# Trip report - Cancun to Laredo



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

So I made it back alive! Not quite in one piece, but ok.

On the trip north I stopped in Cuidad del Carmen the first night. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Av. Concordia. There's a Holiday Inn on Av. Aviacion which is a different hotel. A fine business-class hotel, not cheap. I think as a walk-in I paid around 1400. Cheaper maybe if you use an online reservation app. Google claims it's 1016 but my experience is the google rate is not obtainable, you use some web app and the price goes up between the time you first click on it and when you can actually reserve it. They have signs up disclaiming responsibility for your vehicle, your valuables, etc. The parking is in front of the building and around to the side. The side is walled, but anyone could walk in from the front side. Yet I think they have a night watchman and there was no trouble. My van was empty anyway.

After the first day I was thinking "people complain about the roads too much, they're fine, better than many US states". The cuota across the yucatan is still under reconstruction. They are building a new 4-lane road parallel to the old 2-lane road, and for some sections both traffic directions get routed over onto the 2-lane where it's miles of orange barrels down the middle. The way back (heading toward cancun) also spends more time with the old 2-lane road to itself while the way west has the new road to itself. As the new road is completed, they are tearing up the old 2-lane road down to the dirt and refining the grading of it, because they are using the right of way to build the Mayan Railway. No rails in place yet, or ballast, just flat dirt being prepared. But it's all really smooth and straight.

Second day I was complaining about the roads. The road out of CDdC to the west is an hour and a half of speed bumps every 50 feet. That's only a slight exaggeration. It's certainly a two-lane road for about two hours, and it goes through three communities each of which has deployed speed bumps every 50 meters. There are some brief respites in between. This is along 180 through Nuevo Progresso, Nuevo Campechito and Frontera.

Yet google says that going through Escarcega on 186 instead of CDdC is an hour and a half longer. Plus there have been web reports of biting cops in Escarcega. I almost tried that other route on the way back beacause of the hurricane, but didn't.

I took the elevated road through Puebla, but crept along 10 km below the speed limit due to speed trap reports. I saw no cops until I was on the ramp down from the overhead, one was on the right on the surface road having pulled someone over (who had been on the surface road, not the elevated). There was some stretch of cuota somewhere after Puebla that was really really bad, bouncing you all around, sideways and up and down, nothing but potholes, for a km or two. It's only on the way north, the return trip was better. That and the road out of CDdC were the worst roads of the whole trip. So the guy who told me "the further north you get the better the roads get" was all wet.

Day 2 I made it to Orizaba, and picked a Holiday Inn again. Maybe it was 1475 or so? I don't recall exactly. I know I paid more for Holiday Inn hotels than I really wanted to, but got good places whenever I did, and I stayed at them a lot. Same no-responsibility parking, but quite secure. I ate at the McDonalds there, and the price for the same thing I always get in Cancun is 187 pesos vs 140. You'd think Cancun would be the tourist trap, but no. Google likes to give you a scenic tour through all kinds of narrow back streets to get you on and off the highway.

Day 3 I stopped in San Luis Potosi, at the Hampton Inn, because google tricked me on the price. The hotel is built on top of a 3-story parking garage. There are some very tight turns to get into and out of that garage, ones I had to take in several back and fills with my long van. I ended up paying around 1700 pesos for the room, way over budget, nowhere near the 1100 google had flagged it as costing on the map. Not really nicer than Holliday Inn. I'll try somewhere else next time, I think I can do as well for less.

Day 4 I was a bit shorter. First 3 days were about 8 hours of driving each, day 4 I stopped in Saltillo after 6.5 hours. The Hotel Mission Express is secure, but really run down. In the morning the shower could only manage a drizzle and I went without. Lucky I'd showered the night before. You'd expect a place like that to charge maybe 600 pesos, but it was I think 1400. Never again.

