cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Colonial Cities and big RV'S do not mix

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
Advice and warning to those of you who are visiting Mexico for the first time, the old Colonial Cities to name a few: Taxco, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato have streets that an RV will not navigate big A's some big C's and long trailers, the streets are too narrow and will get stuck!

Try to avoid using GPS routing that is how most get in trouble reling on the instructions, consult with Google and use the ground view to actually see the spots that could be trouble some.

DO NOT drive trough down town, fastest way to get stuck!

Mexican Cities in general have narrow streets, very few are wide enough to allow you to manouver a turn at the corners.

Do enjoy the old Colonial Cities, they are beautiful and enchanting.

navegator
18 REPLIES 18

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
My uncle had a big bull with a ring on his nose, I know what you mean by being stuborn to make him turn, we had to turn him to get him out of the barn stall to take him the pasture come spring, my Uncle, one cousin and I were the only males that he would allaw in the enclosure, he really hated my brother did not obey or mind the girls, were able to back him maybe a meter and a half in a semi cyrcle, untill he realized he was going out side, then he would cooperate.

navegator

profdant139
Explorer II
Explorer II
(This is off-point -- but it is about oxen in Mexico, so I guess it is sort of ok.) Believe it or not, I have actually plowed in Mexico with an ox! I was an "exchange student" in 1970 in a village north of Taxco and south of Toluca. The program put me on a farm for three months, living in the farmhouse with the family. Wonderful people, and one of the greatest adventures of my life. No electricity, wood-fired gravity fed water heater, handmade tortillas every day.

And although they did not own an ox, a guy in the area did, and he would take the ox from farm to farm for plowing season, for a fee. The ox was so well trained that almost anyone could plow, if you learned a few simple commands (which I no longer remember).

It was not easy to keep up with the ox -- he walked slowly but steadily, and the clods of muddy earth were tough to walk on. This farm was up at high altitude, and the mornings were cold. The ox would get so hot that steam would come off his back.

But he was not nearly so clever as Thor -- it was a big chore to get the ox turned around at the end of the row. (I wonder if Swedish oxen might also have been more high-performance. Turbo boost, perhaps??) 😉
2012 Fun Finder X-139 "Boondock Style" (axle-flipped and extra insulation)
2013 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road (semi-beefy tires and components)
Our trips -- pix and text
About our trailer
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single list."

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
Best way to visit the Colonial Cities using Google Earth and maps type RV campground when you are parked on the City, it will point to the location of the park if there is one, not always dead on the spot but close, try to figure how to get there with out going in to town with the RV, and after you are settled take the toad to explore, it is advisable to go by taxi or public transport, some Cities do not have parking lots, you need to park were ever you find a spot and walk, that is the best way to see and explore the towns.

navegator

moisheh
Explorer
Explorer
We once stayed on a Hotel parking lot near La Ventana. There was a large field next to the parking lot wall. In the morning an Ox Cart pulled up. They unhitched the cart and attached a one share plough. A young boy with a canvas bag followed the plough and he sowed seeds into the furoughs and kicked the soil over the seeds. I watched in amazement. Was like stepping back in time. We left later that morning and a half mile down the road there was a John Deere articulated tractor ploughing a multi acre field. I didn't know John Deere made that type of tractor. Could have been locally modified. From ancient to ultra modern in 1/2 a mile!!

Moisheh

charlestonsouth
Explorer
Explorer
Navegator, I know this message has nothing to do with this thread, but I must say that was a beautiful story, similar to a Hans Christian Andersen story but a true one. Life sounded so simple in your story, but I'm sure physically hard on the body.

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
Horses are very inteligent, my uncle in Sweden had potatoe patch on a hill, the tractor could not handle the slope too steep, the Clydesdale had no bridle just the collar to pull the potatoe rake, at the end of the west rows we had to lift the rake and the horse would go 90 uphill until the rake cleared the row and would back down to start the eastward uphill row, the rake had two wheels, did not need to tell him anything he did the whole operation with out having to tell him anything.

We also used the hay wagon, that one could turn on its own length the horse would walk sideways until he pointed in the direction that he came in, beautiful horse we only used verbal comands or had signals if needed.

For Christmas time we used the sleigh, the horse loved pulling the girls, they cheated my aunt would give the girls apples to bribe him, we also cut the emergency fire wood in winter, work sleigh and horse to pull the trees out, can not do it in Summer to boggy.

The horses name was Thor.

navegator

profdant139
Explorer II
Explorer II
Thanks! I had no idea horses could push a wagon backward. I guess the yoke's on me! (Feeble wagon-related joke.)
2012 Fun Finder X-139 "Boondock Style" (axle-flipped and extra insulation)
2013 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road (semi-beefy tires and components)
Our trips -- pix and text
About our trailer
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single list."

