was to happen a few kilometres down the road - 26 kilometres to be exact.That was our first introduction to driving in Mexico and I will end it here for now.Hasta Luego amgos,Josiane - Maman, Tatie
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today.
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today.
Win a trip with your 3 best buddies. Enter today. Hola:I hope that I got everybody on my list. I seem to be having a little trouble organizing the emails of people who might be interested in reading of our travels under one list. I was going to do a travel blog but somehow this is easier and I'm not on my own computer. I had been writing a lot of "dispatches" in my head but was finding it hard to actually make them happen. I was in the throes of some existential inertia if one can be in the throes of something basically inert. The use of "dispatches" is done in jest since Mexico or at least the area where we are is not a war zone although things are happening elsewhere but more on that later.We left B.C. with beautiful, sunny weather and that has remained constant throughout. Both Oregon and Washington State were experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and we only had to wear our coats early in the morning and late at night for about two days. Getting to Mexico was not a problem. The roads we took, toll free were beautifully well maintained and often devoid of any "mechanical" life. Entire stretches with nothing but us and the highway not a single car in sight, either coming or going so much so that it got a little creepy at times. We did a stretch in Washington, then crossed into Oregon, a bit of Nevada then California and finished with Arizona. Most of what we crossed was thinly populated except when approaching big cities or valleys where most of the population appears to be concentrated. There are countless little towns in California with populations of 500 max. with one store and one gas station or the two combined. The tracts of land for farming are huge. Surprisingly we didn't see that many signs in reference to the presidential elections but when we did see some McCain always beat out Obama. That rural urban divide is the same one that we're experiencing in British Colombia. It's hard to fathom the American electoral process. Their ballot is gigantic and that's not an exaggeration. Senate, Congress, Councilors, Mayors, Governors, individual state propositions, it's all in there. How could they possibly know who and what to vote for unless they really keep up to date with their reading it's almost impossible. Obama won yesterday so we can all heave a sigh of relief, let's hope it's change that we can see but enough about Politics. In California we dipped our toes in the Salton Sea which is really a big salty lake, pretty cool. There's a movie with Val Kilmer called The Salton Sea. It's very run down as a travel destination, many people who live there, live way off the grid, in grubby little trailers rusty with salt. We crossed parts of the Mojave and Sonora deserts. The Mojave has cool cactus like trees called Joshua trees. The name Joshua was given to the trees (really Yucca plant) by Mormon settlers in the 19th. Century because it reminded them of a Biblical story featuring Joshua with hands held high. This little bit of trivia comes courtesy of Google, not because I'm a fount of encyclopedic knowledge although I suspected the biblical origin but then who wouldn't???After 3 days we arrived in Nogales, Arizona. There are two Nogales, one is in Arizona and the other is in Mexico. Both are sad, little towns but one is sadder than the other, care to guess which one? Nogales, Arizona has a lot of plump Mexicans living there already, they are leaner on the other side. We crossed the border the next day and it was an interesting experience. We arrived at the Mexican border crossing and halted, it's what you usually do at a border crossing right?? Wrong. The guard roused himself from his slumber and proceeded to ask US what WE WANTED, a little mystified we told him we wanted to show our passports but he waved us on uninterested. Apparently the real border crossing was to happen a few kilometres down the road - 26 kilometres to be exact.That was our first introduction to driving in Mexico and I will end it here for now.Hasta Luego amigos,
Josiane -
:I hope that I got everybody on my list. I seem to be having a little trouble organizing the emails of people who might be interested in reading of our travels under one list. I was going to do a travel blog but somehow this is easier and I'm not on my own computer. I had been writing a lot of "dispatches" in my head but was finding it hard to actually make them happen. I was in the throes of some existential inertia if one can be in the throes of something basically inert. The use of "dispatches" is done in jest since Mexico or at least the area where we are is not a war zone although things are happening elsewhere but more on that later.We left B.C. with beautiful, sunny weather and that has remained constant throughout. Both Oregon and Washington State were experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and