We woke from the lockdown to a cold morning. I used the nice parking lot there to raise the camper from the truck, recenter the rubber mats, and reposition the camper in the bed. I got the three turnbuckles retightened and then made a quick breakfast before heading out. The autopista was open and traffic was light, but flowing. We mapped to the destination and it said 5.5 hours. At the next exit it had me turn off and I passed a ferreteria, backed up, and checked to see if they had any eye bolts. No luck so we proceeded. Over several other Topas and then another blind, unmarked one in a shady area. I hit the brakes, but we bounced again. UGGH. No more back roads until I get this thing secured again. We turned around, adjusted the map for toll roads, and the time dropped to 2.5 hours.
We cruised comfortably on the highway for 90 minutes or so and paid the tolls as they came up, about $300 pesos. Then we had to turn to the loop road around the northern part of the city. Right after we exited the toll gate we were driving behind two semis and noticed a police car up ahead. We merged to the left and then one of the cops flagged us down to stop. I obediently pulled over, my first mistake.
Crooked Cops
The cop walked up to the passenger side of the truck and started to speak fast spanish. We said no comprendo and he was quick to pull out his phone and type in that the radar had caught us going 110kph and we had to get a ticket. I told him that we have not gone that fast all morning and that I have a camera mirror that records everything. He agreed to look at the footage, which I was glad to show him. My speed never got above 81kph from the time we left the booth until he flagged us down. He was undeterred and said it was before that. I said great, show me the radar, I’ll look at the time stamp, and we could look at the video. He said they were sending it to him.
Then he pulled out his phone and said the fine was $11,000 pesos (which is something like $600 USD) and I said no way, I was not speeding. I said ok, let’s get the radar and we could see. He said no, we will write you the ticket and you’ll get the radar when you go to pay. I said no way. By that time he had my license and our TIP paperwork and was being really stubborn. And then, he brought out the 50% pay now discount. I told him no way, I wasn’t speeding. He went down to 5000 pesos. Again, no. Finally he was starting to walk away and Kathy let out a panic cry and he quickly dropped it to $3000. I offered $1000 and he ended up with $2000 ($100USD). I told myself I would never pay a bribe, but I ended up doing it. Uggh. Embarrassing. But we got our paperwork back and were on our way. Paid the stupid tax, once, not again.
Safe at camp
We continued on and mapped out a Home Depot to get the eye bolts that we needed. I bought all 5 that they had. We stopped at a grocery and got some food, as the place we were heading is up in the hills and a good distance from larger markets. The next was to find a bank to replenish what had been scammed from us, which took a while because apparently you cannot park free here or with larger rigs. Finally, about 4PM we made it ot the camp safely.
The camp is basically the yard of a young couple that are taking care of their mom’s house. They have built their own place next door but keep that open for an AirBnB as long as their mom is away; she’s been in Indiana for the last 20+ years and our host Jaime went to school there. He is a forest ranger on the weekends and goes to school during the week and is an adventure guide as well. They started this camp because people hiring him for the adventure recommended a campsite for overlanders since sites were few around CDMX. We can use the AirBnB bathroom and shower as long as its not occupied for $50 pesos per day, so we signed up for the hot shower. There is a horse here to amuse Kathy and we can hear cows and goats in the neighboring properties. And of course, dogs everywhere.
Jaime and his wife, Monica took us to town to a great bakery the first night and really made us feel welcome. The bread was sweet and fabulous and we had some Goat Milk Caramel Cheesecake for dessert that night. He offered to guide me up to the local mountain with is something like 4000 meters high, and I may take him up on that after my chores are done. Its a great quiet location to hang out. His place is called Quetzalcoatl Travel Experience if you want to stop by. He is on iOverlander as well.
Some cool Germans neighbors showed up last night, Tomas and Cristine, and we will be able to hang out for a few days. They have been traveling since 2016 off and on and started in South America. They travel for 4-6 months, store their vehicle, then go back home for a while. They excitedly shared all the great places they’ve recently spent as well as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc. They said don’t miss any of it. They also told me how much of a PIA it is to get a tourist visa for the USA due to the last 5 telephone numbers they’ve had, all social media, etc. I joked that we are great at red tape. Here is their website: www.vollzeitreisen.de if you are interested.
I’ll be here for the next week while Kathy flies back to the home base to get some medical appointments completed and Rx stocked back up. I already replaced the two eye hooks and have some inquiries out on how to eliminate this issue in the future. This week I’ll get our taxes done, fuel filters changed on the truck, spring cleaning in the rolling home, adding more tiedowns to Howie, and I’ll finish off the app I am working on.
Thanks for reading.