Several times when I have stopped at one of the truck stops outside Laredo there have been an unusual number of Sprinters with rooftop A/C units. I don't know if they are Feds doing surveillance work, commercial hot shot/expediter trucks, or RV conversions (not that many RVers go to Laredo and there are only a handful of RV parks there). Anyway, you should fit in just fine. Maybe you can figure out who the other folks are.
All good advice Trice, just don't forget to log out. Nothing will eat your battery faster. I once set up a web cam and netbook on my daughter's walker. I set Skype to auto-answer and my family had a great time calling my daughter as she wandered around the house. I put the camera on a pole so it was looking over her shoulder. This would work on a bike too I think... Hmmm live ride report!
I took one to Pátzcauro once. Once. There was a discount mentioned on MedJet for a sat phone and I was sat phone curious. What a pain in the ass that phone was. I sense you are attempting to reconcile your concern that at times you will be out of cell phone range and might crash. IMHO, they are very near to being a complete waste of money and not worth the exact sense of security you are looking for. I'm sure they have their applications on true, remote trekking expeditions, but when and how you reach that criteria I'll leave up to you. Accidents: If you are alive and aware after a biff, you will eventually be able to make a call to whomever you need to contact back home. Either on scene with your phone or from the hospital. If you're solo and out of it, you're not making any calls anyway. I'm sure there are fantasy scenarios such as rolling down a cliff and you're stuck and nobody up top can hear you. We can write movie screenplays like that all day. If something is going to bite you, it isn't going to be something like that anyways.
AT&T and Telcel use a different encoding scheme than Verizon. It's very easy to get a cheap "dumb phone" - about $25 - if you don't want to go the sim route. Get a 100 or 200 pesos worth of calling and you are set. And be sure you learn the access codes and dialing patterns you need to know for Intl, local and long distance. I have used a sat phone when leading group tours here in Mexico. It is a bit different when you have a group of people you are responsible for for 14 days. The phone was a pain to use, but we didn't need it for anything critical, and we usually were not that far from cell service. Some guys came through town last week and put some sort of support rings up on the light poles. My neighbor says it is cable TV., Don't care about the TV part but internet at more than 1.5 mb (I pay for 5 - telmex is "working on it") would be great.
Thanks for all the replies! I'm very familiar with Skype - kept in touch with my daughter when she was traveling in China a couple years ago using Skype - it's awesome. I travel with a netbook - I'm not concerned about the times when wifi is available. Fact is, when I'm somewhere where wifi is available I usually feel like I'm too close to civilization. Often wifi is not available so Skype isn't the solution, and a cell phone isn't going to work where there's no service - that's my problem. Many of the best places don't have wifi or cell service. It might be nice to just relax for a few days on an off the beaten path beach in Baja somewhere - no cell, no wifi. I'm not really concerned about a phone in case of crash - it would be nice, but I'd be using the SPOT in that case anyway. My concern is someone could be dead and buried back home before I even know anything happened.
There's been a big explosion at a Pemex gas plant in Reynosa. Maybe 50 dead or injured. The explosion is 1:10 in... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=361_1355207965&p=1
That is terrifying surveillance video footage If you click on it, you will be watching several of the workers mentioned meet their end
I've been very happy with my pay as you go US AT&T cellphone. They have a VERY reasonable roam rate (25c / min last year) on Telcel, the biggest Mexico carrier, and you keep your local US phone #. The coverage was very good. Remember, its easier for Carlos Slim to deploy wireless than Telmex wires- so you get good reception, even in places like Real de Catorce. So I'd fill it up with $25 or so, and be good for just about anywhere in Mexico. You can recharge it with a credit card thru their website. Once you're in Mexico, it dialed like a Mexican phone, so you need to dial the US access code. For those of us that remember dialing the US (collect) from a pay phone with an operator, times have certainly changed. And life is much cheaper now. With any phone down there, be ABSOLUTELY sure you understand your roaming and DATA ROAMING expenses and procedures. BMW would be proud of what the carriers charge for roaming in Mexico. With pay as you go, there is at least a limit to one's stupidity, unless you're dumb enough to recharge the phone.
This'll be my third winter in Mexico on a 93 GS/PD . Last year 12 states in Mx and 43 in US 27.5K . Yes amigo Mexico is safe . Clear the border zone, ASAP, get into the mountains . Be aware of what your doing and your surroundings, just like in the USA . Gas on main highways is about every 60 miles, it gets sketchy on dirt or secondary roads . Be respectful, you're in Mexico, speak Spanish . If you think you know enough Spanish, take a course . That'll work til the fantastic dirt roads in Oaxaca/Chiapas where native indio is spoken . Go to San Cristobal, Palenque "Jungle Palace", and the swimming holes up in there . Follow Mexican Pro soccer and know something about it . Get a haircut, the barber shops are "man" central . Go to local, baseball, soccer games, the tacos are killer and the entertainment is memorable . Ride the mountains as fast as you feel comforatable, remember however, your approaching the 3rd world . Some places, there's very little room for error . Be prepared for anyhing . Like a main hiway on a mountain so steep, you're directed with painted arrows . To cross the center line, approaching a switchback, and proceed in the wrong lane til thru that switchback . Then back across til the next switchback . 4 or 5 times on one mountain in perticular . Find a place to stay in daylight, then get dressed in something other than riding gear . Eat where the locals eat and don't act like you don't belong . You'll find peoples from around the planet, because of HYPE, also fortunatly . Not a lotta USA citizens . Ohhh and drink bottled water . Buen viaje
I just came back from my first bike trip into Mex - Puerto Panasco. I understand very little spanish so it was a real interesting. As far as learning from the road signs, I think ALTO must mean MAYBE or KEEP GOING. Riding in Mex is real adventure riding. :eek1 Dave
It means Stop but that's mostly a suggestion. However, if you don't stop and you cause an accident, then you are at fault. That, and if the friendly local Transito sees you run a stop sign and realizes that you have US plates there is a fair chance that they will question you to see if you understand the subtleties of Napoleonic Law.
Ghad damn!That was fast and violent.Never seen an explosion like that.The one worker at the end was on the ground crawling for his life.That's some scary ass shit.:eek1
I think he was past crawling for his life, I think he was dying of his burns. That fire totally engulfed him, and he breathed super heated gases as well as receiving burns. I believe that is why the video stopped at that point, I think got more gruesome not that he would have died quickly, but I doubt he survived. Play it back and you will understand I think. My 2 cents as an FF, I'm just sayin...one moment hum-dee-dum life at it's most mundane, next a horrible painful tragedy. Shitty way to go.
If you want to store it here in Mexico and make sure it is ridden regularly and well maintained, I would be more than happy to help you out.
