Mexico to Panama City Via Nuevo Laredo or Matamoros
 

To Mexico
 

Riding north, I crossed into Texas at Brownsville.
Heading south, I advise a detour to visit the Sierra Gorda. Fabulous riding, very few foreigners. Good people. There is stuff on my BLOG including a good hotel.
Have fun, be courteous, ride with care...:thumbup1:

Did you want to go down into Baja (your crossing at Tijuana) and take the ferry across, or stay on the eastern side of the Sea of Cortez, or further to the east coast along the Gulf of Mexico?

I would not recommend Tijuana--way too big and complicated. There are dozens of smaller border crossings east of San Diego, unless you wanted to catch some sun and surf in SD. Even still, if you really wanted to go to San Diego, you would more likely want to head on the US side eastward to a smaller crossing, such as Tecate, or even Mexicali, once you do your San Diego visit. If you do head this way, let me know--I'm in Yuma, AZ.

To Mexico
 

Dear Cartagenabound,

I have taken both Pacific, Gulf and central plateau routes heading south to central America. It can be quite chilly in Feb. heading across New Mexico/Arizona in the depths of winter. It can also be chilly on the Mexican central plateau in the mornings. Checking the internet weather, I see it is 45 degrees in Mexico City as I write this in the early morning. As you are coming from Atlanta, I can see your interest in southern Texas and gulf coast Mexico route. I have been through Laredo/Nueve Laredo heading south on 85 to Monterrey, Ciudad Victoria, heading over to Tampico, Tuxpan, Veracruz on 180 before cutting across the ithsmus of Tehuantepec. The road stays in the lower elevations along the gulf coast plains pretty much all the way. Evenso, it was in the 40's in the morning in the far north. I like to ride in the early morning before everybody gets up. Traffic is sparse from sunrise to 9 or 10 am in rural Mexico. It warms up in the daytime and quickly you are south and it is in the 70s and 80s and you are wondering why the hell you brought a heated vest. (Until you get to the mountains of Guatemala in the early morning).
The gulf coast route has no tourists to speak of. I didn't see a gringo until I got to Veracruz. Most tourists head to the colonial cities in the mountains or the Pacific coast beaches. And with good reason. The Mexican gulf coast is flat and less dramatic than the Mexican Pacific coast. Evenso it is a quick route to Guatemala from where you are coming. So, to answer your original question, I have done the gulf coast route. It is fine. My advice is to wander around Mexico if you have the time. Enter at Reynosa or Laredo, head south and cut up into the mountains if the weather is nice and you feel like it. Mexico is HUGE. You will see what I'm talking about when you get there.
Have heaps of fun you lucky dog!

Kindest regards,
John

:eek3:I had traveled through Nueve Laredo a few years back,nice route but i had heard a few months back they were having a problem with local drug cartels robbing and kidnapping tourists coming over the border.Don't know if that had calmed down by now but you should check it out before crossing there.
Good luck

Hello Simon:

I took a look at your web site, very nice. I really enjoyed reading through it. Thanks for the help. I will set some kind of a blog up in the next week or so and make sure you have the address. I will be sure to get to Sierra Gorda!!! I will let you know all about. Thanks

John Downs,

I have been on the road since last week. I came up from Cartagena (I live there) to Atlanta last week. I purchased my bike in South Carolina and I just got it back here yesterday. Everything checked out and now I am getting ready to leave in a week. I am planning on heading from Atlanta to Biloxi on Sunday the 1st. Just a week away.

Yes, Mexico is huge!!! I grew up in So California and I have been to Mexico many, many times. As a teenager we used to get 4 or 5 of us in a car and head to TJ. It was a blast, any thing goes. $20 was enough to be there the whole weekend!! I am not really drawn to Mexico. I am sure there will be a lot of nice roads and people, however I am really excited about Central and South America.

Thanks for all the advice. I have a couple of places I want to go before I get to the Mexico. Biloxi, New Orleans, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. I do not like the cold so I am going to keep as close to the gulf as possible. I have a friend that is going to be in Nicaragua from the 11th to the 23rd. I would like to get there around the 15th or so and stay a while. I am shooting to be in Cartagena in March. That is my whole agenda and all the route planning I have done so far. I thought I would just plan it day by day. If I meet up with some other riders, I can go any direction I want as long as it is some what south.

I am looking at some GPS units and tomorrow I will purchase one. Any advice?

I will get a blog set up and start to post once I get going. Thanks

Martin

Hello Trever:

I would like to hear about how your trip went. I am sure it was great!! You are correct; Mexico is not what it was years ago. Crime, Kidnapping, Drug Wars and more. I am going to keep a close eye on where I am and where I am headed. I plan on moving quickly south to Central America.

I have been living in Colombia for almost 5 years and visiting for almost 10. I was in Colombia when Glen Heggstad was taken by the FARC. Very bad. It looks like Mexico is going the way of Colombia 20 years ago. It devastated the country and has been very difficult to recover. Lets hope they change to another path soon.

