| It
was to be my 10th wedding anniversary and since
my husband was busy working and also trying to get
our new house built, I had figured it would be a
quiet, non-eventful anniversary. I decided to
"take a break" from being a wife, so I had
made plans to be out of town to bring our children back from their visit
with grandpa and grandma.
As
the days passed and the time for our children to go
to grandpa and grandma's drew closer, my husband kept
asking if I was sure I didn't want to take a
trip. Um, no. I don't want to drive to
Alaska and back via Canada in 10 days. Um,
no. I don't want to drive to Glacier View
National Park and back in 8 days. Um,
no. I don't want to go to Mexico in 7
days. Wait a minute, Mexico? Would we be
rushing to get there so I could stand around for
hours while he took pictures of all the different
scenes? (He's a photographer) No, it will be
real vacation. Not a working one? Well, okay
then -
let's go to Mexico!
The
drive to Mexico, via Baton Rouge, LA, then Houston and
McAllen, TX, was rather uneventful. It (as
always) was a long drive to cross Texas and we made
plans to stay in McAllen and cross the border the
next day after exchanging money. Our first
mistake was to assume that banks would change
our money. Nope, we had to have an account
with them, but we were told to go to a currency
exchange shop (they were rather plentiful, now that
we knew what to look for). My husband
exchanged some dollars to pesos and we were on our
way.
Our
second mistake was to assume there would be
signs saying "Exit Now for Mexico" or even
anything else less blatant. But, no, there
were no signs indicating the border crossing (at
least, we didn't see any) - so, we looked at our map
and saw that a road we had just passed went in the
general direction of the border, so we turned our
vehicle around and exited.
 Since
we were going in a general southerly direction we
figured we were on the right road...when sure
enough, long lines of traffic (well, not too bad)
were seen in front of us. As we moved closer we
saw that there was a toll to go into Mexico!
That was our third mistake - not having small
denominations of American currency. It cost $2
to go through the border crossing (I don't remember
the equivalent amount is in pesos) although it
wasn't a lot of money, we use plastic a lot and only
had large bills. Needless to say, we barely
scraped the change together! Actually, I
don't even remember if we used any documents to
enter Mexico.
After crossing the
Rio Grande and coming upon the Mexico side there was
a sudden split - one line for those with items to
declare and the other for those who didn't.
Since we obviously didn't have anything to declare,
we weaved our way around the orange cones
inconveniently placed in our path.
Ahhh....finally
we were through the border crossing and were amazed
and thrilled at how quickly and easily we were able
to enter Mexico! Now we just had to decipher
the roads to get on the Hwy 54 to get to our hotel
in Monterrey. Thankfully, my husband is a
master of languages and had already become fluent in
Spanish, so I was dependent on him to get us out of
Reynosa, Mexico and on the way to Monterrey.
Everyone we talked to wasn't familiar with the
highway we needed, so we took their suggestions and
got on an alternate highway that also went into
Monterrey. We managed, after a few false
turns, to get on the highway and headed out of town
to our destination - Monterrey.
The exhilaration
we felt was indescribable - we were on
our way! After about thirty minutes of
driving, I kept seeing warning signs - and being
unable to find the appropriate word in our compact
Spanish/English dictionary, I began to get a little
nervous. When I saw the military policeman
standing at attention in his stand with a gun by his
side - I was extremely nervous. Ahead of us
was a checkpoint, and we were motioned to stop.
 It
was at this time that my husband decided a fluency
in Spanish would not help our situation, so when the
policeman stopped us and spoke broken English, he
replied in English. Apparently, from what we
could understand, we would have to turn
around. We were supposed to have a permit to
drive to Monterrey. Since we didn't have one,
we were not allowed to pass the checkpoint.
With a mixed feeling of dread (for returning to the
crazy streets in Reynosa, many with no signs) and
relief (that nothing bad had happened), we turned
the vehicle around.
