Driving Into Mexico...

If you are ever driving into Mexico, remember to bring your car registration or title if you intend to drive past the border towns. You also need to buy Mexican car insurance, which was $30 for 2 days.

You need a physical document to show the border people in order to get a vehicle permit. In Texas, our car registration is a window sticker. If the police stop you in Texas, the police only need the sticker on the windshield. I thought that would do, but it was not enough. You need the piece of paper that the sticker comes on, which I no longer had since I threw it out. I didn't bring my title to the vehicle either. If you do not get a vehicle permit, you will be stopped by Mexican border patrol in ski masks, armed with machine guns at about 30 miles past the border. They will send you back to the border to get a permit. Therefore, we ended up taking a bus from Nuevo Laredo (Mexican side). It was actually not bad at all and more comfortable that driving in my car. It costs around $8 each way for the 2.5 hour bus ride. Once you get into Monterrey, taxi's are a great way to get around. They are very inexpensive, usually $4 to $6 to get anywhere we wanted to go.

Otherwise, it was quite simple to get into Mexico with a US passport. There is no inspection to cross into Mexico, but surroundings do feel a bit ghetto. There will be people eager to point you in the right direction (and they want $2 for their trouble), but just follow the blue signs that say vehicle permits. Here you will pay $20 to get a visa (just a form) and get a vehicle permit, which we could not do because I did not have my vehicle registration.

We were fortunate enough to find someone who spoke English to take us to the bus terminal in Nuevo Laredo. It does take some effort to find someone who speaks English once you cross the border. I would find a friend that speaks Spanish. People are friendly and eager to help, but it would make life a lot easier to have someone who is fluent in Spanish with you. 

It is about 250 miles and 4 hour drive from Austin to Laredo and another 2.5 hours from the border to Monterrey. The total travel time would be about 7 to 8 hours including transfers, assuming you don't get held up like we did.