Day 5 was the run to the border day. On the advice of somebody on another forum, instead of direct to Laredo, I went to Piedras Negras and then 2 hours more in Texas to get to Laredo. Up until then I'd been questioned at a few checkpoints but never really searched. Once I got pulled out of line and questioned, a couple other times just questioned in-line, several times just waved through. When they questioned me and asked what was in my van (the windows are so tinted they couldn't see) I said it was empty and they took my word for it - I was beginning to think they were a bit lame on the checkpoint stuff. But the national guard made up for it north of Saltillo on the road to Piedras Negras.

My first mistake was I didn't roll my window all the way down. It's a manual, and the handle pops off, and it was hot and I was a little lazy, and the guard took offense. Or else was just grumpy. They were out there in the middle of this huge valley between two ranges with no shade for 50 k in either direction, so he had cause. The road runs completely straight across that valley, nearly perfectly flat, and they were smack dab in the middle. So he didn't like my answers, told me I was heading the wrong way (because he apparently thought I should be going direct to Laredo), and eventually pulled me out of line and called over others. Everything seemed to make them more and more suspicious. Another guy had better English, and was sort of cheerful and happy to talk while the others searched. They shined their flashlights in the wheel wells. They saw the new undercoating sprayed on by the dealer since it was a semi-nuevo and my bargainer got them to do that for free. That made them suspicious. They got a dolly and wheeled underneath. They opened up the back and saw that it was not a cargo van, it was a former passenger van with the seats removed - the difference is there is plastic trim all over the walls and ceiling. That made them more suspcious. Great for hiding drugs behind. The brought in their dog who was happy to jump in the back and smell all around the empty van. So after 15 minutes I was let go and I feel much better that they are doing a good job of interdicting drugs. At least they're randomly trying.

If you go to Piedras Negras, you will go through or around Monclovia. Google maps will tell you to go around on route 30, don't fall for it. That was the single worst road of the entire trip. There were places where it was old cement-pad construction so worn away that I was driving on rusted rebar. Stay on 57 through town, there are a lot of places you might like to stop at and the dozen topes are in no way comparable to the miles of teeth-breaking route 30.

I didn't have any run-ins with narcos or even feel like I was close to having an encounter. The chatty Nat Guard guy at the search spot claimed the road was safe.

As I wrote in another thread, I stopped at the INS building in Piedras Negras to try and do FMM paperwork but was told it wasn't necessary and I was good to go. They have an Aduana office in the same building. It's right on the way to bridge Camino International Bridge II (I think I have that right), the southern of the two bridges. The Mexican side just wants you to pay a toll (33 pesos IIRC) and has no formalities, but the line from US customs extends across the bridge most of the time (the toll taker kept looking over her shoulder to check for a backup before she'd let people through her booth). The wait was around 45 minutes. To expedite, start in the right lane, because that lane keeps splitting. Take the right side of each split to get through fastest (I didn't).

Then I drove 2 hours to Laredo, passing no fewer than 5 speed traps. Especially in Webb County (right at the county line and a couple more further in). The limit is 75 mph on most parts of that 2-lane road and I didn't in fact see the cops ticketing anyone, just sitting their watching everyone fly by.

On the way back, I loaded in the morning and headed out, planning to stop in Eagle Pass on the Texas side of Piedras Negras. The loading nearly killed me, it was 100 degrees that day. Fortunately my storage unit faced west and I was loading in the morning and the sun wasn't directly shining into the unit, just on the roof of it and my van. But I was pretty wiped out by lifting and wrestling boxes and stuff by myself.

When I started looking for a hotel in Eagle Pass, google was offering up only crazy kinds of prices. The econolodge was asking $110 a night, and the holiday inn wanted $240. Prices in Piedras Negras were much cheaper, including a Holiday Inn Express there. Also on the way north I'd noted that in the late afternoon there was no line to enter Mexico, so I decided to risk spending the night on the Mexican side.

