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|country = of Mexico

'''Mexico''' is a country in [[North America]]. Hitching Despite its notoriety, hitchhiking in Mexico is extremely easynot only possible but it can be a rather enjoyable experience. In many places, locals hitch Due to get home from the grocery store, etc. You'll likely ride in a the back of a lot of pick-ups, and many people will offer you food and drinks, especially Coca Cola! Whenever you're going to wait for a longer time, its sheer size it's going impossible to be due give a general hitchability rating for this country: the experiences vary from state to low trafficstate. On heavily touristed routes with poor public transportationAs anywhere, payment is sometimes expectedyou can go fast on highways and very slow on small less used roads.

In rural parts of Mexico it's common == License plates == Mexican license plates are very easy to see whole families hitchhiking together, or for a pick-up to stop for several different groups interpret: The name of hitchers until the back of issuing federal state is written on them (as you will easily notice once in the truck is completely fullcountry). Because pick-up trucks are the vehicle of choice, When traveling longer distances or in central Mexico with its many small states it's quite easy to get rides just outside of any small town can therefore be useful knowing which state your destination is in (knock on the back window when if you're ready to get outhave one). == Cities ==__TOC__* [[Acapulco]]* [[Arriaga]]* [[Ciudad Valles]]* [[Guadalajara]]* [[Guanajuato (city)| Guanajuato]]* [[Mexico City]] (capital)* [[Oaxaca (City)|Oaxaca]]* [[Palenque]]* [[Poza Rica]]* [[Puebla (city)|Puebla]]* [[Querétaro (city)| Querétaro]]* [[San Cristóbal de las Casas]]* [[San Luis Potosí (city)| San Luis Potosí]]* [[Tehuantepec]]* [[Toluca]]* [[Tuxtla]]* [[Xalapa (City)|Xalapa]]

Useful [[Spanish]] words == Hitchability ==Peculiarity of Mexican hitchhiking are "ride" and "aventón"the ubiquitous pick-up trucks where you just jump in the back, hold onto your hat, both meaning a lift. Near kiss the [[Guatemala|Guatemalan]] border wind and forget about communicating with the word "jalón" driver. Many people will offer you food and drinks, especially Coca Cola! On routes with poor public transportation, payment is usedsometimes expected and ordinary pickups magically turn into ''collectivos'' (shared taxis).

== Where to hike? ==The best place to get a ride is On the small roads, however, hitchhiking can sometimes be time-consuming – waiting times of 2–3 hours are not on the side unheard of the road or an on-ramp. Be prepared with patience, like water and sun cream. Although in many other countriesplaces locals hitch to get home from the grocery store for instance, but at petrol stations hitchhiking as a lifestyle or exits from shopping centers, as a means of long-distance travel is not so common in truck stops or at the restaurants where truckers eatMexico and not everybody might immediately understand what you want. Some petrol stations in So, on the north don't allow people to do thatmountain paths for instance, but you can try your brain should be wired more to speak with enjoy the manager, it works sometime. Otherwise, just stay by magnificent views and eating the cashier abundance of fruit the petrol station, or at the door nature has on offer rather than making a lot of the store or anything else (they can't forbid you that), and ask. Nevertheless if you don't ask people and stick out your thumb you can still make good distanceprogress.

As for security, most hitchhikers never encounter any major problems. Mexico is an enormous country and experiences vary a lot from state to state. If you want to avoid risks, you can avoid the states close to the border with USA - Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Durango, i.e. take buses and collectivos when traveling north of the line between Tampico, San Luis Potosi and Mazatlan (the map). Apparently also the states of Guerrero, Michoacán and Veracruz can be risky. If you go hitchhiking in Mexico, being able to speak and understand at least a bit of Spanish is nearly mandatory. Apart from touristic areas, most people you encounter do not speak English. If you know Spanish you can communicate way better with people and get a closer connection with them. Useful [[Spanish]] words are "ride" and "aventón", both meaning a lift. Near the [[Guatemala|Guatemalan]] border the word "jalón" is used. No one understands what hitchhiking or autostop means so say “busco/buscamos un ride” instead when looking for a ride. Vegetarians/vegans: if you ask food carts or taco places if they have anything vegetarian, and they say no, look at the ingredients they've got in their work area and get creative! One vegetarian traveller´s favorite is tomato and avocado taco ([[Chinahitch]][http://hitchwiki.org/en/User:Chinahitch].  === Signs ===

However, if you're in an area with a lot of local traffic, it might be useful to make a sign that says "Siguiente Gasolinera" (next gas station). Then you can get a ride to a better hitchhiking spot. Similarly, signs that say "reten" (checkpoint) or "caseta" (tollbooth) can be really useful, especially when cars are passing quickly and the checkpoint or tollbooth is only 10 or 20 km away.

