15

Fine, sure, this is why I was asking... I too think it could appear a little strange, and might be warm.

So, I just booked a rental car. Only $18! Now, the focus is on finding parking as close as possible to the border.

Oh, and is there a fee to cross the Santa Fe bridge on foot into Mexico? How does that work, do you have to stand in line and pay? Is there ever any waiting time here?

Thanks!

16

Last I went (three years ago) they had just put in a turnstile, with a 2 or 5 peso fee (I think they accept US quarters). No line up to speak of...

17

My favorite post by the OP was " With couchsurfing you can travel very very cheaply. My record was 4 months straight while paying for accommodation twice !!!"
You have to go back a couple pages but that is his post.
Moral to the story, "DO NOT invite him into your home.

18

!!?

Dude, it's not like I crashed at someone's house for all this time, I was doing world traveling, visiting about 18 countries; I slept in the snow on mountains in Norway, in bus stations in Iran, on a park bench in heavy rain and +2C in Slovenia, at an orphanage in Haiti, at a beach on Hawaii. And a lot of couchsurfing. If your "moral" was correct, how come I don't have a single negative review on couchsurfing? Not even a neutral one! They're all positive.

Huetepec: Ok, that sounds good. I take it that's the fee to cross into the US, and no fee then to cross into Mexico? Thanks!

19

Alright folks, I am back from my adventure, and for everyone's benefit, here's what I can report:

• Great border parking at 920 South Santa Fe Street. $4 for 8h or $5 for 24h. You can be on Mexican soil in 3 minutes from here!

• $18 car rental for the day. Plus $2.50 for gas. Less than 20 minute drive between airport and border. Best trade-off speed/cost for me.

• No waiting time going into Mexico at Paso del Norte bridge. 50 cent fee IIRC.

• 3 peso fee leaving Mexico at Paso del Norte bridge (can also be paid as 50 cent IIRC). Less than 10 minute wait in US immigration (unless you need a new I-94 in which case there's a significant wait).

• NO wait at all in Mexican immigration, nor on the way in (at Stanton/Lerdo bridge) or out (at Paso del Norte bridge).

• 7 day entry permit is still free of charge.

• The margarita at Kentucky's is yummy and only 31 pesos (or $2.28 usd). See it here.

• Juarez seems significantly cheaper than other Mexican border towns (my lunch was 22 pesos, or about $1.50) and felt perfectly safe to me. Definitely not like the war zone that media tells us. Pedestrian street in downtown Juarez.

20

Bummer. My ideal thought was for your flight to come in a bit late. Next it is a hectic taxi ride with maybe a fender bender to slow thigs down just a little bit more. The I was visioning a person in a motorcycle suit sprinting across the international bridge where they would soon find out about security and control on the Mexican side of the bridge. I could visualize the border agents shouting "ALTO", a few shots fired before you were tackled, handcuffed and thrown into the back of an official looking pick up truck.
You really let me down.

21

!!? again

You must have some sort of a problem. And I doubt that you're really Mexican because of the way you behave. Let me tell you what happened as I was looking for the bridge on the US side, I met a really nice man from Juarez who was on his way back home, his name was Rodolfo. He first showed me where the bridge was, then helped me inquire about the immigration office, and when it turned out I could not get an entry stamp at Paso del Norte, he offered to drive me to another office!! He had his truck parked right next to the bridge in Juarez, so we got into it and he drove me to Lerdo (which turned out to be like 2 blocks away, but still). When we parted I thanked him so much, and he just shook my hand and said "this is what friends are for" and "now you be careful". THAT is true Mexican hospitality, you should perhaps learn a little from it Tepetapan.

22

What did happen to the monkey suit and brain bucket you had planned to cross in ??? carracar

23

#24..You are being far to hard on this person. . The OP is cross between superman and zeus, just because the time line is beyond even a crazy person´s reason does not mean it is fiction.
..In ONLY 50 minutes after touch down this ...person.. Checked in at the car rental agency place (still wearing the moto zoot suit I hope) took a shuttle to the rental lot got the keys drove in an unknown city at least 15 minutesand close to 20 minutes away (post#21 I think) found the parking lot an then got lost. Walking around lost (#23 post) was rescued by a complete stranger AKA Radolifo. This ...person..not only then walked him to the international bridge but helped him at Immagration to get an entry stamp ....but wait. wrong office! so the person known as Radolifo then drove him to another office, thank goodness he had a truck parked near by and nothing else pressing. After which the OP, MadMax, then obtained his entry stamp and made the hook up at some bar only 2 blocks away.
I know, #24, you think MadMax is a complete wack job, locked in the basemant of his parents home. But just take a minute to think about it, if you can couch surf for 4 Months, why not this?

24

What is this stamp he needed from (Mexican?) immigration when entering Mexico? There isn't even an immigration check--much less stamping--for US citizens entering Mexico on foot in Nuevo Laredo.

25

Tepetapan, hard to tell if you are being sarcastic or not, but FYI here are a few information:

• No shuttle to car rental at El Paso Airport. It's right outside, 1 minute jog from the rental desk.
• Not an unknown city. I've studied the city in google map street view and when on the ground I use satellite navigation to get to my destination.
• Rodolfo, not Radolifo.
• Rodolfo had his truck parked in this garage. Note the proximity to the bridge. Rodolfo didn't know where the immigration office was and said that he would take me since it was not safe for me to go look for it by myself.
• I will admit that I was a few minutes late to Kentucky, but the sole reason was that there was a slowpoke in front of me at the car rental place, he wasted almost 8 minutes of my time and refused to let me go in front although I told him I was in a hurry.
• Immigration form and border parking.

Altahabana:

• I am not a US citizen.
• You are right you CAN walk in without stamping, but I have been harassed by Mexican police before and had to bribe my way out to avoid jail. I am not taking any risks. Without an entry stamp in Mexico, how would the police know when I arrived and from where?

26

Thanks MadMax! Now I can figure a 1 minute "jog" to the car rental desk, from the departure area of the flight. And an 8 minute wait (seems way out of line because that NEVER happens) just to pick up you paperwork. By the time those dopes finally got you the paperwork, it must have been 2 or 8 minutes later. And the the 47.64 second "sprint" to get to the car. Ahhh, doing the math it is well over 15 and in truth 20 minutes after touchdown before you even left the airport property. Another 15 to 20 minutes drive if you know where you are going (and you did not) and now we are up to 40 some minutes. Lost, found, 2 offices later...PLUS paperwork and a truck ride from a new gaurdian angel.... can it get any better?
If OJ had the same timeline he would have been doing hard time the first time. Try again. .
By the way, when, if ever, did you ditch the zoot suit?

27

Well, detective, perhaps the flight landed a little early?

And I never visited the Paso del Norte office on my way in, Rodolfo and I asked some guards that were standing there and they told us it was only for going out and that we needed to go to another bridge. That's when Rodolfo said he'd drive me.

You don't know me and don't know how fast I can move. I can do things faster than others can. To give you an idea, when I watch movies on my computer, I am using VLC video player, which has a speed option that allows me to watch the movie faster than the original. There's a plugin (scaletempo) that allows for not changing the pitch in the audio, so the voices sound the same, just they talk faster. I can process a movie in up to 2x the original speed, sometimes more.

Walking tour sign, right after you cross Paso del Norte bridge. Kentucky Bar from the outside.

28

I know I'm not the only one who finds this story absolutely bizarre

That was my comment (#9) two weeks ago and nothing that has been written since changes my impression.