RR: Copper Canyon, Mexico (Very Long)



Sore Knee @ Road Limper dot Com wrote:
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>
>
>>What exactly does abduction do for me?

>
>
> Free trip to space?
>
> Bill "server ain't postin' nuttin' anyway, so wtf" S.
>
>



I see your posts. Google won't show them for a while depending on their
server load. What specific problems are you having with your reader?
Maybe I can help you.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>> On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
>>
>>>Border town was ugly, but it didn't seem all that bad in terms or shady
>>>characters. Also, traveling in groups (12 in our van) makes it much safer.
>>>I don't think I would go in their alone. Far more "Americans" are
>>>kidnapped in the US on a daily basis than in Mexico. If you are really
>>>scared, you can get abduction insurance. It's not expensive.

>>
>>
>> Um.
>>
>> So if I get car insurance, it just means that if something happens to my
>> car, they'll pay for the damages.
>>
>> What exactly does abduction do for me?
>>

> Here's how it works:
>
> You pay a company a premium based upon how much you want. They recommend
> $1,000,000. I think the premium was something ridiculously low, like $100.
> If you get abducted, you hand the kidnappers a contact card to call to set
> up the ransome. The insurance company arranges an exchange location and the
> authorities are never involved. The abductors get the cash and you are
> taken back home by the insurance company. The insurance also covers your
> rehabilitation if you are injured, plus some other things.


Given the risks involved, especially as a female, I think I'll go with "If
getting abduction insurance to go somewhere is a good idea, I'll just pass."

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain
 
I was going to go riding today. But it never reached
above 32 degrees and the wind was blowing blowing blowing blowing
blowing blowing
to a below 0 wind chill. So I watched Sir ride a lot and his adventures
in Mexico. Came out better then anything I've seen on theTravel Channel.
Sir ride a lot knows how to treat a bored me.
 
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>> On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
>>
>>> Border town was ugly, but it didn't seem all that bad in terms or
>>> shady characters. Also, traveling in groups (12 in our van) makes
>>> it much safer. I don't think I would go in their alone. Far more
>>> "Americans" are kidnapped in the US on a daily basis than in
>>> Mexico. If you are really scared, you can get abduction insurance.
>>> It's not expensive.

>>
>>
>> Um.
>>
>> So if I get car insurance, it just means that if something happens
>> to my car, they'll pay for the damages.
>>
>> What exactly does abduction do for me?
>>

>
> Here's how it works:
>
> You pay a company a premium based upon how much you want. They
> recommend $1,000,000. I think the premium was something ridiculously
> low, like $100. If you get abducted, you hand the kidnappers a
> contact card to call to set up the ransome. The insurance company
> arranges an exchange location and the authorities are never involved.
> The abductors get the cash and you are taken back home by the
> insurance company. The insurance also covers your rehabilitation if
> you are injured, plus some other things.


I think you guys are nuts. I went to the Yucatan for two weeks and the worst
crime was if you stayed in Cancun....

Penny
 
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
>
>>Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>>
>>>On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Border town was ugly, but it didn't seem all that bad in terms or shady
>>>>characters. Also, traveling in groups (12 in our van) makes it much safer.
>>>>I don't think I would go in their alone. Far more "Americans" are
>>>>kidnapped in the US on a daily basis than in Mexico. If you are really
>>>>scared, you can get abduction insurance. It's not expensive.
>>>
>>>
>>>Um.
>>>
>>>So if I get car insurance, it just means that if something happens to my
>>>car, they'll pay for the damages.
>>>
>>>What exactly does abduction do for me?
>>>

>>
>>Here's how it works:
>>
>>You pay a company a premium based upon how much you want. They recommend
>>$1,000,000. I think the premium was something ridiculously low, like $100.
>>If you get abducted, you hand the kidnappers a contact card to call to set
>>up the ransome. The insurance company arranges an exchange location and the
>>authorities are never involved. The abductors get the cash and you are
>>taken back home by the insurance company. The insurance also covers your
>>rehabilitation if you are injured, plus some other things.

