The Best Places to Exchange Money

[kphoger]

If you go by way of Monterrey, here is my take on the roads:

From Laredo to the cuota/libre split:  Highway in mediocre condition, smooth enough with a light load but roller-coasterish with a lot of cargo.  Posted speed limit 80—100 km/h, reasonable speed 90—110 km/h.

Most everybody recommends taking the cuota to Monterrey, even though it's a little more than 200 MXN.  It's the only way I've gone.  Very smooth highway.  Posted speed limit 110 km/h, reasonable speed 110—130 km/h.  Subway and Church's Chicken just south of the tollbooth.

Monterrey bypasses:  I haven't taken the cuota bypass for several years, but I recall it being more expensive than it's worth, also fairly devoid of traffic (and has no services, I think).  Posted speed limit 120 km/h, which is reasonable.  I always take the libre bypass, which has much heavier traffic and is decidedly dusty and ugly.  It is completely free of stoplights, though.  Posted speed limit 80 km/h, reasonable speed 80—100 km/h.

From Monterrey to Saltillo:  I haven't taken the libre bypass for several years, but I recall it being fairly winding and full of traffic.  The cuota is a fantastic highway, not to be missed.  Very smooth road, but has some very steep grades as well.  Posted speed limit 110 km/h, reasonable speed 110—130 km/h and you'll see some guys driving much faster than that; keep your speed in check, though, as the road is patrolled with radar.  No services between Monterrey and just west of Saltillo.

Around Saltillo:  It's possible to take the libre through the outskirts of town, but I don't recommend it.  There are stoplights, heavy traffic, and it's easy to miss your exit in the eastbound direction.  The cuota narrows to an A2 highway at the Ojo Caliente II tollbooth.  Traffic can be heavy or light; when it's heavy, drivers often use it as a three-lane road for passing even though the edge lines are solid white with rumble strips.  Doing so can be a gamble when traffic is heavy; keep your eyes peeled ahead of you for oncoming traffic you need to move over for.  Bathrooms are located at the Ojo Caliente II tollbooth, with a small parking lot just after the booth.  Don't try going into the main building:  it's the smaller one just behind it.  Posted speed limit 110 km/h, which is reasonable.

From Saltillo to La Paila (Parras junction):  I've only taken the cuota one time; it's just fine but not worth the price in my opinion.  The libre has no shoulders and a lower speed limit, but sight lines are great for passing on most of the highway, and there are only three sets of speed bumps; those speed bumps are the shallow kind, which you can take at 40 km/h.  Posted speed limit 80 km/h, reasonable speed 90—110 km/h.  No gas stations between La Rosa and La Paila.

West of La Paila:  No personal experience.  I would probably take the toll roads the whole way to Mazatlán.

[kphoger]

FYI, meal options along the way will be very limited, especially if you intend to stick with establishments where you can trust the food and water.

Laredo-Monterrey toll road, km-99 just south of the toll booth:  Subway and Church's Chicken as well as a sit-down restaurant and gas station, accessible by U-turns heading south.

Monterrey area:  At the north end, there's a sit-down restaurant on the southbound side attached to the first Pemex station you come to; I've never eaten there, just bought snacks from the convenience store.  Just a bit south, there's a Subway and Church's Chicken attached to a Pemex on the other side of the highway, accessible by (tricky due to traffic) U-turns heading south.

AFAIK, there's nothing between there and the truck stop at La Paila (the Parras junction between Saltillo and Torreon).  There are convenience stores attached to some gas stations here and there (7-Eleven, Oxxo, etc.) as well as countless adobe shacks in desert villages selling who knows what (the only steady revenue source for those villages), but no real trustworthy restaurants.

West of La Paila, I have no experience driving.  But it appears from GSV that a few of the toll booths west of Torreon have small restaurants attached.  Those are few and far between, but might serve your needs OK.  I wouldn't count on any services, especially restaurants, having been built yet along the "good" part of the Durango-Mazatlan highway.

If you're at all interested in taking a side journey to Parras de la Fuente (Coahuila), then I can offer you information.  It's a very picturesque town, especially for that part of the country, and quite affordable.  I can't speak to lodging (we're always staying at the ministry locations we work at/with), but food and sightseeing I can help with.  Swimming at the Estanque de la Luz, with Santo Madero in the background, is an awesomely refreshing break.  If you're like me, though, you want to get from A to B as fast as possible and aren't interested in bogging your trip down.  But if you're the type who wants to experience things along the way, then Parras is a decent destination to add.

[US 41]

From Saltillo to La Paila (Parras junction):  I've only taken the cuota one time; it's just fine but not worth the price in my opinion.  The libre has no shoulders and a lower speed limit, but sight lines are great for passing on most of the highway, and there are only three sets of speed bumps; those speed bumps are the shallow kind, which you can take at 40 km/h.  Posted speed limit 80 km/h, reasonable speed 90—110 km/h.  No gas stations between La Rosa and La Paila.

I honestly have considered driving the libre between Saltillo and La Paila even before you mentioned it. I followed both the cuota and the libre on GSV and the libre looks far more interesting and it's free. I'm glad to see that someone has drove it and recommends using it.

[kphoger]

Well, "interesting" might be overstating things, I'm afraid. Other than going through a handful of small towns, there's not much but desert scenery along there. Don't get me wrong, it's some fantastic desert scenery (the dust devils can be awesome), but most of the highway is fairly monotonous.

The road surface is very good. Last summer, they were even doing some repaving work, of which you can see traces on GSV (stretches with no stripes, fresh stripes, or torn-up dirt along the edge).