Things to do in San Diego (Tijuana, Mexico + rental cars)

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In article <34 at elgar.UUCP>, ag at elgar.UUCP (Keith Gabryelski) writes:
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> >I'll
> >be hanging around the weekend after USENIX, and would like to roadtrip
> >to Tijuana for a day ..  Is it OK to drive rental cars into Mexico,
> >etc?
> 
> You must check with your rental place.
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I was in San Diego several months ago, and to rented a car for a
drive around the Baja. Here's what happened:

	1) Only one American rental car company would allow their
	   cars into Mexico (Alamo, or some other ``off'' brand, I
	   believe). But they wanted approximately $60/day, but it
	   didn't matter since they were out of cars.

	   Note that if you drive across, the wait to get back to the
	   US on Sunday after noon was perhaps 2-3 hours. I walked
	   across in five minutes.

	2) I ended up staying in downtown San Diego, so I simply
	   took the trolley to the border (a delight!) and once across,
	   took a taxi to the downtown Avis location where I had
	   previously reserved a VW Bug (!) for $30/day (72 (48?)
	   hours in advance). I had to wait an hour for them to
	   get the car from the airport, so next time I'll go to
	   the Avis counter at the airport instead. Money can be
	   changed right as you get off the trolley before you
	   cross the border.

	3) I drove south to Ensinada, then south east to a small
	   town on the Gulf of California, San Phillipe (sp?) where
	   I spent the night. I HIGHLY recommend this place with beautiful
	   beaches and fantastic seafood restaurants on the waterfront.

	   On the way, I was pulled over by the Mexican Army, complete
	   with soldiers with submachine guns, and they searched the
	   whole car for drugs (but were very nice about it).

	   Also, especially if you don't speak Spanish (I don't), be
	   careful that you don't get short changed when you buy gasoline.

	4) The next morning it was back north to the Mexican town of
	   ???? (er, its the big town south of the Arizona border), then
	   west through the mountains (absolutely beautiful) back to Tijauna.

	5) Get a good map of Tiajauna, its easy to get lost. I finally
	   found the rental car place, got a taxi to the border, walked
	   across, the back to San Diego again via the trolley.

	6) Thanks to netnews posters for the info that got me started!

The bottom line: The moment I checked in to the fancy-shmancy hotel in
San Deigo, I wanted to go back!

-- 

Howard G. Page   AT&T  LZ 1B-115K (201)576-2731 ..!ihnp4!lzaz!hgp