Aimee said:
>We got 180 day tourist and vehicle permits. Lately we've been told that
>tourist permits are only good for one visit but not this time - a new and
>welcome change.
We had no trouble getting 180 days on our permits when we went to Los
Toros (Purificación) last Christmas or to J2 (Oaxaca) this spring, so I haven't
seen any evidence of one-trip-only permits. I certainly hope that is not
happening. Occasionally I have been offered less time initially, but when I
asked to get the full 180 days it was always granted.
>I'll sorta miss the old semaforos but they are still in use at Camaron Station
>further into the interior.
On our way down to J2 in March we noted that a new interior aduana check
point was being constructed further south of Matamaoros than the old one. On
our way back north in April it was open, although of course we didn't have to
stop since we were heading north. This was obviously designed to allow a
single check point to catch traffic crossing from both Matamoros and Indios,
similar to the one constructed south of Laredo to catch both Laredo and
Colombia traffic many years ago. I don't know what sort of inspection
selection device the new aduana has, but I won't miss those semaforos since
they were obviously not really random like they were supposed to be. I've had
the light come on before I ever even pushed the button!
>The Mexican army is well represented at the border now.
When we crossed at Colombia last Christmas, there was the heaviest army
presence I've ever seen at a border crossing. In addition to soldiers with
vests, helmets and rifles, there were jeeps with heavy machine guns mounted on
the roof parked around the aduana. I suspect this has to do with the increased
drug violence in border cities.
>A 22 Km stretch of NL 1 has just been widened and paved.
There are several recently widened smaller roads in northern Mexico. It
looks like the government is definitely trying to improve access to/from the
border. Although these roads are not four lanes wide, they have wide enough
shoulders to make passing easy because people move over, just like they do in
Texas. In addition to the widened section of NL1 and the road south from
Colombia, the road south from Indios is fully widened to its junction with
101/180, 180 has been partly widened south toward Soto La Marina, and the road
from Soto to La Pesca on the coast is almost completely upgraded. Now if
they'd just fix the rest of the road south from Tampico to Veracruz!
>There are two new and quite large Santo Muerte chapels along NL 1.
We stopped at one of those last January. Very bizarre statues and
posters inside. We took several photos.
>The times they are a changin'
And seemingly for the better! :-)
Mark Minton
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