Back to the start of yesterday... what a day. I woke up really early and persuaded Leanne to leave the hotel at 6am so we could beat the rush to the border. We had decided to go to the Otay Mesa crossing rather than the much busier Tijuana one. We arrived at the border in darkness, went straight through, no line up. The customs guy briefly inspected our car and was more interested in why I had 2 bass guitars and an amp with me than the dog and all the computer gear. The whole thing took about 2 minutes and then he said - "on your way" - so we went. It only after we had gone down the road (past the massive line-up to come in to the US) that we realized we had no tourist visa and no record of our entry.
We stopped at a local hotel where they spoke English and the guy said "you don't need one, you're in Mexico, so you're free!" We call our friends Terry & Valerie in La Paz and asked their opinion and decided to go back to the border (via the hour long line up).
In the line, I rolled my window down and asked a guy next to us about the whole visa thing... he said turn left at the next junction... after more searching we (totally by chance) found the Immigration Office in an unpaved back street. The people were really friendly and helpful, and we payed our $50 to get the 6 month visa. BTW we were the ONLY people there!
How ridiculous a system - you have to actually find the office to get a stamp in your passport!
Leanne is going to research this more, and find out what the real story is! Our first time here, we weren't going to risk travelling without the right documentation. Our first taste of Mexicaness.!
We have had an awesome drive down and are enjoying dinner a nice hotel near Loreto - tomorrow we drive the last short leg to La Paz. Molly will be very glad!
We will post more photos tomorrow and write about some funny things that happened on the way.
Adios amigos!
Love reading your posts! Glad you've had no hiccups and are almost there. Safe travels my friends. xox Jill
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