Apparently,
our fourth mistake was not getting a vehicle
permit while in Reynosa. We were told, when
stopped, that the border was where we should have
obtained the permit. After a few more
wrong turns, we made it to the border crossing where
we'd come in. I knew that I would be of no use
(speaking no Spanish except thank you), so I stayed
in the car while my husband spoke to a guard.
*Sigh*
We were not at the correct place, the vehicle permit
place wasn't there but a couple streets
over. Getting back in the car and
turning on the same street we'd navigated a hour or
so earlier, we noticed a non-descript sign
indicating "Vehicular Permits" in the
general direction we were headed. (It was no wonder
we missed it!)
 After
following the signs to the permit office, and not
seeing it, we parked the car so my husband
could make inquiries as to its location. After
thirty minutes of searching, it was finally
found. What had started out as the easiest
border crossing was now quickly turning into a
nightmare. Admittedly, it was partially our
fault for not doing research on travel to Mexico,
but it seemed like requirements this important
should have been plastered all over websites and
even at the border crossing!
It
dawned on me, while Lee was inside the building
trying to get the driving permit, that we would
probably need our car title for proof of
ownership. Sure enough, that was our fifth
mistake. We didn't have our registration
nor our tag receipt in the glove compartment - they
were safely ensconced in our filing cabinet at
home. Somehow, the little insurance card we
DID have wasn't received quite as well and was
promptly turned down.
Now,
several hours after entering Mexico initially, we
were having to leave. Fortunately, we were not
leaving empty handed. In our desperate hands
were two visitor visas allowing us entry into Mexico
for 7 days. This was our sixth mistake
- not checking to see if visas were needed for entry
to Mexico. If we hadn't discussed our travails
to other foreigners outside the office we might have
made another mistake. They told us to
be sure and come back to the office and return the
visa forms, otherwise we would be fine $40 for not
reporting our exit.
 Alas,
we were on our way...eventually ending up sitting in
the long, bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to get into
the United States. When speaking with the
border officer, he asked us the nature of our trip
to Mexico. When he found out we weren't able
to get a driving permit, (and after my husband told
him we planned to take a bus) he told us where a
legal long-term parking lot was located. He
emphasized that we were not to park anywhere else
because we would be towed. Of course, that was
not something we wanted to experience or endure on
our second return to the US later that week, so we
followed the officer's directions and found the lot.
For
security purposes, it didn't seem safe but it
was somewhere we could park and not worry about
getting towed. Since we didn't know where the
bus terminal in Reynosa was, we decided to pack a
little lighter! After emptying out unnecessary
clothes and other items (i.e., extra clothes,
snacks, etc.), we locked the car and headed off to
the border crossing.
It
was an incredibly hot day. I knew it was hot
because the air conditioning in our SUV barely kept
us cool enough to be comfortable, but getting out in
it and walking next to lines of cars and trucks was
almost unbearable. We approached the crossing
where we noticed we had to pay a fee to walk across
the bridge. $.25. Yes, that's 25
cents. (Another problem, we didn't bring any
American change nor did we have pesos in small
amounts.) Eventually we got it sorted out and
started our trek across the bridge into
Mexico. To be blunt, it was a better
experience in the car!
After
getting into Mexico, again, with no difficulty, we
started our trek toward the bus station - after
shooing away offers from taxi drivers, that
is. The directions were simple, walk straight
until we see a pharmacy and then turn left.
The only  problem was that when we'd walked about 150
feet, there was a Y in the road. Hmmmm, is
going straight to the left of the Y or the
right? Thankfully, my husband didn't listen to
me (my impulse would have been to follow the street
markings) and asked someone who told us we needed to
turn right. After no more mishaps or
false turns, we made it to the very busy bus station
and found a bus service who would take us to
Monterrey for $30 ($15 each). Thankfully they
took credit cards, so we paid, got our tickets and
headed off to the bus holding area. The bus
had to leave almost immediately, but before we were
able to go very far, DH decided to change some money
and without much comment took off out of the bus
station. Everyone looked at me and started
talking, but I had to raise my hands and shrug my
shoulders in ignorance - I have a very
limited understanding of Spanish! Finally DH
came back in and we were quickly escorted outside
where we were taken to a bus, our bags loaded and we
got on. It was a very nice, clean bus with a
TV for movie showings. Our seats were
the first two, so we promptly sat down, tried
to cool off and prepared for our 3 hour journey to
Monterrey.
