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hack

Aug 12, 2010, 8:36 PM

Post #1 of 11 (3668 views)

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Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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Hi all...

We're planning to overnight tomorrow in Saltillo and drive to Piedras Negras early morning. If we leave by 7 from Saltillo can we be at the border by 10? And, where do I cancel my temporary import permit for my car? At the Allende office or at the border itself? Thanks for any/all replies, and thanks for the help many of you have provided over the whole course of our summer here. It's been great, and I hope we're back next summer too.

Bests,

Matt

Reefhound

Aug 12, 2010, 8:47 PM

Post #2 of 11 (3664 views)

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Re: [hack] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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I think that it is more like 4 hours drive. You cancel the permit at Allende, the retorno permiso will be on the left hand (southbound) side of the road so right after passing the checkpoint make a left into the parking lot of the immigration building. The permit return station is a small shack adjacent to the road.

hack

Aug 12, 2010, 8:52 PM

Post #3 of 11 (3660 views)

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Re: [Reefhound] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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Point-to-Point has it at 4 hours too, but if I recall it accurately (who knows if I do!) it's a fairly clean stretch of road. Maybe it passes through a few towns or something and that keeps the average speed down? I forget the details, but do recall crossing from Eagle's Pass at 730am or so and making it to Potosi by around 4pm...

Reefhound

Aug 12, 2010, 9:01 PM

Post #4 of 11 (3655 views)

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Re: [hack] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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This past March it took me 4:15 from border to cuota at Ramos Arizpe. That was drive time, subtracting for time stopped at Allende. I went through the center of Monclova rather than the bypass which I've heard is a mordida trap. Traffic was kinda heavy and lots of lights and construction. The bypass might save 15 minutes. And it depends on where in Saltillo you start from. But in reality, when driving in Mexico you just can't work on a precise timetable. You never know when there will be a big traffic backup due to a new checkpoint, road construction, or whatever. I would budget 4 to 5 hours and be pleasantly surprised if it's less.

hack

Aug 12, 2010, 9:05 PM

Post #5 of 11 (3653 views)

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Re: [Reefhound] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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Yeah, fair enough. We had hoped to get to the border early morning, but I guess noon isn't so bad. Has anyone overnighted closer to the border than Saltillo? We've heard Saltillo is calm, but if we can get closer that's ideal.

EDIT: what about moving closer and staying in some autohotel? Wise/unwise? We are pretty fixated on the idea of an early crossing being ideal, and we'd love to be in Dallas for dinner...

(This post was edited by hack on Aug 12, 2010, 9:17 PM)

Altahabana

Aug 13, 2010, 5:12 AM

Post #6 of 11 (3632 views)

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Re: [Reefhound] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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In Reply To

..... I went through the center of Monclova rather than the bypass which I've heard is a mordida trap. Traffic was kinda heavy and lots of lights and construction. The bypass might save 15 minutes.

The Ex-Pat Bypass is the perimeter road around Monclova that is designed to service the maquiladoras and industrial plants that ring the western side of Monclova/Frontera. It is a long detour and the cops in Frontera seem to target the occasional ex-pats in oversize RVs that use it. It will not save any appreciable time in my opinion.

In my experience it will take around 3 1/2 hours once you get on Highway 57 in Saltillo to reach the Allende checkpoint. It is about an hour from the checkpoint to the international bridge in Piedras Negras.

Guavagto

Aug 13, 2010, 10:47 AM

Post #7 of 11 (3589 views)

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Re: [Altahabana] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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Just a note but the consulate here in San Miguel de Allende has put out an unofficial alert to avoid Monclovia.

I suspect it is based on reports to his office that there have multiple incidents of people being hassled by the police.

Also on the local Yahoo groups there have been reports of problems in this area.

Judy in Ags

Aug 13, 2010, 8:38 PM

Post #8 of 11 (3542 views)

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Re: [hack] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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We always stay in Sabinas on the way to the border. It's an hour plus to the border from there.

Actually, it's a long drive from Aguascalientes to Sabinas, so we were thinking of trying to stay in Monclova instead. Anyone know of a decent, reasonable hotel there? We stayed there once because it was raining so hard we didn't want to try to go on to Sabinas in the dark, but the hotel was in a not-so-good part of town and wasn't anything to brag about. We'll appreciate if anyone has had a good hotel experience there to share.

Well, now I just read about the alert, so maybe that's not a good idea.

(This post was edited by Judy in Ags on Aug 13, 2010, 8:40 PM)

hack

Aug 13, 2010, 8:47 PM

Post #9 of 11 (3538 views)

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Re: [Judy in Ags] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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We ended up being convinced by a guy at a rest stop outside Potosi to do NL. He seemed very horrified at the notion of using Peidras Negras. I think he oversold the quickness of the route -- maybe we spent 90 minutes fewer on Mexican roads? But all went smoothly, and 90 minutes less is significant in such conditions. On the non-practical side of the ledger, the stretch of road between Saltillo and Monterrey is just stunning. Most memorable bit of highway scenery for me in a while.

Reefhound

Aug 13, 2010, 8:59 PM

Post #10 of 11 (3537 views)

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Re: [hack] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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NL is my usual route and it is faster, 90 minutes is a pretty significant difference to me. It does have more tolls, though.

This year we diverted to PN because NL was having so many problems with something like 50 cars jacked on the highways around Monterrey in a few weeks period and the narcos were setting up checkpoints on Mx85D, the cuota from Monterrey to NL.

As an aside, if some guy at a rest stop tried to convince me to go a certain route, I think I would go a different route just as a matter of precaution. Call me paranoid but in the current climate I personally wouldn't be discussing my itinerary with strangers.

hack

Aug 13, 2010, 9:06 PM

Post #11 of 11 (3533 views)

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Re: [Reefhound] Crossing @ Piedras Negras tomorrow -- a few questions...

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You're paranoid!!! :)

For how long have those tolls been at that ridiculous rate?