With my servicing done it was now time to ride to the Belize border and out of Mexico before my Temporary Import Permit for my motorcycle expired on March 28. It would take a couple of days to get there. The first day was getting to Villahermosa.
Villahermosa
The people at the BMW dealership warned me about the dangers of riding to Villahermosa. Of course I was also warned before about riding to Veracruz ha ha. These warnings are pretty typical. I don’t totally discount them though. I believe situational awareness is important in having a safe journey. Recently there had been a lot of violence in Veracruz and I was aware of that. But most of the violence is not aimed at tourists. Still, it is important to know and keep your wits about you.
Once again I took the toll roads to Villahermosa. It was a non-eventful ride.
I stayed two nights in Villahermosa to give my hernia a rest as it healed. There was a Starbucks near the hotel YAY! Other than that, there isn’t much to do in the city.
It was now time for a long ride to Chetumal at the Belize border.
Riding to Chetumal
It was a great ride today despite being long. I had charged up my ipod and listened to tunes most of the way. Very relaxing. I stopped every hour for a rest.
One of my favorite stops is at The Italian Coffee Company. They are scattered along the toll roads.
They usually are clean with acceptable washrooms 🙂 They also have pretty good coffee. Today this Oreo Frap hit the spot!
At Chetumal I stayed at a nice hotel near the Malecon.
Chetumal
Chetumal itself is a pretty quiet town. The streets had hardly any cars on them. Sometimes it was like a ghost town. I arrived early and went exploring for a bit. It was so nice to be near the water again. I grew up near the ocean and so for me it is sort of a comfort thing. As I walked down the malecon a smile came over me. Just the sea breeze and hearing the waves.
The next day was a work day. I would be crossing my first real border where I had to check me and my bike out of one country and check us into another.
In preparing for my adventure I had read a lot of blogs and took notes. I particular interest were the border crossings. I had some anxiety about these.
To relieve the anxiety for this border crossing, I went over my notes and looked at photos of the buildings I needed to go to. I visualized how I would do it and what I would need. Then I prepared all the documents needed to have them ready. This took a few hours of preparation. But I still had time to go out and see the sights. Here are the photos of Chetumal.
As I went to bed I felt pretty good about crossing the border the next day.
My Route for March 23, 2017
My Location for March 24, 2017
My Route for March 25, 2017
My Location for March 26, 2017
