Hi nrwunfl....love the name!!


Author: mrwunrfl
Date: 01/24/2009, 06:53 pm

Yes, must be the 21st when they are heading to Las Vegas.


yess...a big ooooops!



Your airfares look good.

Yes..we thought so..we have to get back to Expedia and we are sure they can do even better....they said to do some internet enquiries and get back Monday..




I do recall, back in the 80s, having a car rental from one of the majors that restricted taking the car out of California. Maybe they don't do it anymore.

You'll likely have a drop-off fee for the one-way rental. I don't think there will be much advantage to going off-airport at LAX (despite what a recent thread suggested). The rates are pretty good there.


yes...it seems that taking into account taxis or transfers ex airports, we may as well rent cars there....


Thanks also...really appreciated

B and B

<we should be flying into Cabo on the ummm...(you have us confused now...lol)....25th May...so..if that weekend is a holiday we will be in Mexico??...the Vegas trip will be on 21/21 May...>

Sorry, I guess what I said is a little confusing. Memorial Day is Monday, 25 May. However, we generally consider the entire weekend to be part of the holiday (Memorial Day Weekend); therefore, many people will take Friday off to stretch the "weekend" to a 4-day holiday. So you might have heavy traffic even on Thursday and Saturday since many people travel over that holiday "weekend."

And you are right about the 25th not being a holiday in Mexico. At least not to my knowledge. The only thing you might need to consider is that the San Diego airport may be a little more crowded than usual since that is the end of a holiday weekend and people will be traveling to return home.

Let me know if now I've thoroughly confused you!

I didn't read all the posts. But the military out of San Diego can no longer go to Tijuana, Mexico because of the crime. It is off limits.
Mexico is not a safe place for you to be driving or visiting right now. Think there is a lot of drug activity and fighting. Also, kidnapping of tourists and murders. People go there and they don't come back.

This is my opinion of Mexico right now and perhaps others have a different opinion.

A nice trip would be to rent a car and go to Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona Arizona.

Or Las Vegas, and Yosemite National Park, San Francisco and Napa Valley which has a lot of wineries and shops etc.

Last fall I did see some surfers at Bodega Bay which is one-half hour west of Santa Rosa, California. That is close to Napa Valley.
http://bodegabay.com/
http://www.napavalley.com/

Forgot to add that my sister who lives in California and her family have always gone to Mexico and they will no longer go there as of this past year.

They have relatives who live in Mexico but no longer go to visit them because it is not safe.

However, if you fly to Cabo San Lucas, you will be fine. It is a tourist destination primarily and very safe.
It's the boarder cities (especially Tijuana) that are dangerous.

Thanks everyone..

Sharona...yes..we understand what you are saying and can see it could be a problem..we are not so confused now...lol

bratsanbeer...

thanx....will take on board what you say, but surely if we take normal precautions it should be safe.

We note the comments of Nanabee and realise that safety is something you need to be aware of, but if we stay to larger places like Cabo San Lucas, and Acapulco we feel that it should be fine.
what do you do?..worry about what might happen all the time and never do anything?...

We are thinking that once at these places we would have a few days for looking around and we would talk to people and make sure that any car travel we did was safe.

we are pretty conservative people and dont take foolish risks...as we have business connections with Bali, Indonesia, we are there maybe 5 or 6 times a year...next week is our 210th trip over 25 years, and no country on earth could be as corrupt as there...lol

we hire a motor bike and risk the chaotic traffic there....drive on footpaths, wrong side of the road in peak hour....hand on horn all the way...there are few rules and everyone seems to survive.

the cops there just stop traffic when they need money and fine all the tourists for imaginary offenses!
the locals dont get fined..they can drive by the cops with 4 or 5 people on a motor cycle!!!..no helmets and they are not stopped...because we look like tourists we are!

the cops take you to there car in private....ask you what job you have (ie..are you rich?) and ask to see whats in your wallet...
they then ask you to give them a donation or go to court...we often wonder what would happen if we took that option.

we carry 2 wallets in Bali when we travel!..one with hardly any money in it.

we have been stopped at the airport when we are carrying large amounts of cash and told that immigration want to take the money into another room to count it to make sure you are declaring everything you bring in..you just have to stand up to them sometimes..even tho they can carry weapons.
they want bribes for everything and this has been going on for 25 years!

they will tell you something is wrong with your passport..take a photo copy of it...and try to make you pay for them taking the photo copy...just trying to scare you.

you just adjust to a county's way of doing things..

so..we are used to adapting quickly to any situation..we dont go round looking for trouble..you can get enough just touring...lol

Maybe Mexico is different...a lot more violence perhaps...but Bali has the same if you are not careful..bag snatches, muggings, con artists...some of the best in the world in fact!!.....but we would be careful to not go out at night into areas that could be a problem and always ask round in a new place.