Frankly,
I think I'd prefer a bus anytime to driving to
Mexico. The checkpoints alone freaked me out,
even though we weren't doing anything wrong, just
the idea of possibly getting into trouble and not
understanding why gave me the willies. After
going to through a toll booth and a couple of check
points - and several hours of less than inspiring
scenery, we finally arrived in Monterrey.
Well,
we arrived in Monterrey, but we didn't get off at
the central bus terminal. DH decided we'd get
off when a few other people got off the bus - in the
middle of somewhere in Monterrey. While I
stood there wondering what on earth we were doing
and where on earth (more specific than just
"Monterrey") we were, DH decided to go
find out how to get to our hotel. (I.e., a
little argument ensued - not a good start to our
anniversary trip in Mexico, but then again...the
whole trip thus far had been a rough start!
LOL) A taxi driver offered to take us, but DH
thought he was trying to rip us off and send him
away. After conversing with a business owner,
another taxi was flagged down and (for the
same price as the original driver) we were on our
way.
Not
a mistake we made, but a good idea is to get a fixed price
to your destination before entering a taxi,
especially since many taxis we rode in didn't have
meters. If you don't get the price
beforehand, you might pay dearly for your
ride! If the price quoted by the taxi driver
isn't acceptable (if you
know approximately what it should cost),
negotiate.
 After
about 30 minutes of hot, windy air being blown in
the car, we arrived at our hotel. My seventh
mistake was to reserve a hotel near the
airport. I had some hotel reward program points that entitled
us to three free hotel nights and I thought the
website said a shuttle would take us to various
points around Monterrey. Unfortunately, that
was not so. The shuttle would take us to
various businesses outside Monterrey, near
the hotel and airport. Oops, my bad!
Every day we had to take a taxi to and from
the hotel at the cost of about $30-40 a day, not
including taxi rides while in Monterrey. So, a
helpful hint would be to make sure your hotel is
near the attractions you want to visit or least
offers a shuttle to get you there!
Something
we didn't experience, but what my husband would have
loved to, was public transportation. There was
a bus stop not far from our hotel, but no one (not
even taxi drivers) recommend us trying it.
That's one thing I can't give advice on, but if it's
like China or other countries I would say keep
a tight grip on your purse or wallet.
 Since
most of the other experiences in Monterrey were
relatively uneventful, my only other advice is to hold
onto your passport or other documentation.
On our return bus ride to Reynosa, at one of the
Customs checkpoints, the bus pulled over and a
customs/immigration official asked for our
documentation. Once we presented our
passport/birth certificate/visas, he moved on.
The
only other problem we incurred was that upon arrival
back in the US (after waiting in the line of people
entering or trying to enter the US) was that our SUV
was safe and
sound - in spite of my previous misgivings - with
the exception of a dead battery. So, if you
are going to park your car and enter Mexico by foot,
make sure your vehicle's battery is in good condition!
It
was certainly an experience I'll never forget and I
hope that my mistakes help you have the perfect trip
to Mexico. Hasta luego!
If
you have any other tips that may be of help - please
email TravelBelle!
Places
Visited In and Around Monterrey, Mexico
 Fundidora
Park
- FREE
A
former steel mill site turned into a park of sorts
in downtown Monterrey. While we were there one
more a large group of senior citizens had arrived
and were taking a brisk walk around the spacious
grounds. The only disappointment for me was
that I thought we could climb the steel mill - we
couldn't.
For
those with children, next to Fundidora is Sesame
Place, a large water park.
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