simplygib

+1

So true. I met a couple riding from Vancouver B.C. to Ushuaia who said the same thing. I was riding with them when people here in the U.S. would warn them about the gangs in Mexico. They later told me that they were warned all the way down to Argentina about the "next" country which was supposedly very dangerous. The worst that happened to them was encountering a couple of flashers - one a man, the other a woman. ha ha.

I heard similar warnings myself in Central America. Friends told me I was going to end up being chased through Mexican jungles by cartels with assault rifles. Locals in Mexico warned me about Belize, Belezians warned me about Guatemala, and on and on. I guess I should have listened to the warnings about Guatemala. We encountered two rogue 5-year-olds armed to the teeth with rocks. Luckily, their aim was a bit off.

That said, I am with axolotl. There are some parts of Mexico I'd avoid for the time being.

axolotl

While I agree with your broader point, I think you'll find that most Mexicans think much of their own country is unsafe, and most Guatemalans would probably say their own country is unsafe, too. Most of the tourism to Veracruz was other Mexicans. When dead bodies started getting dumped in the roads in Veracruz, Mexican tourism to Veracruz virtually stopped.

axolotl

I experienced a new security measure while taking a first class bus within Morelos state last month. Morelos has had its share of narco violence. After all of the passengers boarded the bus (our hand luggage was searched before boarding), a guy came on the bus with a video camera and took video images of each passenger's face.

Erick L

Canada has no neighbors other than the USA. That's why we seem so friendly.

Booger1

I live in SoCal,if I want a taste of Mexico,I just leave the house.....

Pacific Blvd,Huntington Park= Revolution Ave.,Tijuana...The only difference is they don't have horses painted like zebras and every kid isn't selling Chiclets....They sell crack instead.

All joking aside,once you get away from the border or the big cities,Mexico is a nice place with friendly people.I've never riddin a bicycle in Mexico proper,only in Baja and it was fun and cheap.

It has been many years for me since I've been down there,so I really don't know for sure what it's like nowdays.Right at this moment in time,I wouldn't go there unless I had to,but that's just me,I don't heal so fast anymore.

simplygib

And that is such an incredible shame. Veracruz is an amazing state. I was down there in the late 90's on a river rafting trip and the entire thing was absolutely magical. It truly pains me to think of the violence happening there now.

kstephens

I spent about a month hiking and meandering through Mexico in the late 90's and I loved it! I would not be comfortable there at all now. Some of the places I stayed near were not the nicest then, and it seems like it has gone downhill quickly since.

Cyclesafe

Is the glass half empty or half full?

One can't discount the travel advisories or the warnings of residents of both sides of the border, just as one cannot dismiss the positive experiences of those who've been there before. You have a high probability of running into trouble (pick your%). But you have a higher probability of being OK (1.00 - your%).

What do you have to lose versus what do you have to gain? If nobody depends on you for their own livelihood or future, then it's more your own decision. If you have run out of other (safer) stuff to do, the decision is easier as well.

dengidog

+1 to the comments of ChrisPringle.

Mexico has had its share of increased violence due to the narcos and bad economy, but I have yet to see armed thugs walking the streets and attacking little old ladies like some seem to think happens here every day.

Just as I wouldn't dream of biking in certain parts of New York City, there are border towns I'd avoid. The biggest danger you're likely to find is from cars. Most of the Mexican drivers that have passed me are actually quiet courteous. If possible, they make a point of moving over and giving me room. Yes, some are jerks, but it's usually just getting up in my ear and then honking to make some unknown point. The real danger has been with the local buses. Those drivers will not back down for anything.

You do have to be careful about your possessions. It's not so much that your bike may be an expensive brand, but just that it's an easy target for some quick cash. Just be cautious, don't flash cash and you'll be fine.

If you give the country a chance, you're going to find some of the most generous and giving people you'll ever meet...and the scenery is breathtaking. Now if I could just conquer those damned mountains.

zoltani

Thanks everyone for your contributions. My wife and I would really like to tour mexico one day, baja and/or the mainland, and this information is very helpful.

Maybe for now we will set our sights on baja?

clayton c

I'd go. I do not care if they cut my head off or not. Just don't steal my bike and leave me on foot and penniless.

wiiiim

my 1st rule (there are not many ;-)): either camp far away from a big city or stay right in the center, city outskirts is where most of the **** happens
or avoid big cities completely, usually the smaller the villages (and the less they are accustomed to tourism) the nicer the people
yes, I would like to tour Mexico

Lake_Tom

U.S. updates travel warning for Mexico
Feb 11 2012

The State Department advised Americans this week to defer “non-essential travel” to vast stretches of Mexico, warning that 14 of the country’s 31 states are so dangerous that visitors should avoid them if at all possible. For four other states, it counseled caution or extreme caution.
Read more

Mexico home to five of world's 10 deadliest cities
Jan 15 2012

A Honduras metropolis, San Pedro Sula, topped the list with 159 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, Mexico's Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice said. Read more

And hundreds more: https://mexicovacationawareness.com/news.html

rodar y rodar

Haha! I don`t want my head cut off. If they did that to me, I swear I`d never go back!

While I`ve done a lot of bus travelling around Mexicao, I`ve always been so put off by the idea of packing and flying a bike that I`ve never attempted to go anywhere I couldn`t either ride directly or drive and park. I recently bought a Bike Friday and started saving pennies for my first "away" tour, which will probably be in the coastal ranges in Jalisco and Nayarit. Hope to come home with both my bike and my head.