we only had to wear our coats early in the morning and late at night for about two days. Getting to Mexico was not a problem. The roads we took, toll free were beautifully well maintained and often devoid of any "mechanical" life. Entire stretches with nothing but us and the highway not a single car in sight, either coming or going so much so that it got a little creepy at times. We did a stretch in Washington, then crossed into Oregon, a bit of Nevada then California and finished with Arizona. Most of what we crossed was thinly populated except when approaching big cities or valleys where most of the population appears to be concentrated. There are countless little towns in California with populations of 500 max. with one store and one gas station or the two combined. The tracts of land for farming are huge. Surprisingly we didn't see that many signs in reference to the presidential elections but when we did see some McCain always beat out Obama. That rural urban divide is the same one that we're experiencing in British Colombia. It's hard to fathom the American electoral process. Their ballot is gigantic and that's not an exaggeration. Senate, Congress, Councilors, Mayors, Governors, individual state propositions, it's all in there. How could they possibly know who and what to vote for unless they really keep up to date with their reading it's almost impossible. Obama won yesterday so we can all heave a sigh of relief, let's hope it's change that we can see but enough about Politics. In California we dipped our toes in the Salton Sea which is really a big salty lake, pretty cool. There's a movie with Val Kilmer called The Salton Sea. It's very run down as a travel destination, many people who live there, live way off the grid, in grubby little trailers rusty with salt. We crossed parts of the Mojave and Sonora deserts. The Mojave has cool cactus like trees called Joshua trees. The name Joshua was given to the trees (really Yucca plant) by Mormon settlers in the 19th. Century because it reminded them of a Biblical story featuring Joshua with hands held high. This little bit of trivia comes courtesy of Google, not because I'm a fount of encyclopedic knowledge although I suspected the biblical origin but then who wouldn't???After 3 days we arrived in Nogales, Arizona. There are two Nogales, one is in Arizona and the other is in Mexico. Both are sad, little towns but one is sadder than the other, care to guess which one? Nogales, Arizona has a lot of plump Mexicans living there already, they are leaner on the other side. We crossed the border the next day and it was an interesting experience. We arrived at the Mexican border crossing and halted, it's what you usually do at a border crossing right?? Wrong. The guard roused himself from his slumber and proceeded to ask US what WE WANTED, a little mystified we told him we wanted to show our passports but he waved us on uninterested. Apparently the real border crossing was to happen a few kilometres down the road - 26 kilometres to be exact.That was our first introduction to driving in Mexico and I will end it here for now.Hasta Luego amgos,Josiane - Maman, Tatie
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today.
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today.
Win a trip with your 3 best buddies. Enter today. Hola:I hope that I got everybody on my list. I seem to be having a little trouble organizing the emails of people who might be interested in reading of our travels under one list. I was going to do a travel blog but somehow this is easier and I'm not on my own computer. I had been writing a lot of "dispatches" in my head but was finding it hard to actually make them happen. I was in the throes of some existential inertia if one can be in the throes of something basically inert. The use of "dispatches" is done in jest since Mexico or at least the area where we are is not a war zone although things are happening elsewhere but more on that later.We left B.C. with beautiful, sunny weather and that has remained constant throughout. Both Oregon and Washington State were experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures and we only had to wear our coats early in the morning and late at night for about two days. Getting to Mexico was not a problem. The roads we took, toll free were beautifully well maintained and often devoid of any "mechanical" life. Entire stretches with nothing but us and the highway not a single car in sight, either coming or going so much so that it got a little creepy at times. We did a stretch in Washington, then crossed into Oregon, a bit of Nevada then California and finished with Arizona. Most of what we crossed was thinly populated except when approaching big cities or valleys where most of the population appears to be concentrated. There are countless little towns in California with populations of 500 max. with one store and one gas station or the two combined. The tracts of land for farming are huge. Surprisingly we didn't see that many signs in reference to the presidential elections but when we did see some McCain always beat out Obama. That rural urban divide is the same one that we're