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CICLing-2003

Local transportation guide and useful info

How to get to the Hotel El Ejecutivo

At the airport, there are no carts to carry your luggage after your pass the customs. You can hire a carrier; you should tip him at least some US$2+ (20+ pesos).

Ask for the authorized taxi service. You pay to a ticket window and receive a ticket. Do not pay any tip to the driver. When buying the ticket, you indicate the zone that in your case will be "Zona Rosa," or "Zona Central". The price is about US$10 (100 pesos).

To the taxi driver, tell the address: Zona Rosa, Calle Viena (pasar por Reforma), #8, hotel "El Ejecutivo." Please print out this page and show the address to the driver.

How to get to CIC, the conf place

From the official hotel of the conf, there will be free daily transportation. Just in case you will have to get to the conf place on your own, here is a photo of the building and the local site map:

Official Address: CIC building, Av. Juan de Dios Batiz unnumbered, cross with Av. Miguel Othon de Mendizabal Ote, Unidad Profesional "Adolfo Lopez Mateos" of the InstitutoPolitecnicoNacional (IPN). Zip code: 07738. Mexico City, MEXICO.

Taxi: The taxi from the Central zone should cost about 30 pesos (US$3). Go north by Av. Eje Central Cien Metros until the Subway station "Politecnico," and you are almost here; you can continue on foot or in taxi. Pass the Subway station, pass one building more (car dealer Ford MYLSA, a glass building), turn right by Av. Venus, and enter the IPN territory gate. The nearest 3-floor pink building is the CIC. You can print out the following text in Spanish and show it to the taxi driver:

"Vaya al Norte por Eje Central Cien Metros hasta el Metro Politecnico, paselo, pase un edificio mas (tienda de autmoviles seminuevos MYLSA), de vuelta a la derecha (por la calle Venus), entre en el IPN, va al edificio rojo de 3 pisos."

Metro: By the Yellow line, go north to the terminal station Politecnico. Exit to "Calle Diana". Walking along the car circulation by the large street (Eje Central), pass one building (car dealer Ford MYLSA, a glass building), turn right, and enter the IPN Institute territory gate. The nearest 3-floor pink building is the CIC.

Bus: There are many buses and microbuses that go along Av. Eje Central to the “Metro Politecnico” Subway station. Ask the driver to tell you when the bus arrives to that station. Then walking along the car circulation by the large street (Eje Central), pass one building (car dealer Ford MYLSA, a glass building), turn right, and enter the IPN Institute territory gate. The nearest 3-floor pink building is the CIC.

Car: Take North Ave. Eje Central Cien Metros. Pass the large bus terminal "Terminal de Autobuses del Norte" (to the right from you). Pass the tower of the Mexican Oil Institute – Instituto Mexicano de Petroleo (to the left from you) and the Subway station "Instituto de Petroleo." When crossing Eje 5 Norte (Montevideo), move to the right lane of Ave. Eje Central Cien Metros. Pass the Subway station "Politecnico" and go slowly. Pass the Ford car dealer MYLSA (a glass building), turn right into Venus street, and enter the IPN gate. Leave some personal identification document at the entrance gate to IPN. The nearest building is CIC, a pink square 3 floor building.

In case of any problem

Call Alexander Gelbukh (or a person who answers) at home: 5597-0709 (local phone) or at work 5729-6000 ext. 56544, 56602, 56518 (tone dialing). If someone else responds at home, please speak English (do not speak Spanish).

Useful local information

   Currency. Mexican peso is about 1/10 of dollar or euro.

   Taxi. Taxi in Mexico is very cheap and very frequent in nearly any place of the city. They are easy to recognize: usually these are green or yellow beatles, sometimes green Nissans; the price is the same. To any place you need to go, you probably better go by taxi. Within the city, you would pay from less than US$1 (10 pesos) to US$5 (50 pesos), but you will save a lot of time. You should, however, either ensure that the driver has turned on the taximeter (except for the night time when the taximeters are not used), or agree the price in advance. If you pay by taximeter, you do not need to give tips to the driver. We do not recommend using the taxis waiting near expensive hotels, unless you are sure these are authorized (which can be expensive); you always better stop any green bug passing by the street.

      On the other hand, taxis in Mexico are considered not completely safe (though we do not know what other transport would be much safer). Also, sometimes the drivers do not know the city very well, so assure the driver does know the place you need and does know how to get there. Usually the drivers are honest enough not to fool you about the route, but they might just not know the optimal route.

   Metro and bus. Metro and bus are also very cheap. One trip in metro costs US$0.2 (2 pesos); you should buy tickets sold at the entrance.

      Buses and especially microbuses (usually also green) are also very frequent; one bus trip costs some $US0.2 to $US0.4 (2 to 4 pesos) depending on distance, which you pay to the driver. The entrance is only from the front door, exit only from the rear door. There are no fixed stops for microbuses; to take a micro in the street, you should signal it with your hand; to get out of the micro, you should ask the driver to stop (or press a special button to bell usually located above or near to the rear door). In general, we do not recommend you to use buses unless you know very well how to get to the place you need; use taxis instead.

   Food. Food in Mexico is extremely hot (spicy), which can seriously affect you if you do not get used to it. We recommend you to either eat in restaurants or buy food in supermarkets. Ask for European-type food; in a restaurant, ask specifically for a food that is not hot ("no picante" in Spanish). We strongly do not recommend you to eat the food sold in the streets (tacos, tortas, quesadillas); if you want to try it, better do it in the last day of your trip. In restaurants, the waiters expect to be tipped with 10% of the price (i.e., the tips are not included in the price).

      Water in the city water supply is not potable. Potable water is sold in the shops, supermarkets, and in the streets.

   Museums. The museums typically work from 8 am to 5 pm. After 5 pm, you will probably find everything closed. In many museums and archeological zones, on Sunday the entrance is free.

   Credit cards. Major credit cards are typically accepted in restaurants, supermarkets, and most of the shops (ask about your card type if not sure), so you do not need to exchange too much money for pesos. In the city, there are many bankomats where you can get cash from your credit card (at least from a Visa and MasterCard). For currency, usually the best exchange rates are at the Airport; there is no commission.

   Security. The following recommendations are usual for any travel. We do not recommend you to walk alone in the nighttime. You should always avoid carrying with you in the street any valuable objects (even the objects that do not have big commercial value but are valuable for you personally). Accordingly, we do not recommend you to wear any golden jewels, or better no jewels at all. If you still are robbed, it is safer not to resist to a violent robber. Local police usually is of no help in such cases. For the same reason, we recommend you to avoid carrying with you a credit card with too much money on it; possibly you could use different cards, one with your main account and one with a smaller sum for just one-day usage.

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