== License plates = Where to hitchhike? === Mexican license plates are very easy to interpret: The name of You can hitchhike pretty much everywhere, even on the issuing federal state is written highway (although pretty much no one stops at such high speeds). In general, asking at gas stations (''gasolinera'') or even traffic lights (''semáforo''), especially on them (as bus stops and the like, can get you will far pretty easily notice once . Sometimes it is better to be among the cars, in the traffic lights, and directly ask rides from people who have open windows. Sometimes you can just jump in the country)back of a pick-up without even telling where you are going and just tap in the window when you want to get off. When travelling longer distances  Other good places include exits from shopping centers, in truck stops or at the restaurants where truckers eat. Some petrol stations in central Mexico the north don't allow people to do that, but you can try to speak with its many small states it the manager. It works sometimes. Otherwise, just stay by the cashier of the petrol station or at the door (they can therefore be useful knowing which state your destination is in (if 't forbid you have onethat)and ask.

[[File:TortugasTope-mexico.jpg|right200px|thumb|300pxleft|New born turtles in the coast of Mexico, walking towards the ocean.Hitching at a tope (speedbump)]]

When traveling You can also catch long distances with no specific plan, it becomes difficult to arrange shelter through hospitality networksrides at the exits of the cities when you travel on the highways. Also, in many small towns few people Many cities have access to the internet.Luckily, it's really easy and safe to stay over in speed bumps (''tope'gas stations''' or '''fire stations.'''If you get stuck on ) where the road at night, you can ask to be dropped off highway begins at any PEMEX (the only gasoline company edge of Mexico)town. If you talk directly Where there are police posts at the entrance or exits to the people towns, there are usually topes too. On smaller highways in chargemore rural areas, they will tell you what's the safest spot to sleep there are often speed bumps at. Many gas stations also have free showers and you don't need to be a truck driver to use them.When you're inside of a every little town, making it's better easy to go to the fire station. The firemen are very friendly and they are used to host broke travelers from exotic placesmove quickly with a number of shorter rides.

If youMany of the larger, faster highways operate on a toll system. It're traveling through the West Coast it might s common for there to be difficult to find a free camping site at road (''libre'') parallel to the popular beaches. However, almost every beach town has a paid one (''cuota''), the former being slower and easier to catch rides, but the latter much more likely for getting longer rides. The tollbooths ('turtle camp'caseta'' ) can be good places too, and the ones near to the cities can usually be reached by local transport. However, sometimes you have to stand about 100m past the tollbooth itself (ask the attendants where you can camp stand), so traffic has often already picked up speed by the time they get to you and it can be difficult for freecars to pull over. You might be asked Fortunately, there are often restrooms, gas stations, and stores just past the ''caseta'', so you can talk to do some work drivers that stop there. Signs can come in exchange, like counting and liberating baby turtles!!!really handy at tollbooths.

== Precautions Safety ==It is even less recommendable than in other countries to take drugs or weapons with you, especially as of 2010 since the Mexican government, backed by the US ADA DEA who are actually present in Mexico (!!) have decided to crack down on narco and weapon trafficking. Therefore you likely will be checked at one of the numerous check points, especially in the north as you near the US border. But it's also good to know that the soldiers hardly ever search all the way through a large back-pack, unless you answer their questions really bad. If the vehicle you're riding in does get stopped just stay calm, show your passport, say the magic words "''turista''" ("tourist") and "''de paseo nada más''" ("just passing"), and if they ask to see your stuff open you bag and show them that it's all clothes and stuff.

Also, in the south, you rides your drivers might ask you about your immigration status and advise you of immigration check points.