>
>
> Given the risks involved, especially as a female, I think I'll go with "If
> getting abduction insurance to go somewhere is a good idea, I'll just pass."
>


There were six females on our trip. We experienced no problems. The
border towns and big cities (i.e. Mexico City) are much different than
the rural areas where we were. You have a better chance of getting
mugged in Philadelphia (happened to two people in my office last week),
than getting kidnapped in Mexico. Every country and every major city
has an evil side to it. You don't have to be so paranoid as to turn
your house into your travel boundaries. Those who look for trouble can
usually find it. Just like riding a bike, you don't specifically aim
for a tree.

There is so much of this country and world to see out there. I am
grateful I have had an opportunity recently to begin seeing it. I know
not to walk through the center of the slums and that there is safety in
numbers.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
small change wrote:
> Ride-A-Lot wrote:
>
>>Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>>
>>>On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Border town was ugly, but it didn't seem all that bad in terms or
>>>>shady characters. Also, traveling in groups (12 in our van) makes
>>>>it much safer. I don't think I would go in their alone. Far more
>>>>"Americans" are kidnapped in the US on a daily basis than in
>>>>Mexico. If you are really scared, you can get abduction insurance.
>>>>It's not expensive.
>>>
>>>
>>>Um.
>>>
>>>So if I get car insurance, it just means that if something happens
>>>to my car, they'll pay for the damages.
>>>
>>>What exactly does abduction do for me?
>>>

>>
>>Here's how it works:
>>
>>You pay a company a premium based upon how much you want. They
>>recommend $1,000,000. I think the premium was something ridiculously
>>low, like $100. If you get abducted, you hand the kidnappers a
>>contact card to call to set up the ransome. The insurance company
>>arranges an exchange location and the authorities are never involved.
>>The abductors get the cash and you are taken back home by the
>>insurance company. The insurance also covers your rehabilitation if
>>you are injured, plus some other things.

>
>
> I think you guys are nuts. I went to the Yucatan for two weeks and the worst
> crime was if you stayed in Cancun....
>
> Penny
>
>


Exactly! Much ado about nothing.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
[email protected] wrote:
> I was going to go riding today. But it never reached
> above 32 degrees and the wind was blowing blowing blowing blowing
> blowing blowing
> to a below 0 wind chill. So I watched Sir ride a lot and his adventures
> in Mexico. Came out better then anything I've seen on theTravel Channel.
> Sir ride a lot knows how to treat a bored me.
>


Have a Tecate on me! More vids coming soon, including the very boring
but beautiful ride into the canyon.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
[email protected] wrote:
> Okay, I'll be the vulgar one. How much did this trip cost you?
> Beautiful stuff, by the way.
> /s
>


Cost is such a horrible word when fun is involved. I used frequent
flyer points to get to El Paso.

I scrimped and saved $1200 for this trip by selling odds and ends. No
money was taken away from family fun for my selfish outting.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> Sore Knee @ Road Limper dot Com wrote:
>> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
>>
>>
>>> What exactly does abduction do for me?

>>
>>
>> Free trip to space?
>>
>> Bill "server ain't postin' nuttin' anyway, so wtf" S.
>>
>>

>
>
> I see your posts. Google won't show them for a while depending on
> their server load. What specific problems are you having with your
> reader? Maybe I can help you.


They seem to be showing up now. I posted maybe 5 or 6 times yesterday (rec.
groups too), and today realized that none of them made it to my server.
Then I checked Google, and none there, either. Fiddled around with user
name and stuff; didn't seem to make a difference (one appeared but others
didn't...until much later).

My impression is that RR's local ("San") server does this now & then; all
will be fine for months, and then it craps out for a day or so.

Crisis averted; didn't even have to call my sponsor :p

/BS
 
Per Ride-A-Lot:
>We experienced no problems. The
>border towns and big cities (i.e. Mexico City) are much different than
>the rural areas where we were. You have a better chance of getting
>mugged in Philadelphia (happened to two people in my office last week),
>than getting kidnapped in Mexico. Every country and every major city
>has an evil side to it. You don't have to be so paranoid as to turn
>your house into your travel boundaries.


I've spent my share of time in Mexico - hitchhiking the length of the Baja
Peninsula on one occasion, ferrying fellow GIs to/from border towns like Piedras
Negras on others.

Personally, I've had nothing but excellant experiences with the people of
Mexico. The salt of the earth, as far as I'm concerned.