There literally was no one at Mexican customs waiting ahead of me when I got there. I pulled into the 'declare' lane and, being the only one, got descended upon by the whole platoon of national guard soldiers. They searched semi-thoroughly. They looked in about 10-12 boxes, some of which had been taped shut to make moving and stacking and storing them easier. A couple they looked in without taking them out of the truck but at least 8 ended up on the ground opened. They never really dug into any of them, just kind of open them up, look inside, maybe move one thing to the side a little to see what's underneath. They had dogs barking from confinement somewhere nearby but didn't bring them out.

And in the end, no duty! I'd done garage sale values for all my stuff, prepared a draft Menaje de Casa that I never validated with the consulate, but because I could only fit about 2/3 of my stuff that was in storage in the van it was a mess. I'd gone through it and checked and crossed off things and resummed everything and I was prepared to claim around 20,000 of value, minus 10000 allowance and pay duty on 10,000 pesos at 16%. But they never asked to see the paperwork, and after satisfying themselves that I didn't have guns or ammo I was all good to go - free! So it was a big win to not try and do the Menaje de Casa because (I think) I would have had to physically go to my original consulate to get it. That alone would have cost hundreds for airfare. Even if I eventually have to pay duty on the part I didn't bring in this load I'm ahead.

At the border was the only time I got searched or even questioned on the way home. In the southern direction they were just waving people through mostly. I did see a couple drivers in my direction getting searched, but not me.

I stopped in Matahula the first night, having started from the Mexican side of the border I could get further than Saltillo. I stayed at the Las Palmas, which was recommended here in 2009. It's still there, still a decent secure place to stay. I wanted a western fast food place that night but there isn't a single chain restaraunt in Matahuala. I drove to some place called Rocket Burger (not a chain I don't think) and it was closed and ended up eating at the hotel. Meh. The thread that recommended the place said to eat next door but I couldn't figure out where they meant.

Second day I pushed really hard, drove 10.5 hours and made it back to the Holiday Inn in Orizaba.

The third day I might otherwise have tried to make it to CD del Carmen, but hurricane Grace was crossing the Yucatan, and the further I got the more likely I was to run into it. I initially set a plan to stop early in Cardenas. When I got to Cardenas it was around 2, still not raining let alone blowing, and I actually drove another 10 km past before changing my mind again and driving back. I was worried they'd close that causeway bridge leading into CD del Carmen and I'd be stuck on the Frontera side where there are no places to stay at all, it's all Ejido land.

So I stayed at the Hotel Madan Cardenas (760 pesos). Really old but not run down. The floor of the bathroom had been built up (raised) but not the door lintle, which was at eye-height on me (I'm 5'10) and I cracked my skull a couple times, but the furniture is all solid wood, old, stained in some hard cherry-finish lacquer. Parking is a couple buildings down the street, they have a guard (who reminds me of Baretta, he had the short stature, the muscles, the tight shirt and the beret). It's right across the very narrow street from an IMSS hospital. There are cars parked on both sides of the one-way street, so when the ambulance has a delivery they just block traffic. Lots of people on the street, I think there must be no inside waiting room what with covid. And street vendors catering too them, but it's a dusty poor street, so I was a little worried about security, but no problem.

I think I over-worried about the hurricane, as it never really hit CD del Carmin. It seems to have gone straight out to sea from Campeche/Marida. I never saw any indication that the bridge got closed on google maps.

Next day I drove to Campeche, 6 hours, and stayed (where else) at the Holiday Inn. Nice gulf view from the room, 1400-something pesos again. Parking not secure, but its a well-to-do area and the guard motioned me to a spot very near the front door and I suspect they had someone guarding the door all night. I really should join the rewards club before my next trip.

Remember I said I returned more or less in one piece? When I was less than 2 hours out of Cancun I had a tire blow out. I couldn't get through to green angles. I had trouble with my phone, I had trouble with Spanish, nothing was working. I spent two hours trying different numbers. I called 911 and they gave me two other numbers to call. I called those numbers and got recordings and then hung up on, stuff like that. I eventually messaged my lawyer in Cancun, and she tried to raise some help on the phone and said "no one is answering the emergency numbers". It was saturday afternoon, and the hurricane had made landfall again on central mexico, so maybe that had something to do with it.

