PATRICK MULLEN
<[email protected]>
Road breakdowns are a hard reality here in Mexico. It is best to invest time and effort to deal with these unwelcome events a painlessly as possible. Here are a couple of tips which may sound a little lame, but they may be helpful to the traveler in Mexico
Don't run into anything while you are driving. This means your vehicle needs to have good tires and brakes. It also means you need to pay close attention to what is in front of, and to the side of you (and sometimes to the rear). Don't drive under the influence.. Don't drive too fast, especially in bad weather.
A note about stop signs, traffic lanes and road dividers, turn signals, and traffic signals: They seem to be a mere suggestion for some people here....
Establish communications links while on the road. Carry a cell phone which is configured to connect while located here, and/or HAM radio with you while traveling. A phone card is better than nothing. Most public phones in the Tijuana/Rosarito area do not accept coins.
Useful Phone numbers in the Tijuana/Rosarito area:
Police ........060
Fire ........068
Cruz Roja ...066
(Dispatchers in Mexico usually are Spanish-speaking only)
Eddie's Towing (Tijuana-U.S.) 680-5747, cell 044(664) 49-92-70. Eddie will get you into the States for $120/130 and won't jerk you around. If you have a rear wheel drive or 4WD vehicle, carry your own wrenches, tape, and mechanic's wire to drop and stow the drive shaft and u-joint bearings. Eddie usually forgets to carry them.
Economy Tires (in Chula Vista) 1430 Broadway, near Palomar. 1(619) 422-8776. Owner-Cesar Palacios is a reputable mechanic.
Ham Radio repeaters accessable in the San Ysidro/Tijuana area along the coast south of kilometer 10 on the toll road:
146.085 (+) K6OPY 100.0 subtone Mt. Soledad
145.640- WB6WLV 107.2 subtone Mt. Otay
147.330- XE2RFY 186.2 subtone Cerro Bola
147.180- W6GMQ 110.9 subtone Coronado (closed autopatch)
