Monterrey is not that far from the Texas border, only a few hours from Laredo, which is about 3.5 hours from Austin. As such, it is the city I am most likely to visit in Mexico any time soon. If I start doing really well with my money, I might sneak a visit in the up and coming months (it would have to be before April, because by then it starts to get extremely warm down there.)
I discovered this amazingly detailed guide to driving to Monterrey via the southern border crossing at Laredo. It has inspired me to take this trip, if I can afford it.
Here’s why, though — Monterrey is a true Latin American city within a day’s drive, much safer than the average Mexican metropolis. It also abuts the Sierra Madre Oriental, which is not the highest mountain range in Mexico, but is the most prominent range (consider that Monterrey is at about 1,500 feet above sea level, and Cerro El Potosi, 50 miles south of Monterrey, is 13,000 feet above sea level — that is a level of topographical prominence almost unseen in the United States. It is a few thousand feet more prominent than Denver is to the Rockies.)
As a result, mountains tower over Monterrey, and Google Maps shows that off.
Here are some of the more affluent parts of the region:
Right up against the mountains in Southeast Monterrey:
Downtown, complete with a Sears:
I forget the bridge’s name, but it has to be a Calatrava:
Here’s a Mexican 7–11 in San Pedro Garza Garcia, a suburb of Monterrey:
Some weird store called “Waldo’s Mart”, in Northwest Monterrey:
Looks like LA!