After 2 hours a truck pulled up behind me with 4-5 people in hardhats and road construction type reflector vests. They were 'security' for the construction (I was in one of the zones where both directions of traffic were on the old road, so there was no shoulder and nowhere to fix the flat. I was nearly tipped over just getting off the road. I would have been capable, maybe, of fixing the flat myself, but it wasn't safe to try. These guys whipped out their flags and turned the two-lane road into a one-lane road with alternative traffic. One flagging each end of the one way section, that gave me a lane to pull back onto so they could jack my van on the hard road. That was the part I absolutely couldn't do alone. Plus then the guy changed the tire for me  They explained I was "entitled" to road service because I was on the cuota, but I needed to call the number on my ticket. That was I think part of the problem with the green angles - jurisdiction conflict. I may have actually gotten through to them but been told by them to call another number, not sure. Part of my problem was my phone plan had expired (thanks to google nave chewing up all my GB) and I replied SI to some SMS and got on some kind of one-day plan and then that had expired and I was getting messages about needing to recharge my phone when I was dialing these numbers. I think. So that was kind of a mess for a while, but in the end, simply by waiting 2 hours they came and helped. They were just on a routine patrol when they found me. I tipped them very nicely for the help!

And 20 km later I saw another vehicle being helped by another security team from the construction zone. Well, lets hear it for the mayan train!

Anyway, I made it in, an hour after dark. I hit one tope really hard on a local street on the other side of Cancun where I never go. It wasn't marked, and there was no one in front of me, and I didn't see it at all and hit it at maybe 60. That was hard enough to throw the engine into neutral. Cancun has a lot of lights still out from the hurricane and it was very dark, both streetlights and traffic lights. Just one hour of driving at night is enough to convince me I want to do my best to avoid it in the future.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

eastwind said:


> So I made it back alive! Not quite in one piece, but ok.
> 
> On the trip north I stopped in Cuidad del Carmen the first night. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Av. Concordia. There's a Holiday Inn on Av. Aviacion which is a different hotel. A fine business-class hotel, not cheap. I think as a walk-in I paid around 1400. Cheaper maybe if you use an online reservation app. Google claims it's 1016 but my experience is the google rate is not obtainable, you use some web app and the price goes up between the time you first click on it and when you can actually reserve it. They have signs up disclaiming responsibility for your vehicle, your valuables, etc. The parking is in front of the building and around to the side. The side is walled, but anyone could walk in from the front side. Yet I think they have a night watchman and there was no trouble. My van was empty anyway.
> 
> ...


Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Nice trip report. Thanks.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Nice report.. Fortin de las Flores between Orizaba and Cordoba is a nice place to stay and way cheaper. THere is an old resort right next to a mansion and the railroad that is very nice and way cheaper than the mordern hotels of Orizaba..

I also had a blow out out of Puebla 6 months ago , they were doing work on the road and left nails and all kind of junk on the road which caused my blow out. I called the green angels who wanted my exact location , the night was coming, I had no light in the car, could not read the name of the last caseta so could not tell them the name, they told me to walk on the road and read the KM, I refused, it was extremely dangerous with railers all ofer the place and almost no space on the side of the road to walk so my companion had to change the tire and we ended up stayin in Tehuacan but it was scary and the green angels were of no help.. I sure was happy to have a companion who knew more or less how to change a tire..


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I know how to change a tire, and have before, but didn't think I could lift the van up enough without it tipping over, as it was already canted quite far in that direction due to the angle of the soft dirt shoulder.

I spent almost 2 hours trying to get green angles to come. I (fortunately) blew up just in front of one of the km markers and could read it from where I sat, so I didn't have that problem.