== Notes Personal experiences ==<gallery style="float:right; width:200px; margin-left:25px;">Image:Katja and Augustas in Mexico.JPG|Hitchhikers [[Katja and Augustas]] barely fit with all their stuff in the front of this pickup.Image:Katja hitchhiking in Mexico.JPG|[[Katja and Augustas|Katja]] is ready to get a ride! Image:Katja on Baja California a pickup in Mexico.JPG|A usual ride on a back of a pickup.Image:Augustas is helping to push the truck in Mexico.JPG|Sometimes hitchhikers can be of help to a driver - here [[Lithuania]]n hitchhiker [[Katja and Yucatan ==Augustas|Augustas]] helping to push a truck somewhere in Mexico.</gallery>*:''It may be extremely easy to hitch in mainland Mexico, but in the Baja California peninsula, it's a completely different story! In [[Baja California]], there is only one road, the HWY 1, which isn't hell to hitchhike on but requires a lot of patience: there are often large distances in between cities (which are barely even cities, rather a few ranches and cactus farms) and even larger distances between petrol stations (example: El Rosario is the last one before Guerrero Negro, about 360 km further down in [[Baja California Sur]]). Getting stuck in the middle of the desert is NOT fun, and many people can only take you from town to town as it is local traffic or gringos doing one of the many races down in the Baja. Also, unless you are planning on staying in Baja and going back up towards the USA-Mexico border, you should hitchhike from [[Mexicali]] south. If you plan on heading to mainland Mexico from the Baja, you must take a ferry in either [[La Paz (Baja California Sur)|La Paz]] or [[Cabo San Lucas]] towards [[Mazatlán]], which costs about 80$ USD."

*:''The Yucatan Peninsula ''([[Campeche]], [[Yucatán]], [[Quintana Roo]])'', on the other hand, outshines all Mexico for its ease and amiability of hitchhiking. You might not even fall victim to Moctezuma revenge eating old papaya slushies and bean burritos out of the trash in some of those tourist strips. Hey!"

== Map==:''In 10 months and tens of thousands of km covered by thumb, my only "bad" experience was between Pto. Angel and [[Oaxaca (City)|Oaxaca City]] (a notorious drug route, as I later learned). The Guia Roji road atlas with driver asked me to drive and once I was behind the wheel informed me that the maps van was full of Colombia's finest. I nearly shat myself, but the major cities is maybe worth the 100 Pesosexperience turned out to be quite interesting, but people tend as we were forced to make several detours to know avoid police checkpoints, taking me through beautiful and remote parts of the roads so if you ask lots of questions you can also [[Oaxaca|Oaxacan]] mountains I otherwise never would have discovered. Be careful not to get around without set up. A very, very, rare occurance, but onethat can happen.''

:''I traveled for 8 months in Mexico, all by thumb. I came down Baja California, hitched a sailboat from La Paz to Mazatlán, steamed over to [[Veracruz (City)|Veracruz]] for the carnival, went up and around the Yucatán, then down into [[Chiapas]], Guatemala, and then back to Veracruz, across to all the big central cities, and down the Pacific coast to Oaxaca and Guatemala once more. I got picked up by plenty of self-proclaimed drug dealers. Whatever. Lovely country. --[[User:Chael777|Chael777]]''

== Cities ==* :''The small less trafficky roads, in the mountains and in Chiapas for instance, can test your patience. If you are coming from south (Guatemala) people might be afraid to pick you up because there are so many checkpoints. Even the ones who do stop ask if you have problems with authorities, if you are smuggling drugs or if you have a passport."--[[Mexico CityUser:Astikain|Astikain]] (capital)* [[Oaxaca (City)User talk:Astikain|Oaxacatalk]]) 15:59, 4 June 2013 (CEST) "I hitchhiked for two months through the mainland and had a great experience. People are very friendly and willing to help. The biggest thing is getting outside the city. The good thing about the big highways is you are more likely to get a long ride, the bad thing it can be rough to have someone pull over. The small villages are easier to get rides but tend to be short."-Jason == Useful resources ==* [[Poza RicaFile:Tortugas.jpg|right|thumb|300px|New born turtles in the coast of Mexico, walking towards the ocean.]]* [[Acapulco]]* [[Guadalajara]]=== Map===* [[San Cristóbal]] de las CasasThe Guia Roji road atlas with the maps of the major cities is maybe worth the 100 Pesos, but people tend to know the roads so if you ask lots of questions you can also get around without one.

== Gallery = Shelter ===<gallery>Image:Katja and Augustas in Mexico.JPG|Hitchhikers [[Katja and Augustas]] barely fit with all their stuff in the front of this pickup.Image:Katja hitchhiking in Mexico.JPG|[[Katja and Augustas|Katja]] is ready to get a ride! Image:Katja on a pickup in Mexico.JPG|A usual ride on a back of a pickup.Image:Augustas is helping to push the truck in Mexico.JPG|Sometimes hitchhikers can be of help to a driver - here [[Lithuania]]n hitchhiker [[Katja and Augustas|Augustas]] helping to push a truck somewhere in Mexico.</gallery>{{nomadwiki}}

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