(oh...dont get us wrong about Bali, anyone considering going there....it is one of the greatest holidays you could ever go on....unbelievable in fact..)

so..I guess we are saying that the 2 major places we are going to should be fine if we take normal precautions.
we have to book tomorrow as today is Australia day here, a public holiday, and everythings closed, so would like any final comments..good and bad...lol

we have kinda ironed out our itinerary and checked out initial prices..now all we need is Expedia to price it as a whole...

actually we are off to Bali on Feb 4, for three weeks...then again on April 26 until May 15...putting together containers of handicrafts that we wholesale here, at home 1 day, then head off on our US adventure.
We are used to the hustle of having too much to do at once...haha!

thanks again everyone..if ever we can return the help, just ask

cheers

B and B

Yes, I agree Weswtaustralians, Cabo will be great (it is very safe there) as are the Mexican cities of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, etc. I would definately go if you have the extra time to fly down. I would not drive in Mexico (other than renting a car in the tourist towns you will be visiting). I would definately not drive from Tijuana to Cabo (it is about a thousand miles) and is not safe for tourists.

The continental US is not as large as Australia. If you include Alaska, the US is larger. I should have made it clear I was referring only to the continental US (not adding Alaska and Hawaii, Alaska is the "big kahuna" here). I have seen maps that put the US "lower 48" on top of Australia, and Australia is larger.

Lauren, not according to my sources!! It would be nice to know the facts, but here's what one site I was looking at says:

"For a straightforward geographical comparison of the countries' sizes, see this postcard reproduced by Janice Gelb. To answer the obvious question, the continent of Australia is about 2,942,000 square miles; 2,968,000 square miles with the island of Tasmania added; while the 48 contiguous United States amount to about 3,053,000 square miles -- just 3% larger than all of Australia. "

Obviously, they're very close in size.

Bali and Mexico are 2 different animals completely and if you think you can handle the evil that has plaqued Mexico because you are savvy tourists..my friend, you are SO wrong and have no business even going there.

In other words, taking "the normal precautions" isn't good enough when it comes to Mexico just south of the border!

B & B, I am in strong agreement about the Mexico trip- we are not talking muggings and pickpockets. We are talking about kidnappings, beheadings, murder incorporated.

My sister and her DH usually go twice a year to Cabo area. They are NOT going this year after having some very uneasy feelings last time they ventured away from the actual resort at the beach. And they have a major horror story about a friend who rented a car and then was involved in an accident. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND MEXICAN LAW in regard to accidents, who pays for what, etc.

I also am not sure why you want to come all the way to the US and then not see what is unique to the US. Mainly the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ. Two of the loveliest places on Earth- and you cannot find anything similar anywhere. Just can't figure out why you'd want to do sun & surf stuff when you can do that in about 1000 places on the planet. (I'm not saying there are not some other great places in US. But there are mountains and beaches and prairies in other countries. These are not unique to the US. But Sedona and GC are.)

Just in case:
http://www.visitsedona.com/


But that could just be me. My suggestion is to skip Mexico altogether. Drive to Vegas from LA, then up to Sedona for a couple nights and then Grand Canyon for a couple. Then back to LA.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a lovely trip! We in the US are always happy to show our wares!

P

OK, the overlays I saw did not include Tasmania. If you've looked it up, you've looked it up and I assume you are correct that the US is larger if you include Tasmania. The whole point is that both countries are huge. I have seen too many people try to "do" both countries in one trip for 2-3 weeks and you simply can't and that was my point.

I was in Australia for 6 weeks last July and August and felt as though I had only scratched the surface. I got as far north as Fraser Island and as far south as Sydney. To see it all you would need a few trips. I had home exchanges on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. I stopped in Sydney before I got to the Sunshine Coast home exchange for 5 days. I did cover the Gold Coast and Toowooba (the largest inland city in Queensland).