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
Horses can be trained to back up, I do not know if oxen will, horses yes and actually depending on how the wagon or carrige is built they can have a tight turn radious, it all hinges on the front size of the tires and the hinge height under the wagon, some colonial towns in Mexico are on mountains and wide streets are impossible to construct, many of these towns are minning areas EG: Taxco old mining town, some cities in Europe are built were the houses practically touch one another, Gamla Stan (old town) in Stockholm has a street that at one end you walk side ways to clear the buildings, some bicycle handle bars will not fit trough.

navegator

profdant139
Explorer II
Explorer II
When you think about it, it is sort of odd that so many old towns have such narrow streets. In the days before cars, wagons needed a lot of room to turn around, and it is impossible (I think) to get the horses or oxen to walk backwards.

Certainly, in many old towns in the Western USA, the streets are extra-wide for exactly that reason.

A little puzzling. There must be an historical explanation that I am not seeing.
2012 Fun Finder X-139 "Boondock Style" (axle-flipped and extra insulation)
2013 Toyota Tacoma Off-Road (semi-beefy tires and components)
Our trips -- pix and text
About our trailer
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single list."

MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Explorer
Market Day

In any southern Mexico town can be a real adventure. I remember the last time through Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca.

Mex 200 passes through the center of town. Only on that day the street was jammed packed. I had to drive one half mile per hour through three blocks. People were being rubbed by the side of Quicksilver as I eased though the crowd.

I actually nudged people with the front bumper. They ambled out of the way like beachgoers avoiding a wave. Thank god for those tall front windows. When I got to Tepanatepec I checked the outside. Not the tiniest scuff. All exterior handles are recessed. They are shiny chrome and I buff them like a mirror. There wasn't a single fingerprint on any of them nor was the 10-speed hanging off the front molested.

I know the short route to Rcho Sn Nicolas in San Cristobal de Las Casas, but for folks unfamilar with the route, park at a gasolinera on the "BOOLEY" a contraction of boulevard Mex 190 and explore the route via taxi. Straight down to Fco Leon can be a real bear in a long rig.

Every hear I hear about horror stories and Sn Miguel de Allende. Taking a scouting taxi ride is well worth the cost.

qtla9111
Nomad
Nomad
Yes, there are some places, like in any town or city in the world, where some rigs dare not go. But in general, with a bit of common sense and on board technology there shouldn't be an issue.

San Miguel de Allende has many avenues that are navigable by all rvs up to 45 ft.

In fact, there is a secured public parking lot within walking distance from the Parroquia just off of San Antonio. It is 160 pesos for 24 hours. We stayed that as recently as three months ago for three nights.

The same goes with Dolores Hidalgo. You can park in the secured parking lot behind the public auditorium with Proteccion Civil. This auditorium also has wifi and is four blocks from the main plaza.

Both of these towns are big rig friendly. Using GoogleMaps and GPS you can easily find routes that will accept your rigs. In all of Mexico there are three common bus sizes, 32, 35 and 45ft buses. They make great guides along with good mapping.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO.
2005 Dodge Durango Hemi
2008 Funfinder 230DS
Living and Boondocking Mexico Blog

Belgique
Explorer
Explorer
I ended up in El Centro of a small city. Really tight. All of a sudden I hear a burrp from a siren. Transito in a truck gets next to me and says "Amigo, your are lost!" I said "Si". After he figured out where we wanted to be he turned on his lights and cleared traffic all the way to the bypass. When we got there he and his partner got out, saluted and pointed to the on-ramp. Great memory but I hope to not do that again.
Hickory, NC
2007 Fleetwood Discovery 40X

Talleyho69
Moderator
Moderator
Such great advice. We have had several issues with exploring Mexico, too.

The bus system is fabulous, and once we moved out of a Blazer into an RV, we started riding buses and seeing so much more than we had in the past.

navegator
Explorer
Explorer
We have a 24 C, in 2003 we were at town in Oaxaca and were going to the next town, I know the roads from previous trips in the VW bus, two roads one long and a short one over a stone arched bridge, we took the bridge and if the RV did not fit go back and go the long way.

Got to the bridge and measured with the tape, good half foot to spare, at the other side there was joung kid with a donkey, the donkey was siting down in the middle of the road and maybe three feet on the bridge and the kid pulling on the roap, donkey would not budge.

Eased the truck on the bridge, got close to the kid and the donkey stood up and backed to the side and off the bridge to let us pass pulling the kid along, once we passed he went back to the same spot and sat down, you never know what one encounters in Mexico, take your time and enjoy the moments and life.

You have to live la vida loca!

navegator