OK, so first of all I will explain why there are very few images in this blog! It is because we were so busy concentrating on our instructions we daren’t even get the camera out!

Our decision to travel through Mexico has been met with a few raised eyebrows, more than a few suggestions to just not go at all and every single person telling us NOT to drive at night. We had luckily purchased a ‘Churches-RVing in Mexico’ book from 2002 and read it front to back and felt happy that we would be safe. We guaranteed everyone that we would exercise extreme caution, not drive at night, not boondock (free camp) and pretty much not speak to anyone at all!
We looked online at the borders NOT to cross at and checked in the ‘Bible’ (The RV book) for the best and safest borders and planned well for our crossing. We had an empty fridge…NO fruit at all, we even threw away an apple, a lime and a banana!! (I had eaten a satsuma, a banana and an apple and could not face another piece!), we had our papers ready, we had our ‘valuables’ in a backpack in case we were asked to get out of the van and we headed for the Nogales border control.
We nervously pulled up, Alex pulled the window down and handed the heavily armed officer our passports. The officer said “do you have anything you shouldn’t have in your van?” we said “No!” he clarified what we shouldn’t have…”no guns? no drugs?” we said “no!” and he said okay then off you go. Alex quickly asked about handing in our American visa’s and the officer said “there is a box on the other side to put it in”. We drove over the violent speed restrictors (which look like lines of metal helmets fastened to the floor) in silence and as easy as that, we were in Mexico!
We immediately pulled over just inside the border and looked for ‘the box’, I imagined a sort of letter box but there was nothing. Alex went on the lookout to see if we could hand them in somewhere and he even tried to speak to several heavily armed Mexicans to ask for help but to no avail.
After inadvertantly wandering through the ammunition room and back over the border into America and then back into Mexico he gave up!
He got back in the van and we decided we would sort it out another day.
At the Nogales border they do things a little differently to most borders. They decide if they will let you in there and then. Once you are in you have to go and get your passport stamped and your vehicle registered 20 miles down the road. We had crossed nice and early after planning ahead (about 10am) and joined the queue of traffic to start our journey to the offices to get our official documents.
After crawling along through what can only be described as absolute chaos for 15 minutes we started worrying about what was going on but we were soon ushered onto the wrong side of the road with the oncoming traffic by a police officer (again heavily armed) and we just followed the slow procession. Suddenly all we could hear was sirens but we couldn’t work out where from, there were police directing traffic everywhere and we just kept following instructions and hoped for the best.

It soon transpired that it was some kind of festival going on and the Fire engines were the ‘floats’ for the celebrations! People lined the streets…EVERYWHERE. It was bedlam but so nice to see everyone celebrating, people were driving around with speakers playing loud music and people dancing in the backs of their trucks, chairs had been pulled up all over the streets and the vendors couldn’t cook fast enough. It took us more than an hour to even get through Nogales and onto the open road. We arrived at the km 21 checkpoint and went into the office to get our passports stamped and get Peggy’s visa. In the first office we filled in a form and were told to go to the bank and pay and then come back. We went and joined the queue for the bank and waited approximately an hour to be seen. We paid for our visa’s and were told to go back to the office. We went back, had a form filled in and stamped for us and told to go back to the bank. We queued again for another hour and then were told to get photocopies and come back to pay. We got the photocopies and stood in the queue again. We were quite calm about all of this but there were quite a few people that were not and everyone that got irate took longer and longer at the bank teller so the queue slowed to a near stand still. When we finally arrived at the bank AGAIN we filled in a form for Peggy and just had to pay before we could be on our way. This was when the very thorough guy behind the counter with all our papers in his hand ready to hand them over noticed the typo on Alex’s bank card. The bank have accidentally put Mr L Pelling on his card! We tried to fib our way around it by saying it was because we were married and my name was Lisa but it wouldn’t wash. He said he wouldn’t accept the card so I ran to Peggy to get another one. Luckily he let us stay in the line and not queue again. By this time it was 4pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I gave Alex a different bank card went back to Peggy to make something while he finished up. 10 minutes later he arrived at the van and said “the card didn’t work, I have to take another one and stand in line again!”
We finally left there with our visa’s and Peggys silver sticker on the windscreen after 5pm with 150 miles to cover before dark. The sun was already painting its colours on the clouds and we were no way going to make it, but the address we had was for the nearest campsite to the Nogales crossing. We had no choice. We hit the toll road and took it steady expecting the worst from the traffic and the drivers. We had been told that Mexican drivers are aggressive and angry but we found the total opposite. We would suggest to anyone considering visiting Mexico in a vehicle to spend a week driving in LA in preperation! After LA you can drive anywhere! The drivers were polite and even the lorries pulled over or slowed to let you pass safely. The main reason it is recommended not to drive at night is because of the animals. There are cows, goats, pigs, horses roaming around and they don’t wear reflectors! We got to the campsite a half hour into total darkness and the owners were just shutting the gates.
Alex jumped out and asked if they had room. Edgar and his wife Anne said they were so sorry but they were totally full!
Alex and I looked at each other and asked if they knew of anywhere else and they said there isn’t anywhere else and its dark…and luckily said they would squeeze us in! Edgar drove his own car out onto the street outside of the fences and let us park in its space. They were so kind and told us they wouldn’t charge us for the night as they were so full and we are so young and couldn’t be left on the streets!
We slept like logs after our long day and got up early to chat to Edgar and Anne. Edgar was slurping a beer as he told us the best places to go and showed us to the bathroom (where I was sure a dead body was hidden in the shower…someone had certainly died in there) and Anne offered us a hand drawn map that must have been 20 years old. Such lovely people who had absolutely nothing and we had to force money into their hands for our stay.
So…now we’re in Mexico…here goes!

Find out what happens next on our traveling wedding adventure blog!