Martin

When you get to Portobelo (Panama), ask for Marcos, French Canadian. He also owns Drakes Bar in town which he was leasing to a young French couple. He lives up the hill. He has a yacht and knows all the other yachties. So if he isn't doing the trip, he will know who is. My other recommendation would be a big German schooner - however that is more expensive as you must canoe your boat out to Porvenir. Marcos is a good friend of mine (which doesn't imply that I recommend his yacht). Say hullo from me. You can probably sleep at his place. Be careful in Colon. Colon is seriously dangerous - the only place I found dangerous between Veracruz and Ushuaia! Keep in touch and good luck...

mexico danger
 

I did a quick blitz from loredo across mexico in dec. Traveled about three thousand miles in two weeks with zero problems. just clear border and within a couple hours you're good to go. most riders report the same. don't miss the fun and riding in Mexico due to paranoia. Most of the stuff going on is between rival drug cartels. The Mexican people are great and the riding can be some of the best . enjoy.

GPS heading south
 

Hello Martin,
You will have fun! Most people use Garmin GPS and Bicimaps software for Mexico. Probably not worth buying in your case since you will be in Mexico for such a short time. If you have hundreds of dollars to spend then okay, but I'm poor and found paper maps to be fine heading through Mex and Central America. (Thrifty is nifty). I use ITM (International Travel Maps) available at Barnes and Noble where you are and Guia Roji for Mex, available in Mexico. You will get hopelessly lost in the big cities at some point since there are no street signs. Imagine traveling through Atlanta with no street signs. I look at it as a game. You win if you make it several miles through the town of a million people without asking directions. You lose if you give up and hire a taxi for some pesos to lead you through town to the highway on the far side. Nothing beats weaving through town following a latino cabby. You get better at the game as time goes by. I can remember what a feeling of triumph it was making it through Acapulco unaided without a map. Of course if you head down the gulf side navigation is pretty easy. None of the maps are that accurate, and I hear GPS is sketchy in Honduras and Nica so everyone is asking directions alot.
Two weeks from Biloxi to Nicaragua doesn't leave a lot of time for flat tires and exploring though. But I guess you know that. Everybody and their mother will be telling you how dangerous your trip is. If we listened to those people just think of all the wonderful travel memories we would have missed out on.
Look forward to reading your travel stories.

Best luck,
John

John:

Well I broke down this morning and ordered a Garmin 60CSx unit. I was really debating what I really needed and I also feel thrifty is nifty. When I really want something, than I don’t care what it cost. For some reason I only see a GPS system as some kind of insurance. I am going to take your advice and pick up the maps you mentioned. We will see how it goes.

4 days from Biloxi to Mexico and then what ever I need to get to Nicaragua. I am not going through New Mexico and Arizona. I will head into Mexico in Texas. I am traveling alone so I think this will be enough time. I want to be home by the second week in March. Once I am there I can do all the riding I want. I will for sure be getting to Argentina later this year.

What kind of bike did you make your trip on?

Take it easy, Martin

Just came thru on the coastal roads between Louisiana border and Corps Christi. Landscape is not very interesting, mostly, but the hurricane devastation is spectacular, especially just east of Galveston. Never seen anything like it (and hope to never see it again). Whole towns are essentially vanished, cars and trucks (and buildings tumbled across fields, etc. Fill up on gas when you have the chance, since most stations and other businesses are reduced to rubble.

The road along the beach on Galveston Island is washed out, but totally passable even in a loaded bike. A couple of miles are detoured along the beach, with mostly hard sand but a few brief soft sand sections, just a hundred feet or so.

enjoy,

Mark

Hello Martin,
I have nothing against GPS. I actually borrowed a friends once that was very basic with no internal maps. I used it to take a LAT/LONG. reading to see where I was on the paper map. And only ended up using it once near the Panama border when I kept going down dead end jeep trails in the Costa Rican boonies. So I haven't bothered buying one for myself. I do understand buying cool toys though. I am a minimalist. I used to ride my old BMW R80ST airhead down to Central America. It is a bit of a pig on gas and the topes and Baja and Guatemalan backroads beat it to death. I have welded the subframe and bagframes many times before retiring it from Latin American duties. I flew down to Costa Rica 2 years ago and had a fun time on a Honda XR250 Tornado rental bike and have been converted to small dual sport bikes. This year I will head down to Central America on my Kawasaki Super Sherpa. Leaving soon after I finish some projects, hopefully next month.
One year I had two weeks off and I was on a mission to get to Guatemala and made it from Laredo to La Democracia in three days. So it is possible to make it to Nica in 10 days if you ride like you mean it from sun up to sundown. I don't have such a limited time to travel anymore so that kind of riding is in my past. Now I am a 250cc toodler. Much more fun! But I do understand the desire of some to travel far in a limited time span on a fast bike. Nothing wrong with that.
Make sure to take pictures and write up your travel adventures for everyone to read who is stuck in the snow like I am today. Safe travels.

Best,
John