are there areas that i should avoid on eastern side of mexico ?

Judging by our experience it is hit and miss, we came through Santa Maria del Oro the day of the shooting and hostage war between the Mayor and the Police!!, the Police took hostages :confused1::confused1:

To be fair we didn't know about it till last night, eyes and ears open and enjoy.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

We've traveled through Mexico many times. Our plan of action was always to get out of the border areas ASAP. To facilitate that you stay overnight in the US and cross into Mexico first thing and get as far south as you can and want to. We usually shot for a good 4-5 hours south of the border. Coming north we would stay 4-5 hours south of the border, get an early start the next day so we'd be stateside by sundown.

Typically the gangs are not out to do anything to tourists so you should be reasonably safe.

i am crossing at brownsville area heading south what should i shoot for as destination first nite any nice towns good food ??

Personally, I'm partial to the west side. I've done the east side only a couple of times and find it scenically less appealing than the west coast. On the plus side the transit time to Central America is much less.

Send me a PM, I live on the east side and have so for nearly two decades. I can send you a ride guide that will help you. Anyone who says the Pacific has better riding has probably never ventured off the coast highway.

between the two coastlines do not miss the beautiful towns of oaxaca,san cristobal de las casas y las ruinas de palenque.
take your time,mexico is quite beautiful,only the and rum are much better further down south central-america
for that they have a drink called tequila in mexico,not too bad either
salud y suerte
all the best geri

It is a bit futile to try to get away from the supposedly"deadly border zone " in hopes of getting to an alegedly paradisiacal village of peace and harmony.
Just about any town you may be able to ride to in a day from the border, or deep,deep into Mexico , will at some point in the past have had some sort of incident that was newsworthy, whether it was related to the narco wars or just ordinary criminality,or aboriginal disputes.
The important thing is to keep informed as to the events of very recent days involving the area you are aiming at.Watch the Mexican TV news when in your hotel, stay current and act rationally.
It is not very meaningful to know that three months or three days ago headless bodies might have been found at town X. When you get there the situation will have settled and returned to near normal.
So what if there are armed army patrols around town, that should only add to a sense of security .
Don , if you want to get out of the border zone ,that is fine but don't force yourself into an ironbutt day.Not worth it.I know of some gringo tourists who wound up riding tehir entire trip scared and in ironbutt mode trying to find the "safe" spots.
From Matamoros If you get to San Fernando, or Soto La Marina or Aldama or Cd Victoria at the farthest you will have done plenty riding for a day.Running for Tampico will just put you in that city by nightfall unless you ride way beyond the legal speed and not look at any of the scenery.
Remember Mexico roads ar marked off in km and you need to add in for the scenic slowdowns and esssential stops so 300km to 400km in a day is quite a bit.Doesn't sound like much but... .Really, it is

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