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dwellsouth

Jan 10, 2006, 7:01 PM

Post #1 of 11 (2919 views)

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Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Hi all,
I've been lurking for oh, over a year. I made the trip from south Louisiana to Puerto Morelos in summer 2004 with my 3 daughters...4400 miles roundtrip to be exact. We stayed in P.M. for a month and absolutely LOVED it! I'm hush-hush about the place so I can get my awesome accomo rates!
Tales of that awesome adventure would be a book...

I don't remember what the costs were to get that little sticker for my car and whatever else I had to pay for at the border. Does anyone have a current link to get that info? I bought my car insurance beforehand and I think it was about $125. I did notice that I could have gotten it at the border, but I was afraid I might not understand enough Spanish if there were problems, so I bought it before.

We're doing the trip again this June and this time we're going to stay in some coastal towns we only got to drive by before. Someone suggested going in through Loredo, but my sister lives in Houston and we'll head south from there. I also have close friends in Brownsville, so we may stop over a night there...

How about the latest conditions of the highways going mostly coastal routes?
I followed the goofiest maps...ones I made off yahoo and such hehe duh on me!

***Two good reasons not to drive at night in Mexico:
1. Only slow-arse truckers drive at night and can only get their trucks to go about 3 mph up those hills and have some STINKY exhaust!
2. While driving at night, you will not see that the road in front of you cracked and fell off the moutain side and there's nothing but a big metal pole sticking out of the hole! Ye ha!

We all LOVED our trip and can't wait to do it again! There's one little village we stayed at on our way home that looked like a little peninsula sticking out into the water (this was an accidental at night drive) and it was incredible! I just never caught the name of it! They were having a normal Saturday night of the whole village going to the grocery/cookery where they were making tacos and yummy stuff. We just grabbed the coolest looking teenager and had him translate and order for us.

Motor hotels are not so bad if they have hot water and they're cheap as you'll get. Yes, they supposedly serve another purpose, but all the ones we stayed at had families like us in them. We paid about $25-$40 per night in them and had a covered place to park our car for loading/unloading...nice. They were close to attractions too. The highest we paid I think was $40 in Campeche and it was a block from the beach. Not posh, but clean and big with hot water...all we Cajuns need. =o)

Thanks!
Dwellsouth aka Tara
PS. I think you can get to my yahoo photo album of this trip here http://photos.yahoo.com/dwellsouth 01-MEXICO-2004 Album
The photo of my daughter at one auto hotel was the first one we got to, where we learned exactly what to ask for, instead of asking for "hotel economical" and paying a taxi driver $2 to lead us there...ask specifically for HOT water!

Ed and Fran

Jan 11, 2006, 6:14 AM

Post #2 of 11 (2909 views)

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Re: [dwellsouth] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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How about the latest conditions of the highways going mostly coastal routes?

I can only answer to the roads from Brownsville to Veracruz, as I have not been further south recently. The coast road (Rt 180) is fine except for the usual stretch between Ozuluama and Tuxpan, where you'll find a lot of serious potholes and the same big dips that have been there for some time. They were working on this stretch when we drove through there a month or so ago, so it may be in slightly better shape.

Are you aware that there is a new short stretch of autopista that bypasses Poza Rica?

2. While driving at night, you will not see that the road in front of you cracked and fell off the moutain side and there's nothing but a big metal pole sticking out of the hole! Ye ha!

Ah yes, I see you've been through Cerro Azul (within that same stretch I mentioned above). The wash outs/slides on the east side (northbound) lane are still there.

There's one little village we stayed at on our way home that looked like a little peninsula sticking out into the water (this was an accidental at night drive) and it was incredible! I just never caught the name of it!

Bummer. Makes it hard to find again.

Enjoy your trip,

Ed & Fran

Bloviator

Jan 11, 2006, 7:01 AM

Post #3 of 11 (2907 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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The road from Vera Cruz onward is excellent as far as Playa del Carmen. We did not go beyond there, but returned to Tulum and then went inland through Coba and on to Merida. That road is quite primitive, but straight and with little traffic - of course there are ten million topes - three or so at every little village along the way.

From Merida back to Cordoba (bypassing Vera Cruz) also the road is excellent. Little storm damage anywhere as long as you stay on the driving surfaces. Again, straight roads with no large amount of traffic - that was during the Christmas season when traffic is supposed to be horrendous. As long as you have straight roads and light traffic, there is little problem, unless you are in a construction zone. There are some along the way, but I don't remember exactly where other than just out of Tulum for several miles on the way to Coba. Will check my notes and send you a private message.

Speaking of three mile per hour trucks, we were amazed, perhaps stunned would be a better word, that there were none when we went up the grade from Cordoba (this has nothing to do with you as you will not be on that road) through Orizaba toward Puebla, where the road rises from the plains along the Gulf, to 6,000 feet or more in about twenty-five miles. It's four lane all the way, so slow trucks would be only a minor problem if there had been any. Quite a few trucks, but all taking the steep grade at a good clip, except for the one that was broken down about half way up the grade.

The road from Campeche to Ciudad del Carmen runs right along the Gulf for miles and miles. It was almost without traffic and we could look out at the beautiful - totally flat calm - water of the gulf and at the beaches between it and the road. Nothing in Florida or can match that beach road, though it is something like 1A1 running from St. Augustine to the Carolina border, without the millions of houses. It is truly spectacular.

apucko

Jan 11, 2006, 12:45 PM

Post #4 of 11 (2896 views)

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Re: [dwellsouth] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Hola

Have a look at the site http://www.cancunassist.com/trip-florida-cancun.cfm road trip from Florida to Cancun "So what is it REALLY like to drive to Cancun? - by Scott Wilson.It should answer most questions.

