NOT SO FAST IN MEXICO
“I fell in love with Mexico. I fell in love with the people.”
MATTHEW HEINEMAN
“I SHALL REMOVE THE number plate and take it to the police station,” said possibly the best-looking policewoman I have ever met. The form-fitting Mexican municipal police uniform didn’t hurt, either. “When you pay the fine, it will be returned to you.” She reminded me irresistibly of Michelle Dubois from the TV show ‘Allo ‘Allo, who used to say: “Listen very carefully; I shall say this only once,” but the policewoman spoke English with only a very slight accent and the situation wasn’t funny.
Don’t get me wrong, I like La Paz - and not only for its policewomen. In a country that is apparently irretrievably messy it stands out for its litter-free roads and streets. But I had been warned about the police in Baja California and their tendency to extort fifty bucks American at any and every opportunity. I was on my way back north at this stage and had encountered no such hustle, and somehow, I felt that things weren’t going to go that way in this case, either.
This was not the only time that Baja confused me. In a departure from my usual habit when visiting a new place, I had actually done quite a bit of research. Normally, I just check what is likely to get me incarcerated or beaten up and try to avoid that; otherwise I wing it from the start. That has stood me in good stead in thirty or forty countries. Mexico, though, was a little different. I believed some of the scary tales, and as a result tried to be prepared. That wasn’t really the
