Received: from hplms26.hpl.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.18/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA171028834; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:20:34 -0800 Return-Path: <James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis> Received: from venus.Sun.COM by hplms26.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1S) id AA168558834; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:20:34 -0800 Received: from Eng.Sun.COM ([129.146.1.25]) by venus.Sun.COM (SMI-8.6/mail.byaddr) with SMTP id XAA00932 for <wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:10:35 -0800 Received: from jurassic.eng.sun.com by Eng.Sun.COM (SMI-8.6/SMI-5.3) id XAA05627; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:10:34 -0800 Received: from jalama.eng.sun.com by jurassic.eng.sun.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id XAA13622; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:10:34 -0800 Received: by jalama.eng.sun.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id XAA05165; Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:13:13 -0800 Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:13:13 -0800 From: James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis (Jim Paugh) Message-Id: <199703210713.XAA05165@jalama.eng.sun.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Re: baja X-Sun-Charset: US-ASCII
> From: Bob Galvan <kasplash@crl.com-DeleteThis>
>
> On Thu, 20 Mar 1997, Kirk Lindstrom wrote:
>
> > Bob,
> > Is this a problem mainly at or near the Border towns? I flew down last
> > month in a small plane (to see whales and Indian cave paintings and sit
> > on a beach or fly) and we were not bothered and everyone was very nice.
> > Seemed to me the US Mordida, er taxes, to cross the border in a plane
> > were the worst.
>
>
> Reports on the Amigos web site indicate that TJ and Ensenada are getting
> pretty bad, and that the practice seems to be spreading even to the Ag
> Inspection station near Guerro Negro. There are also reports of blatant
> robberies in Mexico City - cops and cabbies robbing tourists and
> residents alike. Go check it out yourself, it's a great site, but it is
> making me a bit nervous about the next trip. I plan on bringing some
> pepper spray, and I'm still mulling over the bogus bill plan.
I'd advise caution before attempting anything that can and will be
construed as a criminal act. The Federales are not dumb. If they even
suspect that you're passing counterfeit, I guarantee you'll do jail
time. Same for pepper spray. They're very strict about weapons in
Mexico. There's no arguing semantics down there.
I used to live in SoCal, and traveled into Baja quite a bit. My best
advice for traveling in MX (I know you've spent time there, Bob)
When in Tijana, Ensenda, or any of the boarder towns, avoid wandering
aimlessly. Especially when driving, know your destination, and get
there. If you look like you know where you're going, you're less
conspicuous.
Fly low, avoid the radar! Be as inconspicuous as possible.
Show respect to the authorities! When pulled over or stopped at
checkpoints, take off your sunglasses, look at them eye to eye.
Try to speak Spanish, even if it's just "Buenos Dias! Habla Engles?"
Give the mexican police cause, and your ass is their's! Treat them with
respect and courtesy, and 9 times out of 10 you'll drive away with all your
money :)
One last bit of advice, don't carry all your money in your wallet.
Stash it somewhere. The harassment factor will go up if they see you
open a wallet loaded with green.
~Jim Paugh
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Dec 10 2001 - 02:31:24 PST