4/23/2022 - Soto la Marina, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Country

FORGIVE ME FOR THE SIDEWAYS IMAGES, I am still sorting out this website.

After receiving our final documentation needed to enter Mexico, we crossed over the bridge into Reynosa. It is uncomfortably easy to enter Mexico without anyone knowing. We rode 15 miles south of the border before we realized that we had not yet seen a single immigration building, and had not even had our passports stamped. We were basically in Mexico illegally at this point. We needed to find “Banjercito”, the only outfit that issues Temporary Vehicle Import Permits, which are needed for driving a personal vehicle a certain distance from the border. So, after a 15 minute or so back-track, we found Banjercito and the immigration office.

I went in first to purchase my permit while Mike waited outside with the bikes. After a little back-and-forth, I had my permit in-hand and made my way out to Mike to tell him where to go to complete everything. The agents inside were super helpful, and walked us through the entire process.

While I was waiting for Mike, I heard several whistle blows followed by a team of Federales armed with full-auto rifles and tactical gear. Moments later, several up-armored vehicles appeared and fell into formation. Nothing exciting happened after this, so I assume I had merely witnessed some sort of drill. It’s probably better that way than a real-life response situation.

Once Mikes stepped out, we were on our way. I should add that the area was easy to navigate. If we had followed the GPS we would have had to wait in an hour to reach Banjercito, behind a long line of trucks heading north full of cargo. Instead, we exited to the East, made a U-turn on the freeway (behind a school bus), and were now right on track to Banjercito.

We stopped for gas and food and met a local motorcycle club, who helped us translate with the gas station attendant. For some reason, the exchange rate at the full-service fuel station was different than what we found online. No problem though, perhaps a service charge. We made a straight line for the town we planned to stop in for the night, Soto la Marina. The entire route was the windiest traffic we had ever driven in. We were close to the Gulf, so we assume the wind was rolling in off the ocean. We were getting blown every direction while coordinating with vehicles overtaking us. It is the craziest system. They use the same center line system as in the USA, with dotted lines to let you know where you can and cannot pass. But there is also a dotted white line and a wide shoulder. Everybody rides with this dotted line down the center of their car, one side of the car on the shoulder, and one side in the lane. It makes for easy passing, but strange nonetheless. We reached a military checkpoint about an hour out of Soto la Marina, and after telling the soldier where we were going, and not being able to answer any of his other questions, he asked “Ingles?”, to which we replied “yes” and he waved us on, having lost all interest in questioning us further. Nice guy.

After arriving in Soto la Marina, we moved into our hotel, performed some post-ride inspections of the bikes, and then got some food. 7USD for 4 tacos and 2 sopas, can’t beat that. While eating, the restaurant owners adorable 4-month old chihuahua (Sonny) was tearing around on the floor. Of course, Mike and I being dog lovers, we had to pet and hold it. This dog was nothing short of awesome, very entertaining to watch. I will have to try and convince my wife to let me buy a chihuahua pup in the future.

Also at the hotel, we met a couple from Canada. The husband was a German national, who had been living just across the border from the US in Ontario, VERY close to home for both Mike and I. It’s great meeting people along the way while traveling. We shared stories of our various trips and determined that the United States was the most difficult and stubborn border to cross in all our experiences, go figure.

After we finished our food we came back to the hotel and watched John Wick in Spanish.