Here is something I wrote to a friend about my first experience with the Mexican border on a motorcycle:

My first land crossing into Mexico, from the US, was in 1997. I had done a couple of airplane trips to Cancun and Cozumel, but that doesn't count. I was crossing at Mexicali, and I approached from the north through a US military range where jet fighters flew over at 500 feet frequently, that set the stage. As I got nearer to the border, I started to see things like Chevy Blazers with Lexan bubbles on top, with Border Patrol officers looking out with binoculars, and occasionally using parabolic dish microphones. As I got closer yet, I saw more Blazers, towing truck tires on their sides with a rope, on the East-West roads, to sweep the dirt, the better to track people crossing going north. I stopped at a convenience store to call back to work , to check on a project, since I didn't know how hard it would be to call from Mexico. As I talked on the outside phone, a border patrol car drove by, made a u turn and stopped on the shoulder opposite me. The driver got out, took a picture of me, and then walked across the road to get closer, and took another picture, all while I talked on the phone, then went back to the car without a word and drove away. I crossed in to Mexico and Mexicali traffic was insane. I was passing cars, cars were passing me, every intersection had busted glass and smashed car parts littering it. I thought I had just entered the bowels of hell.


Now having said that, I'm sure glad I didn't turn around and go back. I have since made 4 more trips to Mexico and Central America without any significant trouble. Borders are nasty. Endure them and get the hell away from them. I almost got beat up by some merchant sailors at the US-Canada border at Sault Ste. Marie, and that is supposed to be the easiest border in the world.

I have found that Latin Americans are completely capable of understanding the difference between the US governments actions and an individual citizen. The only people that have ever hassled my about my nationality are Europeans, and that is rare. Bad things happen everywhere, but if you use common sense, I believe you are as safe in Mexico as in the US. I can only speak from my experience, and if yours has been different, that's unfortunate, but I believe it is the exception.



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Andy Tiegs
http://www.tiegs.com

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america