[teenerted1]

yes it is sad what has happened down there.

back in high school @1985, the family took a trip to Saltillo,Mex. just a little south of Monterrey, maybe 1/3 of the way to Mexico City. nice industrial city in the mountains, filthy air but the old part of town where we stayed was very nice. supposedly there was a big inactive volcano outside of town but i don't remember ever getting to see it thru the orange sky. mom and dad had been there in the 1960's and other than the bad air, they said it hadn't changed much in 20yrs. who knows what the area is like now. definitely 3rd world charm there then.

we had no issues till we got back to El Paso, TX USA, when our cameras were stolen out of the hotel while we were at dinner. even Juarez, Mex. wasn't too bad walking around back then.

took the old VW bus on that trip don't remember any issues other than it took a while to get thru Mexican customs, since non of us had a passport but you didn't need one back then. getting back into the USA was a piece of cake, we didn't have much to declare.

my aunt and uncle used to go down for archaeological digs all the time in Mexico by car, but since they finally retired i don't think they have been back for a few years.