I just couldn't wait to post this picture. It has a companion sign that says END HASSLE FREE VEHICLE ZONE with a slash across the picture! The last time I passed it my camera froze up right as I was about to take the shot. Lastima! We were about 300 miles south of the US / Mexico border traveling in the "hassle free zone" without a care in the world. We motored down the highway, wind in our hair as we threw unfinished food and aluminum cans out the window with impunity and zero qualms of conscience. With only 79 clics to go before the hassles started I wanted to pull over and get a picture of the last sign. As soon as you leave the special buffered protection of the zone all bets are off. You don't know what's gonna happen after that. I never know whether to breathe a sigh of relief upon entering the zone or to expect more hassles as I leave it. I have been stopped in Mexico at least a dozen times for traffic violations...both on the highway and in small towns. Also, I've been stopped in the hassle free zone and been threatened with the loss of my car, my license plates and my driver's license. Lucky for me I know some of the local jargon and it seems that I am somehow always related, one way or another, to the cops that pull me over. I think only one time did I ever pay a fine. It was for $5...after which the officer apologized for lying about the other "infractions" he had tried to lay to my credit (and after recognizing that it was just my Nordic features that hid the fact that I could understand him and that gave him a momentary lapse in judgement). I gave him a ride home as his shift was ending right after my illegal U turn. So it is that us intrepid world travelers must never take for granted the always wary and ever vigilant keepers of the law. I'm convinced that the Wal-Mart greeters were at one time Costco receipt guards in the prime of their youth and that Mexican traffic cops where...well, very friendly once you got to know them.
