Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	The Metro	3		2003/09/06, 11:29 am

Getting to and once there, getting around in Monterrey.

Cabs are very cheap in Monterrey. They are everywhere at all times of the day and night

On the other hand, certain cabs are driven by frustrated Grand Prix drivers who do not understand the physics of a collision between a bus or semi and one of Chevy's ultra mini cars. Be prepared to stop, pay your fare, and find another guy who wants to live longer. Not worth ending up as a traffic fatality for 20.00mn!

The MTY airport is in the middle of nowhere relative to the rest of Monterrey on the road to Nuevo Laredo, and something that must be factoed into a cost of a trip is the round trip to/from the airport which is a REAL pain in the ass. The taxis from the airport in MTY to downtown where all the hotels and action is are pretty expensive, as there is a taxi mafia monopoly and other than hotel shuttle buses there really aren't any other options. This is sheer idiocy as far as tourism goes, but, of course nobody gives a shit, and good luck trying to get one of the taxis dropping people off to give you a ride for fear of getting stopped by the airport security.

I did manage to get around this and get a cheap ride today, though. I had to lug my bags about a 1/3 mile past the rental cars and out to the main road's stoplight where I got a passing taxi to take me to the closest neighborhood Apodaca and drop me off at a public bus station. I gave the guy 10 pesos for the less than 1 mile ride, and the bus cost 6 pesos and took me right to Centro. This cost me about 45 minutes more than the taxi would have, and I'm not sure if that bus is running past 10 PM at night (though most go until at least midnight in MTY), but I am damned fucking tired of paying those taxi pricks, and if I saved 180 pesos by doing it, it was worth it. Obviously this is not an option if you have a lot of baggage.

Porker, you may not have realized it, but you had a "brush with greatness." Apodaca is the hometown of one of Mexico's all-time biggest musical groups--Bronco. I don't think they are together anymore, but in the 80s they were all the rage.

BTW that same type of airport mafia situation is alive and well for those that want to fly into Laredo, TX

Lol, Gregorio, most people would only have seen a suburb of one helluva impressive collection of industrial parks!

Porker, just for the record, the airport is on the road to Miguel Aleman/Roma, Texas border.

I'm sure you're correct, but you do pass right by the airport going to /from Nuevo Laredo as well.

If anyone is ever traveling from McAllen to Laredo on Hwy 83, Roma is worth a brief stop because they have a very scenic spot on a bluff right by the river that looks down on Miguel Aleman. If memory serves me correctly, the movie "Viva Zapata" was partially filmed in Roma.

That's also about the only stretch of road on the trip where if you look south, way out in the distance, you start to make out the mountains down by Monterrey. Starr County, Texas--pretty interesting area...

Porker, when you took the cheap charlie cab from MTY airport to Apodaca bus station, what did you tell the guy, something like "me puedes llevar a la central camionera Apodaca?"

How far would you estimate it was from just outside the airport to the Apodaca bus station, a mile, two miles. Thanks

Huevon, you can't take a taxi FROM the airport -- a whole lot of pissed of taxi mafia types will start getting VERY ugly. You have to walk out to the main road, which is probably 200 yards or so, and then get a taxi there, and getting them to use the meter is not always easy. Then you just get them to take you to the closest city bus stop, which is about a mile towards Monterrey. Ask them to take you to the Oxxo, the bus stop is right in front of that. It's not any sort of bus station, and shade may be hard to come by, but the bus headed to Centro Monterrey will pass every 10 minutes or so.

Yeah, I understand I'll need to walk out past the rental car area to the main highway.

Let me get this right, on that that same main highway, back about one mile towards Monterrey is an Oxxo with the bus stop right by it? That sounds easy enough. I was worried that the nearest bus stop in Apodaca was some distance away--that or the cabbie would try to give me the ol' chingoleo. You gotta know they have figured out what you are trying to do.

I was there in March, did pay the $20 USD taxi fare to get from el centro to the airport (which is waaaaay the hell out there). It was nighttime so I got lazy. At least since I've been there and and see the layout, I feel much better prepared to do the cheap charlie deal.

I love/hate Mexico.

Huevon,

I truly appreciate your attempt to save money from the vultures who run the taxis out of the Monterrey airport. The prices they charge, as you noted, are truly out of line. However, I think it's best to suck it up and pay the fares.

Look at it this way. How much is your time worth? If walking out to the main highway, taking a taxi to the Oxxo and waiting for a bus that will take you 10 times as long to get into centro is worth your time and effort then by all means do it. I figure my time is more valuable that the 4 -5 dollars I am being ripped off for. (I've taken a metered taxi from centro to the airport and the fare ran around 150 pesos.)

Oh and this is coming from the guy who, on his first trip to the PI, took the bus from Manila to AC because I saved enough for two barfines on the Perimeter. The big difference is it took me about the same amount of time to take the bus as it would have to take a private car or taxi.

I am never happy about paying the usurious amounts that the taxis charge when I fly into Monterrey. However, unless I begin to fly there constantly, I'll justt grit my teeth and bear it.

Just my humble opinion,

EA

A lot of it depends on my state of mind at the time and how much baggage I have.

Since I'm gonna be traveling with one carry on bag, I figure why not save the money. We'll see what my state of mind is--ha, ha.

I got seriously hammered going to and from airports in taxis last March. I opted to drink Tecate far too long and far too late to ever take the bus from el centro to Apodaca, which I had judiciously planned.

Later that evening I took a financial haymaker to the jaw getting from Puerto Vallarta airport after midnight to the hotel area. Expect to take a pounding anytime you get into a place like PV late at night...

Huevon, yeah, you got it, take a taxi back towards Monterrey to the nearest Oxxo. Carl's Jr. is directly across the street as well.

El Apodo, you make good points about time and comfort level being valuable. If one is traveling with luggage, I would certainly not recommend this option, and as hot as it's getting these days, not recommended in any event. But you can take the taxi bus option for less than two bucks, so it saves you nearly 20 off the cost of a ripoff taxi. If you are traveling light and arrive at a time when the sun's not already blazing, the cheap charlie way could be worth it.

It still amazes me that you can take a first class (and often EMPTY) air-con bus to the NEXT STATE OVER (90 minute trip) for LESS MONEY than taking a taxi from the airport into Monterrey. That taxi mafia has really bent the traveling public over and is repeatedly penetrating them.

El Apodo is right Porker... to many damn inconveniences.
If you are carrying to many bags it is HARD. Specially right now when the thermometer is hitting at least 95 degrees in the day and 85 at night.