DT

dwellsouth

Jan 11, 2006, 8:23 PM

Post #5 of 11 (2874 views)

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Re: Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Thanks for all the input!
On the way "down" it was monsooning like mad! Does it always rain cats and dogs in end of May/early June? It didn't let up for the 5 days we were driving! In fact, it rained for 7 days straight, 2 days more in Puerto Morelos.
I have a rag-top car and I was sort of hoping to feel the wind this time. Wishful thinking? This was probably why the trucks could only do 3mph up those hills at night.

I'm gonna see if I can figure out where that little village was. It was fantastic and so quaint. The beaches around there had small conche shells covering them.

On the way back driving along the Coast was awesome. No rain, all sunshine...awesome.

Okay, here's a good question. We went through a little town that had cement roads with green on both sides and these thousands of crabs running accross the road with their claws high in the air. Where's that? It seems like it ought to be famous for this.

Since I was driving, I barely had a chance to make notes of where we were. =o(

Thanks,
Tara

Veracruzana

Jan 12, 2006, 5:21 AM

Post #6 of 11 (2851 views)

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Re: [dwellsouth] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Dear dwellsouth,
My husband and I just crossed in December at Brownsville/ Matamoros. Be careful, you get over so quickly, you hardly know you are there. The building just to your right inside Mexico is where you want to go. Parking for us was just along the side street. Very helpful man at the door to guide you where you want to go. The coast of the car was $37.00 for the sticker you put by your rearview mirror. The Banjercito, auto insurance guy, copy machines, are all right there in the same building. Of course, by the time you have paid everything, its more than $37.00, but at least that answers that one question for you. Make sure when you are coming back to the US, that you go to the "Mexican side" building again to get the sticker removed and to turn in your Visas BEFORE you get to the US side or you have to recross and do it all over again. We came back across at Colombia. Not enough signage to show a first timer where and what to do, so naturally we went ahead and crossed to US, paid our 22 pesos at the cashier and went into US, only to find that we had missed the Mexican building and had to recross, get the sticker removed and turn in our Visas and then go across again. UGH! We followed Ed and Fran's advice on the Colombia Crossing. We wanted to avoid Nuevo Laredo with all the Christmas traffic going back north. There were 3 cars ahead of us and even with the mix up, it took us less than 30 minutes. And, you are right about the auto hotels. We stayed in 2 of them.....clean, embroidered sheets and towels, and lots of hot water. We paid $35 for one and $25 for another.
Have a great time.

Ed and Fran

Jan 12, 2006, 5:57 AM

Post #7 of 11 (2843 views)

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Re: [JoBelmont] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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We followed Ed and Fran's advice on the Colombia Crossing.

Glad it went well, but couldn't have been our advice on the Colombia Crossing, as we've never crossed there. We often give advice regarding the crossing at the Free Trade Bridge, which is between Brownsville and McAllen.

Best regards

E&F

Ed and Fran

Jan 12, 2006, 6:11 AM

Post #8 of 11 (2840 views)

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Re: [dwellsouth] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Does it always rain cats and dogs in end of May/early June?

Depends in part on what part of the coast you're asking about. Here in northern Veracruz that's not a particularly rainy period. In fact, last year we only had rain on 3 days between May 10th and June 10th.

Okay, here's a good question. We went through a little town that had cement roads with green on both sides and these thousands of crabs running accross the road with their claws high in the air. Where's that? It seems like it ought to be famous for this.

They are famous, ...... locally.

Two places come to mind, both in the state of Campeche. We lived on the Atasta peninsula, about 45 km west of Cd del Carmen. Just west of us, towards the border with Tabasco, was one stretch where they would migrate across the road in season. That's when that one claw grows really big and the main carapace grows into a very bulbous shape. We actually went crab gathering with the neighbors one night. Mmmmm, delicious, made into a local dish called 'chilmol'.

I've seen the same phenomenon on the other side of Cd del Carmen, on the stretch of road leading from Isla Aguada to Sabancuy.

We also get the same crabs around here. But since the roads here don't usually run right along the coast (and through the crabs back yard, so to speak) like they do down in Campeche, you don't usually see that migration across the roads. Also, around here the custom is to simply rip off the big claw and release the crab, on the belief that they will survive and grow another claw. Down in Campeche they utilized the entire crab.

Regards

E&F

(This post was edited by Ed and Fran on Jan 12, 2006, 6:16 AM)

dwellsouth

Jan 17, 2006, 9:41 AM

Post #9 of 11 (2752 views)

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Re: [JoBelmont] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Thanks, JoBelmont.

dwellsouth

Jan 17, 2006, 9:50 AM

Post #10 of 11 (2751 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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Thanks, E&F. I'm going to ask for chilmol when we're down there.

Quote
I've seen the same phenomenon on the other side of Cd del Carmen, on the stretch of road leading from Isla Aguada to Sabancuy.

This is likely where it was. My girls got a real kick out of this, while I was traumatized by having to run over them! =o)

Ed and Fran

Jan 17, 2006, 9:57 AM

Post #11 of 11 (2750 views)

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Re: [dwellsouth] Cost of Crossing the border at Brownsville

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I'm going to ask for chilmol when we're down there.

Never saw it in a restaurant, this was made by the neighbors with the cangrejos we had gathered. It's very similar to Chilpachole de Jaiba, which you can find in some restaurants along the coast.

Regards

E&F