But I couldn't get through on the phone. I tried 078 and eventually after multiple tries (it was not answering) I got through, asked for someone who spoke english, got put on hold, and soon dropped. On about the 3rd iteration of that, they said "call 074". So I did, repeated that process, and on the n'th call got to someone who spoke english. They said "I'm going to give you two numbers to call". They gave me an 800 number and a local Mexican number. When I tried them, I got a voice recording in spanish and a hang up. (consistently).

I tried 911. Eventually got someone who spoke english. They gave me two other numbers to call, neither of which answered.

At this point I started texting my lawyer for help. She eventually tried to make calls for me, and later told me "none of the emergency numbers were answering". This was Saturday afternoon, around 4 pm. I am wondering if maybe hurricane grace, which had come ashore for the second time that afternoon, was providing 'competition' for the national emergency numbers.

Eventually, the problem turned out to be that my phone had run out of data, I'd answered 'SI' to get 120 mb more, and that expired and screwed up my regular plan (which should have still been active and providing unlimited voice but not data). So that explains some of the recordings, but not why my lawyer couldn't get through.

Another part of the problem, maybe, was apparently that I was in a construction zone, and the green angles were somehow not in jurisdiction, with the problems being handled by the very people that eventually stopped by luck. So I think I was being told to call them instead, without them saying why, but my phone wasn't working for those calls.

The phone recharge system is confusing as heck for me. It seems like I have to sign up for two recurring things rather than one. One recurring thing is to take money from my bank and apply it to my account, and the other recurring thing is to re-subscribe to my plan when it runs out using the balance in my account. Those things, always one operation in the US, have to be properly sequenced. The app I have is terribly confusing. And now I'm getting messages every day that tell me my plan has expired, even though I've bought 30 day plans twice (one was basically money they kept when the other one took over a day later).

When all was said and done and I told all this to my brother, he said "and while you're at it [getting the car fixed] get a real cell phone plan". Arrgh. As if I hadn't tried. Why can't telcel provide "real plans" that don't involve so much horsing around and just work?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

sounds like problems.. allright.. I have a telcel plan and I do not have any problems with recharging.. I have it so they charge my account directly so no problem there. I always jot down the green angels´number when I see it , yes 074 is the most common number you see but they are others. I speak Spanish so the language was not the problem but not knowing the km or the name of the previous caseta was..The problem too is that there are many areas where there is no telcel signal on that road. I did not have that problem this time but I had that problem another time on that highway on the Vera Cruz segmnt of the road..Sometime everything works great and sometimes it is one problem after another.. At least you made it.. that is the important part.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I got the estimate from the dealer yesterday afternoon. 2 new tires, a new rim, 4 new shock absorbers, balancing, alignment, work on the air pressure monitoring system, and some unrelated electrical stuff they found wrong. Not including paint and fender re-bending it's already 46k pesos. 

I hit a few topes and potholes really hard on the trip so I'm not too surprised. I hope I get more used to spotting them early enough to slow down enough, but the potholes are harder to miss on some roads.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

Random thoughts...

Our 'top of the line' AXA auto insurance includes roadside assistance. Purchasing the insurance through HSBC gets us some perks. I have only ever called for a battery jump in the driveway.

There is a AAA (auto club) in Mexico. I think it is called AMA.

I don't like my phone of the moment (an old Samsung S4) but I am pretty happy with my AT&T plan. It runs around 4500 pesos for two years unlimited coverage. I am not a big phone person but I have never encountered any 'refill' issues.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I never got around to trying my insurance, I did buy the 'platinum' plan from Banamex (offered through Chubb).


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

"Why can't telcel provide "real plans" that don't involve so much horsing around and just work?"

Not sure why you think it's so difficult. I just use pay-as-you-go Sin Limites, no plan. I pay 200 pesos for unlimited texting and calling to Mexico, the US and Canada and 3 gbs of data. Lasts for 28 days. You just go pay another 200 pesos at any OXO when your time is up.


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