experiencing in British Colombia. It's hard to fathom the American electoral process. Their ballot is gigantic and that's not an exaggeration. Senate, Congress, Councilors, Mayors, Governors, individual state propositions, it's all in there. How could they possibly know who and what to vote for unless they really keep up to date with their reading it's almost impossible. Obama won yesterday so we can all heave a sigh of relief, let's hope it's change that we can see but enough about Politics. In California we dipped our toes in the Salton Sea which is really a big salty lake, pretty cool. There's a movie with Val Kilmer called The Salton Sea. It's very run down as a travel destination, many people who live there, live way off the grid, in grubby little trailers rusty with salt. We crossed parts of the Mojave and Sonora deserts. The Mojave has cool cactus like trees called Joshua trees. The name Joshua was given to the trees (really Yucca plant) by Mormon settlers in the 19th. Century because it reminded them of a Biblical story featuring Joshua with hands held high. This little bit of trivia comes courtesy of Google, not because I'm a fount of encyclopedic knowledge although I suspected the biblical origin but then who wouldn't???After 3 days we arrived in Nogales, Arizona. There are two Nogales, one is in Arizona and the other is in Mexico. Both are sad, little towns but one is sadder than the other, care to guess which one? Nogales, Arizona has a lot of plump Mexicans living there already, they are leaner on the other side. We crossed the border the next day and it was an interesting experience. We arrived at the Mexican border crossing and halted, it's what you usually do at a border crossing right?? Wrong. The guard roused himself from his slumber and proceeded to ask US what WE WANTED, a little mystified we told him we wanted to show our passports but he waved us on uninterested. Apparently the real border crossing was to happen a few kilometres down the road - 26 kilometres to be exact.That was our first introduction to driving in Mexico and I will end it here for now.Hasta Luego amigos,
Josiane -
Hola Everybody:
Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
From: j_ochman@hotmail.comTo: bajagarth50@yahoo.ca; nissa_ochman@hotmail.com; nrisso@shaw.ca; a_sentieri@hotmail.com; mcowie@summer.com; amartin@summer.com; laurence.sentieri@gmail.com; mscharer@shaw.ca; jannacourtes@hotmail.com; msimpson@shaw.ca; pbutters@summer.comSubject: Mexico no. 2Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:26:13 -0800
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Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well. This is the second installment of our little odyssey, I'm slightly behind but I will catch up with where we are at some point. When I left off we were crossing at the "fake" Nogales crossing and heading for the real one. It did turn out to be a few kilometres away and somewhat innocuous looking but this time it was the real enchilada. We got our automatic 6 month stay so that wasn't a problem. The car was more of a concern although not a real serious one. It turns out that Mexicans really want to make sure that you exit in the car you came in, they don't want you selling it in Mexico, not sure why all the red tape when they don't seem to concern about some other stuff but each country is different. I relayed all the required information to a young lady who entered it all in the computer. It then appeared necessary to have copies of our registration and my driver's license in triplicate. Fortunately there was a very handy photocopying place on the premise, no problem with the organization there. I tried to return to the same window which was no occupied with someone else and was beckoned to go to another window. I had to go through the same thing again in terms of relaying the information which was then duly entered once more. I wanted to say "hey the other lady already filled all that in" but realized there was no point and so defeated by bureaucracy, not for the last time, I submitted. You have to put a little sticker on your car which verifies that you went through all the proper protocol. They didn't care about the Mexican insurance. Apparently very few Mexican drivers bother with that little formality which is why they routinely flee when accidents do occur and they are to blame. Don't quote me on that but other more reputable sources than I have said that that is indeed more often than not the case.When driving in Mexico you usually have two choices, free or paying. The paying system or "quota" as it's called in Spanish is very arbitrary. You can pay a small amount like $2.00 and go for a long distance or you can pay $10.00 and go for a short distance. We haven't quite figured it out yet and probably never will.One thing we did notice is that in some states you pay less money. For instance the least expensive was in the State of Sonora. Sonora is also the name of a huge desert, not particularly appealing which starts in Arizona and continues into Mexico. Those of few familiar with the works of Carlos Castaneda will recognize the name and the importance of that