The Nomads

Day Nine, Friday April 18

Left Laredo Texas at 09:30

Temp: 20 degrees C

Winds light & Sunny

Took Chloroquin

First order of business was to obtain Mexican motorcycle insurance from Sanborns at a cost of $469; next, the International Bank of Commerce to obtain pesos….then off to customs in Mexico and a fairly expeditious process of acquiring our tourist cards at $27 US and, next, the motorcycle importation permit at $313.93….Cheap huh???!!

The first 200 KM into Mexico was a repeat of southern Texas…Boring!....flat and nondescript landscape; but the WOW! Factor kicked in before monterrey when we first caught sight of the Sierra Madres. Now we were seeing cactus in large bright yellow blooms, Joshua trees and white flowering bushes with a background of highly sculpted canyons and peaks.

We made a serious mistake going into Monterrey in suppertime traffic, the third largest city in Mexico with notorious, intense traffic. We were an hour trying to find our way out!

Escaped on the “cuota” (toll highway-$17) to Saltillo by 7pm where we stopped for the night, had dinner and cervezas. Fajitas con pollo, nachos and salsa with quacamole for two and 3 beers cost us a total of $11.

So far the people have been really nice, extremely patient, and helpful!

My Spanish, I fear, is woefully inadequate. Mexican Spanish has a very different cadence and the inflections and many of the words are different from that spoken in Cuba!

Back to the books and dictionaries for me for a while yet….

Kilometers - Daytrip: 326 total: 4968

Gas: $27.90

Lodging: Mario’s Inn $55