Having said that, one observation: From all accounts I've heard/read; in Mexico
the police/Federales/whatever are part of the problem. That adds a spooky
little twist to things IMHO.
--
PeteCresswell
 
On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 08:39:46 -0800, JD <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Slack wrote:
>> You ever been there. Mexico has always been a risk taking adventure,

> even
>> when we would drive down there for a surf trips, you could run into
>> problems.

>
>
> I almost had an "incident" in Baja in 1986 while on a surf trip, but
> was saved by a large, shiny Dacor scuba knife and 1,000 yard stare.
> Always bring a bigger and shinier knife to a knife fight...then you
> don't even have to fight.
>
> JD
>


Or a gun, preferably with a silencer :)

But I do need to pick up a nice knife for the little kitties.
--
Slack
 
On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 15:50:07 -0800, (Pete Cresswell) <[email protected]> wrote:

> Personally, I've had nothing but excellant experiences with the people of
> Mexico. The salt of the earth, as far as I'm concerned.
>
> Having said that, one observation: From all accounts I've heard/read; in
> Mexico
> the police/Federales/whatever are part of the problem. That adds a
> spooky
> little twist to things IMHO.



I can personally attest to that having been "pulled over" by the bastards.
Fortunately, my best friend spoke fluent Spanish.

We drove down a secluded street as the Feds followed. I told my friend, if
it gets bad, just give me the signal and we kill them, then bolt straight
for the boarder. Finally, after a lengthly conversation, I whipped out
like $60 to give'm and we carried on with the rest of our trip.
--
Slack
 
Slack wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 15:50:07 -0800, (Pete Cresswell) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Personally, I've had nothing but excellant experiences with the people of
>> Mexico. The salt of the earth, as far as I'm concerned.
>>
>> Having said that, one observation: From all accounts I've heard/read;
>> in Mexico
>> the police/Federales/whatever are part of the problem. That adds a
>> spooky
>> little twist to things IMHO.

>
>
>
> I can personally attest to that having been "pulled over" by the
> bastards. Fortunately, my best friend spoke fluent Spanish.
>
> We drove down a secluded street as the Feds followed. I told my friend,
> if it gets bad, just give me the signal and we kill them, then bolt
> straight for the boarder. Finally, after a lengthly conversation, I
> whipped out like $60 to give'm and we carried on with the rest of our
> trip.


There are four different "officials" in Mexico. The local Policia, who
are basically drunk all day. They were very pleasant to deal with. We
saw them quite often, usually driving their entire five person family in
the front cab of the police pickup. Then the Military. These guys are
basically the equivelant of the Army Corp of Engineers, but they love
holding their m-16's (or whatever the new equivalent is called). They
run a border stop, but again are pretty much drunk the whole time. They
always waved when we rode by. Then you have the federales. These are
the bad guys (but not the worst). You just give them some cash and they
go on their way. The ones you want to watch out for are the secret
police. These guys are supposed to make sure that the others are not
currupt. The only problem is that they take that power to their head.
They will travel in threes. The lead guy wuill always have a dark suit
and a briefcase. The other two are usually giant sized meatheads whose
sole pupose is to beat you to a pulp, without any questions. You
usually have had to do something really arrogant to get their attention.
We didn't see any of them on the trip.


--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
> There are four different "officials" in Mexico. The local Policia, who
> are basically drunk all day. They were very pleasant to deal with. We
> saw them quite often, usually driving their entire five person family in
> the front cab of the police pickup. Then the Military. These guys are
> basically the equivelant of the Army Corp of Engineers, but they love
> holding their m-16's (or whatever the new equivalent is called). They
> run a border stop, but again are pretty much drunk the whole time. They
> always waved when we rode by. Then you have the federales. These are
> the bad guys (but not the worst). You just give them some cash and they
> go on their way. The ones you want to watch out for are the secret
> police. These guys are supposed to make sure that the others are not
> currupt. The only problem is that they take that power to their head.
> They will travel in threes. The lead guy wuill always have a dark suit
> and a briefcase. The other two are usually giant sized meatheads whose
> sole pupose is to beat you to a pulp, without any questions. You
> usually have had to do something really arrogant to get their attention.
> We didn't see any of them on the trip.
>
> --o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o




Sounds like you're well briefed :)

Didn't mean to scare anyone away, but peeps should be aware of the
(sometimes) twisted culture down there. Most tourists enter, have a great
time and return home without incident.
--
Slack
 
Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> There are four different "officials" in Mexico. The local Policia,
> who are basically drunk all day. They were very pleasant to deal
> with. We saw them quite often, usually driving their entire five
> person family in the front cab of the police pickup. Then the
> Military. These guys are basically the equivelant of the Army Corp
> of Engineers, but they love holding their m-16's (or whatever the new
> equivalent is called). They run a border stop, but again are pretty
> much drunk the whole time. They always waved when we rode by. Then
> you have the federales. These are the bad guys (but not the worst).
> You just give them some cash and they go on their way. The ones you
> want to watch out for are the secret police. These guys are supposed
> to make sure that the others are not currupt. The only problem is
> that they take that power to their head. They will travel in threes.
> The lead guy wuill always have a dark suit and a briefcase. The
> other two are usually giant sized meatheads whose sole pupose is to
> beat you to a pulp, without any questions. You usually have had to
> do something really arrogant to get their attention.



****
We didn't see
> any of them on the trip.


So, what book did you get all that out of? Seriously, that smacks of
stereotyping and that's pathetic, I'm sorry to say. You didn't mention the
Green Angels, who are help stranded tourists with car trouble, for free. Or
did your book leave that part out? Sure, stereo types exist, and I myself
ran into a cop who wanted money for directions. But you are using a broad
brush to paint a picture of a culture that you experienced through a guide
service.

Penny
 
small change wrote:
> Ride-A-Lot wrote:
>
>>There are four different "officials" in Mexico. The local Policia,
>>who are basically drunk all day. They were very pleasant to deal
>>with. We saw them quite often, usually driving their entire five
>>person family in the front cab of the police pickup. Then the
>>Military. These guys are basically the equivelant of the Army Corp
>>of Engineers, but they love holding their m-16's (or whatever the new
>>equivalent is called). They run a border stop, but again are pretty
>>much drunk the whole time. They always waved when we rode by. Then
>>you have the federales. These are the bad guys (but not the worst).
>>You just give them some cash and they go on their way. The ones you
>>want to watch out for are the secret police. These guys are supposed
>>to make sure that the others are not currupt. The only problem is
>>that they take that power to their head. They will travel in threes.
>>The lead guy wuill always have a dark suit and a briefcase. The
>>other two are usually giant sized meatheads whose sole pupose is to
>>beat you to a pulp, without any questions. You usually have had to
>> do something really arrogant to get their attention.

>
>
>
> ****
> We didn't see
>
>>any of them on the trip.

>
>
> So, what book did you get all that out of? Seriously, that smacks of
> stereotyping and that's pathetic, I'm sorry to say. You didn't mention the
> Green Angels, who are help stranded tourists with car trouble, for free. Or
> did your book leave that part out? Sure, stereo types exist, and I myself
> ran into a cop who wanted money for directions. But you are using a broad
> brush to paint a picture of a culture that you experienced through a guide
> service.
>
> Penny
>
>
>


No book, Penny. I am only pointing out the levels of authority. As I
said from the beginning, I think that Mexico is overall positive and not
the **** you see going on in the border towns. Of the three local
policia I encountered, all were as I described. It's a small town. The
bigest crime there is running over a chicken.

Again, if you go around looking for trouble you will find it. It
doesn't matter what country. I personally like to avoid problems from
the get go. If I see people congregating in one spot, I'll take another
route.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws
 
"Monique Y. Mudama" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2005-03-09, Ride-A-Lot penned:
> >
> > Border town was ugly, but it didn't seem all that bad in terms or shady
> > characters. Also, traveling in groups (12 in our van) makes it much

safer.
> > I don't think I would go in their alone. Far more "Americans" are

kidnapped
> > in the US on a daily basis than in Mexico. If you are really scared,

you
> > can get abduction insurance. It's not expensive.

>
> Um.
>
> So if I get car insurance, it just means that if something happens to my

car,
> they'll pay for the damages.
>
> What exactly does abduction do for me?


I abduction insurance is supposed to make you laugh.



Shaun aRe
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
> > What exactly does abduction do for me?

>
> Free trip to space.
>
> Bill "trying to post from Google cuz RR ain't doin' SQUAT" S.


You were trying to hard Bill ',;~}~




Shaun aRe - 'Patience is a virgin.'