Dubzo

I'm trying to keep an open mind, all the way up to the border. If I feel the situation has deteriorated enough, I'll change course. I guess I'd either put myself on a flight to somewhere beyond the northern border "hot spots," or head for the eastern U.S. My whole idea is to keep this trip open-ended and without any definite destination or time frame, as much as possible.
For now, I still think I'll cross into Sonora via Nogales, AZ. (I had originally planned to explore the Baja Peninsula, but decided against that as I don't relish the idea of dealing with hordes of quad bikes, RVs, etc. My understanding is that Baja is jammed with them in Spring.)
Thanks for the good input I've gotten here.

Chris Pringle

If you read the many blogs out there, once you pass San Felipe traffic really dies down. Many cyclists indicate seeing sporadic traffic all the way to La Paz. Besides, by the time you plan on crossing the border (late April/early May), most of the snowbirds RVing and four-quadding in Baja will have come back home. On the other hand, the I-15 south of Nogales is the main thoroughfare connecting the northwestern part of Mexico with the rest of the country. I've driven that road many times and traffic is fast and heavy with commercial trucks. Traffic will be much lighter on the Baja peninsula hands down.

Cyclebum

This page from a crazyguy journalist, agonizing over where to enter Mexico. Very enlightening. He flew to Veracruz. Anarchy in Northern Mexico.

axolotl

I don't know about that guy. He plans on biking to the southern tip of South America. Has anyone told him about crime in Honduras? Overall, it's a lot more dangerous than Mexico these days.

Cyclebum

Guatemala's temp is rising too according to long NPR report today.

MassiveD

My feeling is that a lot of it has to do with what you are looking for. If you want to do some nice bike touring, probably not a good idea. If you want to do adventure travel, third world exploration, expand your horizons etc... Then it may be a good thing. Climbing the Eiger north face is dangerous, being a war correspondent is dangerous. Depends on whether you want to see a lot of snow and mountain views, or a lot of dead bodies and kid's with bits blown off. Even comparing some backcountry hiking long trails, to cycling would probably give you markedly different degrees of potential for human interaction and confrontation on roads, vs, say meeting up with a bear. Once you know what you are dealing with, you can make an informed choice.

The stupidest thing is to base it on is stuff you heard from first person accounts online. If you could get info on how often people in various parts of mexico googled the number for a police station, you might get an idea of how much rich people trust the police. That is online info that might be valid. But in his book The Face of Battle, the author reports that major battles during world history, often have the enemy collapse at about the point when deaths run above 20%. Some of his numbers have been questioned, but it is as good as anything else, I guess. So even in the worst battles in history, about 80 of the participants will survive. So if Mexico was a total war zone like the battle of the bulge. You would expect the dead people not to report, and 80% to survive anyway. I doubt people who have the worst experience of their lives post as often here as they did before they left.

tmac100

Yadda...

On a similar but slightly different note a friend from my HS days berated me from travelling in 3rd world countries because of the poor hygene and poor water quality. I reminded her (she is a nurse of 40+ experience) that it was in Canada that I got an anti-biotic resistant bacterial infection whereby I almost lost body parts. In Canada!! Similarly, the guys at the Mayo clinic didn't know what to do with another medical issue... OTOH, an orthopedic surgeon (originally trained in Paraguay) broke the orthopedic textbook when (with my agreement) he tried a technique he used with leppers in Paraguay. The rest is history.. The procedure worked.

When I had a smashed knee cap and ankle bone (distal end of the fibula) in India, the surgeons in Calcutta solved the problem with an operation. I DID NOT have a superbug infection (like I had in Canada).

Enough said!

Take your risks as they come. No matter what you do, you WILL die - that is guaranteed. Just make the most of the time you have - like taking a trip to Mexico while being appropriately cautious..

Frankly, I say these comments in all seriousness. I am one of the most cautious (BUT NOT ANAL) folks on this planet, have done some incredible trips but have also been hit with bad stuff. Forget the Neichzche saying "About that which does not kill me..." I rest my case.

Do what you will, and GOOD LUCK on your adventure...

Losligato

I am sure he is a very nice guy, but one guy deciding to fly over Northern Mexico rather than cycle through it does not prove anarchy in Northern Mexico.

Every Saturday I ride with a group within spitting distance of the border. We are frequently joined by another group who crosses from Tijuana. If you were to listen to news reports you would believe that these guys riding their $5-7,000 road bikes would be chopped into little pieces and dissolved in bins of acid the moment they cross back to TJ. But there they are week after week, kicking our butts.

If you look for reasons NOT to do something you will always find it.

marps

Marpsinmexico.blogspot.com is my blog, and I thought I'd just share some advice from my experience. I had an amazing time touring Mexico, and almost everyone I met was extremely inviting and kind. The views were incredible, and the food to die for. There is reason to be concerned with traveling in Mexico right now, but there are also precautions that you can take. I think one of the most important things that you can do is to pay close attention to the overall reaction of the people to your tour. Through the central parts of the country I found the fear that people expressed to be much like what everyone on this thread is talking about, having an unfounded fear of your neighbors and what you don't know. As I got farther into the northern parts of San Luis Potosi and into Zacatecas, I noticed that the general attitude was an actual fear of the people they were living with. I had a conversation the day that I was abducted with a woman in a convenience store who was shocked that I wasn't afraid of being taken off the side of the road and killed. It's easy to brush things off if you're feeling excited about what you're doing and if you have a goal to meet.
In general I'd say that there are a lot of places in Mexico that are safe to tour, and that it's a beautiful and amazing place. And I also think that there are a lot of real risks and real dangers that are more prevalent than in other countries.

Cyclebum

I had a conversation the day that I was abducted...

Say what? Here's the link. Scroll down to the blow-by-blow.

Man, you oughta be suffering from PTSD.

MassiveD

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...5&source=embed

Mapped narco killngs 2010. Border doesn't look as bad as some other places