desert. Pretty or not it contains many magical plants which I personally have never tried.I have to say that the desert does get prettier, greener on the Mexican side.Since the highways are pretty expensive they are virtually free of traffic except for trucks and the odd vehicle. Sometimes there are no gas stations for hundreds of kilometres so you have to make sure to always fill up when you hit the halfway mark. All the gas stations are Pemex and price is never advertised since it's the same everywhere. Pemex is state owned. You never pump your own gas. There are always attendants, usually male, although at one gas station the attendants were all female. That station also had a couple of armed guards and I'm not sure if it was the location or the attendants. Anyways they seemed to be having a great time joking with the girls.Directions to Hermosillo were pretty good and we finally ended our journey in Guyamas, population 120.000. We did get lost in downtown Guyamas and it was pretty frustrating for Stan who was tired and suffering from a cold. All that driving didn't help. We doubled back and found a beautiful, very old, stately hotel with huge grounds and a pool. It's not the busy season so they had a special on. It was right on the ocean and quite pretty with gorgeous flowers everywhere. This is long enough. I will end it for now and start again later on our way to Mazatlan.P.S. Stan wanted me to mention that we saw train loads and I mean train loads, hundreds of them carrying cargo from China in huge containers. This was in California and Arizona. They all arrive in huge container ships in Long Beach, California. By the way tomorrow is the grand opening of a Walmart in Chapala, at the top of the hill. Everybody is very excited about it. It's going to be madness at that intersection tomorrow. We won't be there that's for sure.Hasta Luego,Josiane
Monday, May 25, 2009
Blog organization- South America and Mexico
I'm waiting to publish the travel writing I have done this far. It won't be in order because I might be getting the emails in a random fashion but I will try and organize them eventually in a way that makes sense. The focus will be on two trips. One through parts of South America and the second one driving from British Columbia, Canada to Mexico. Hopefully it will soon get done fairly shortly and those of you who are interested in these two destinations will be able to access my blog.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Almost ready to go
Yes we're still here in Summerland but as of this time next week we will be in Mexico. We have finally decided on the route we are going to take. We won't be going through Nevada and Las Vegas but going through Oregon and California instead. The scenery will be more spectacular. We will be very close to Yosemite and although this is more a quick drive through than a leisurely drive I know we will have to time to stop and do a little sightseeing. We have to be in Mexico, Lake Chapala to be exact on November 1st. I've rented a cute little apartment for the first two weeks. From there we will be able to take our time, explore and figure out which village around the lake we would like to make a more permanent address. Hopefully we will love it there and will want to stay at least 3 months. I know there are a lot of expatriates, particularly in the town of Ajijic so we may want to avoid that particular destination but who knows we may end up loving it there apparently it's very beautiful. It will truly be a voyage of discovery but then that's the thing about traveling it should always be about discovery.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Still here in Summerland
I don't want this to turn into an online diary. We are looking forward to our trip to Mexico. It will be our first road trip so it should yield a lot of observations. We will be going through the U.S. and haven't traveled there by road for at least 15 years or more. I want to see some of the toxic changes wrought by 8 years of Republican rule and W. We will be crossing at Nogales and then working our way towards Lake Chapala. I'm a little worried about going through Culiacan where the narcotrafficantes have been very much at work. Headless corpses have been turning up on the streets on a fairly regular basis. It's a struggle for turf but innocent bystanders have been caught in the crossfire. Lately this fight for control appears to have spread elsewhere in Mexico. In the heavily touristy area of Cancun a dozen headless corpses recently made a very impromptu appearance. The trend seems to be catching. Across Mexico kidnappings are significantly up. While foreigners are not the target, at least not yet, it's still far from reassuring. Near Lake Chapala 3 Mexicans were recently kidnapped and two were killed. There was some drug connection, the details are sketchy but this happened in the small town of San Juan Cossala which is a little town close to the main town of Lake Chapala. In any case it should make for a very interesting journey. I'm starting to get itchy feet.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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