When I was done, I had another home exchange in New Zealand on the North Island (2 1/2 hours northwest of Auckland near Whangerai). I covered only the North Island there.

I would love to go back and cover Melbourne, Adelaide, Cairns, Perth, Tasmania, etc., in Australia and the South Island of NZ. Who knows if I will get the chance. With everyone else my personal prosperity has taken a "hit" from the current economic situation and the trip was expensive despite the home exchanges due to $2800 spent on airfare (Washington, DC-Nadi, Fiji-Sydney-Brisbane-Auckland-Washington, DC). I was gone too long to get the discount airfares in Australia where you can go from place to place and I didn't eally want that sort of trip anyway.

Even in 9 weeks down under, I just saw a small bit--but that is all you ever do no matter how long your trip is anywhere.

9 weeks would be incredible (anywhere!) -- I hope to be able to do that one day.

thanx again everyone...

let me adress a few comments..

Author: nanabee
Date: 01/25/2009, 06:25 pm

However, if you fly to Cabo San Lucas, you will be fine. It is a tourist destination primarily and very safe.
It's the boarder cities (especially Tijuana) that are dangerous.


and...


Author: ksucat
Date: 01/25/2009, 10:20 pm

Bali and Mexico are 2 different animals completely and if you think you can handle the evil that has plaqued Mexico because you are savvy tourists..my friend, you are SO wrong and have no business even going there.


Author: sf7307
Date: 01/25/2009, 10:37 pm

In other words, taking "the normal precautions" isn't good enough when it comes to Mexico just south of the border!



and....




Author: sarge56
Date: 01/25/2009, 11:37 pm

B & B, I am in strong agreement about the Mexico trip- we are not talking muggings and pickpockets. We are talking about kidnappings, beheadings, murder incorporated.

My sister and her DH usually go twice a year to Cabo area. They are NOT going this year after having some very uneasy feelings last time they ventured away from the actual resort at the beach. And they have a major horror story about a friend who rented a car and then was involved in an accident. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND MEXICAN LAW in regard to accidents, who pays for what, etc.

I also am not sure why you want to come all the way to the US and then not see what is unique to the US. Mainly the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ. Two of the loveliest places on Earth- and you cannot find anything similar anywhere. Just can't figure out why you'd want to do sun & surf stuff when you can do that in about 1000 places on the planet. (I'm not saying there are not some other great places in US. But there are mountains and beaches and prairies in other countries. These are not unique to the US. But Sedona and GC are.)

Just in case:
http://www.visitsedona.com/


But that could just be me. My suggestion is to skip Mexico altogether. Drive to Vegas from LA, then up to Sedona for a couple nights and then Grand Canyon for a couple. Then back to LA.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a lovely trip! We in the US are always happy to show our wares!

P


and.....



Author: chefkate
Date: 01/22/2009, 11:09 am

if you want nice warm waters, surfing, and if you're going to fly into mexico anyway, you might as well go somewhere where the surfing is great, food is great, water is warm, people are nicer, etc. etc. In other words, not Baja - it's overpriced and not as interesting. Try flying into Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, rent a car (easy) and drive 30 minutes to beach town of Troncones - lots of great, inexpensive hotels & B&Bs. Or the beach areas North of Puerto Vallarta. Or even better for surfing, the area around Puerto Escondido (Oaxaca state), but a bit more difficult (and fun!) to access. And believe it or not, Acapulco remains one of the all time great swimming bays in Mexico (it's cleaned up and safer recently than it has been in years).

We go to mexico almost every year, and find these areas much better than Baja.

And the other writers are correct - limit your time in L.A. (check out a few museums, Venice Beach, etc), then scram to San Diego, Grand Canyon and other more interesting areas.


ok....well..we asked for your comments and we got them....lol

we understand that Mexico isnt Bali, and from the comments we read, there certainly are great problems there...

but are the guys who say not to go there saying that the whole country is a problem?

some of the comments seem to say that if we stay to the larger tourist areas we are fine..

it is very confusing...

one person says that


if you fly to Cabo San Lucas, you will be fine. It is a tourist destination primarily and very safe.
It's the boarder cities (especially Tijuana) that are dangerous.


another says


My sister and her DH usually go twice a year to Cabo area. They are NOT going this year after having some very uneasy feelings last time they ventured away from the actual resort at the beach. And they have a major horror story about a friend who rented a car and then was involved in an accident. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND MEXICAN LAW in regard to accidents, who pays for what, etc.


is this the same place?


and as we were looking at driving to
Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo as we discuss above....the comments given were interesting....from Acapulco...


