One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Mexico

Well, we went to bed last night thinking that we were just going to risk it on this whole visa thing. If the Mexican authorities wanted to demand papers that they didn’t give us, we would just plead ignorance or pay them as necessary, and hope for the best . . .

After sleeping on it overnight I think we both came to the conclusion that this was not a particularly great plan. We could end up booted out of the country, or, worse, refused entry to Guatemala (the next country on our journey) after biking 1,200 – 1,400 kilometers (about 700 or 800 miles) across Mexico. 

We considered the alternatives . . .

1. Bike back to Laredo and start over (This idea was quickly discarded. Yesterday was our biggest day yet – almost 90 mies. Kamala, Diana and I were all in agreement: We’re not going back – at least not on our bikes . . .)
2. Find a taxi to bring us back. We actually pursued this idea for a short period of time. But neither the conciérage at the hotel – who – with the help of google translate – we enlisted to help us – or our (Spanish speaking) friend Susan could make any headway there. (Later on we realized most, if not all, of the taxis in this town are little three-wheeled tuck-tuks. We weren’t going to ride in what amounts to a modified go kart on a 180 mile round trip through the desert on a divided highway with 18-wheelers driving 80 miles per hour.)
3. Call our new friend Angela (who cooked us lunch yesterday) and see if she would know anyone who could drive us. Sadly, the What’s App contact info she gave us didn’t seem to work . . . The waiter we met yesterday – Enrique – who lived in Houston for ten years – was my next suggestion. But he wasn’t at the restaurant, and the people there didn’t know his number. 
4. Take a bus. At first we didn’t think this would work because we couldn’t bring our bikes. But then we realized that we didn’t need our bikes – and, after thinking it through, there seemed very little chance that we would be refused visas and/or otherwise be in trouble such that we wouldn’t be able to get back to Sabinas. 

In the end, we took the bus. The bus station was grungy – but then again, every bus station in the history of the world has been grungy. I mean, when people used to take the Greyhound stagecoaches between London and Paris, those stations were grungy. People would be smoking, they wouldn’t have their weird British-important-people wigs on, that kind of thing . . . So don’t get all down on Mexico about it . . . That’s just how bus stations are . . .

The bus itself was beautiful. Double-decker. Seemingly brand new. Three passengers total. Movies – like you were on a plane. Oh, and, unlike our bikes, they are self-powered. We just sat there and it moved along – like magic . . .

So back we went. 

We figured out that we had taken the wrong entrance into Mexico. Somehow the bridge we went over was more about people coming for lunch or something. The real tourist bridge was a few hundred yards away – on the other side of the duty free outlet mall stuff . . . 

But we didn’t know that.

Turns out that the visa/stamp office at this location is much more legitimate-seeming. Kind of anti-climactic really. Yes, you had to pay. But once you did, they just gave us the visas and stamped our passports without even a second glance . . . I don’t even think they looked to see if they were our passports . . .

We were back in Sabinas by mid-afternoon – after having a few hours of bus riding time to catch up on our Spanish, get some calls accomplished, and do some quality reading . . . All stuff we actually enjoyed doing . . .

And here’s the real bonus: Without the visa mistake we would have just jetted out of Sabinas first thing in the morning. As it turns out Sabinas Hidalgo is a pretty cool little city. Shops all over the place. Vitality. Things going on. Better yet, just outside of town there is a park with an artificial waterfall, a swimming hole, and picnic tables – all surrounded by the mountain foothills that we’re coming into.

We both swam – although Diana, of course, did laps, while I put a new stem on my bike that I’m hoping will help with my back pain. We bought a rotisserie chicken lunch from a street vendor. Super good. 

And now we’re back on track, with stamps and visas to boot. We enjoyed Sabinas Hidalgo much more than we otherwise would have, and we can head off to Monterrey in the morning refreshed and ready for our next challenges . . .

A few early observations about Mexico. After biking and walking around for a few days it feels like Mexico must have been doing pretty well twenty or thirty years ago. There’s lots of aging infrastructure. Things like the artificial waterfalls. Or the picnic tables and grills in the park that are made of stone and concrete but are literally falling apart now. Or the streets with potholes and mud holes all over the place. Or most of the buildings – with peeling paint, sagging walls, and dogs wandering around randomly (nice dogs though). It just looks like everything was pretty nice at one time – and now they’re all falling apart and no one seems to be doing much about it . . . Probably because there are not resources to do anything . . .

I guess it’s good for us tourists. There is nice stuff – it’s just old. Everything is cheap. It feels like you are in Greece or Eastern Europe or something. 

Fun to see one of those places-in-the-world direction signs like they used to have on the show MASH – but with some relevant locations that now don’t seem so far away . . .

Peru – 5,336 kilometers (approximately 3,300 miles). Considering we’ve already traveled more than 4,000 kilometers it is almost starting to feel like South American countries are realistically attainable . . . Rather than just the random points on the map that they seemed to be at the beginning . . .

And, so far it all feels safe and everyone is friendly. One last comment . . .Thank god for google translate . . . Seems to be good for everyone!