Travel Advisory

No, not a government travel advisory but a real life advisory from our recent travels on Mex 57 between San Miguel and Nuevo Laredo.

In the past on Mex 57, we encountered lots of check points where you had to pull over. Most of the time we were just asked a few questions and then waved on through, sometimes we had to open the trunk so that they could look in and once soldiers climbed into the car and hit on the roof, floor board and opened the console. But this trip we only saw one check point and there were no soldiers there when we went through early in the morning. On our return trip, we passed there in the afternoon and cars were being pulled over.

However, we did get the red light when we crossed the bridge back into Mexico. We pulled in and they had us open the trunk, asked where we were going, then waved us on. At the immigration check point outside of Nuevo Laredo we got a red light and it looked like most cars were getting the red light. They wanted to see our "permiso" for the car and they checked that against the car sticker and the VIN on the car. They opened the trunk, opened one suitcase and waved us on.

Of course, it probably helps that Ned gets out of the car and chats them up a bit. He told them that we had been to Texas for a family wedding. His nephew got married. Now we were on our way home to San Miguel de Allende. The dog helps too. He is a pretty dog and they often ask his name. At least he gets us a smile.

Then we were stopped again, by the Federales this time, just as we came through the toll booth near Matehuala. They too, wanted to see the permiso and they checked it against the car sticker and the VIN. He waved us on as well.

What I didn't understand is that the permiso is only good for six months unless you have an FM3 or FM2. Then the permiso is good as long as the FM3 and FM2 are valid. So I would think that they would ask to look at the immigration documents as well but they didn't. I did notice that one of the officers looked at the Mexican emissions sticker which you have to renew every six months.

Now we are trying to figure out what is going on. All I can say is, have your car papers in order before you leave home.

On our trip North we saw many Federales along the highway waiting....just like our Texas State Highway Patrol. And just like in Texas, they were pulling people over. We noticed that a few of the cars pulled over had passed us at airplane take off speeds but flying down Mexico 57 has never been noticed before by the Federales. We are thinking that maybe things are changing but when we came South yesterday, we only saw one or two patrol cars on the roadside.

All and all, it was a good trip but it is good to be home.