Is Acapulco unsafe?...from what we read above it is supposed to be fine now....

is the drive from there to Ixtapa dangerous...or is it ok to fly in as suggested and just travel locally?


it is great to get everyones feedback, and we are certainly aware that you do not go into strange places without research.
We just cant believe that we are being warned not to go into a whole country!!!..and big cities!

on the beach thing..we are beach people and have read about all the fantastic beaches in surf mags and seen them in movies etc since the early 60s....of course we have great beaches here but most of our lives we have hung out at the beach, and while we like to look at other places of interest overseas, the draw to coastal areas is a large part of our lives.

we have always tried to tie in our love for the beach and surfing, with places to see that are close when we travel.

Please, please, dont think we are ungrateful for all the comments..we understand that it has taken a lot of time for everyone to make comments about the way they see Mexico...and it is greatly appreciated.
we would just love to go there is all...dont know why...why does anyone want to go anywhere??

we are copying out every comment and going thru them all...has anyone got anything nice to say about where we are going??...that was a joke!.

at the end of the day, everywhere you travel has a risk...you just have to weigh up the good and the bad, and make a choice...anything positive, good or bad is welcome.

oh..and the size comparisons of our 2 countries...

our population is 22 million spread out over the whole country, something like 90% of which lives near the coast.
i guess that is why we all love the sea.
it is inconceivable to most of us just how big the US is, and no matter what time we have to travel, we would only just scratch the surface of your great country....so..we will just do what we can in the time we have...lol.
there are places we would love to visit,given we had the time, but we have to prioritise what we love to do and see...and Southern California and Mexico are part of our dream

thanks again....dont forget, our offer to reciprocate any time

cheers

and great thanks

B and B

Dear Bruce & Barb:

Check out the Mexico Forum at Tripadvisor. It is much more active than here at Fodor's and you will probably get more detailed info to your questions regarding Mexico.

Good luck on your trip. I am sure you will have a great time in our part of the world.

MY

Having lived in Mexico and traveled a great deal in Mexico, it saddens me that it has gotten so bad that I probably won't return..yeah, I'll fly down to Cabo for a long weekend and pretty much stay close to town..venture up to Todos Santos or East Cape (north of San Jose del Cabo) but you really need to be aware that it has become very dangerous and very evil, just in the last year..and it's not just targeting their kind..tourists are now one of the main targets for kidnapping.
I speak the language and know some very high officals but that is no guarantee either..
Just want to snap you out of the laissez-faire attitude because with that you will be targeted..
If I were you, I would just fly into Cabo from SD and have a great 3-4 days and get back to the US..
That is my two cents and only wishing you the best!

To add to my first posting:

Just watched Glen Beck on TV and he says Mexico is one of the biggest threats to the USA because of crime, drugs and bringing it into the USA.

He said that 80% of the police are "on the take".

There have been numerous stories of kidnappings, people being imprisoned for minor things, killings, disappearances, etc.

I have traveled in 22 countries and always with a money belt. I never felt threatened or unsafe in any area. But I would not go to Mexico now. It isn't a matter of having your wallet or purse stolen.

You can easily end up in a Mexican jail for the rest of your life. These accounts have been shown many times on our TV.

I know - you Australians are tough - I have a friend who lives in NSW and she has visited me here in the states. Love the humor of the Australians.

But this is one time I really think you should listen to the warnings.

Most of Mexico is wonderful and the people warm and inviting. The only real problem lies on the boarder towns like Juarez, Tijuana, Loredo, etc.
The problem is that the travel distance from southern California into major tourist areas in Mexico is thousands of miles away. It is a long and pricey plane trip. You might want to narrow your trip to Cabo and do mainland Mexico for another trip.

http://www.topnews.in/tijuana-terrif...-mexico-296012


You might be interested in this article in USA Today. Since December the murders and gang wars has gotten even worse.