Oaxtepec

HowtoGetToOaxtepec

This document will give you the options and directions you will need to easily get from Mexico City's International Airport to Oaxtepec, DebConf6's venue.

The several options are listed in order of preference. Please take the first one that you can. If you have special needs not covered by this document please contact the organizing team.

Even if you decide to take the first option, please make sure you read the last section, once in Oaxtepec.

Take a cab, all the way there

This is a safe and easy, but expensive, solution. There are two cab companies authorized to give official service from the airport, Sitio 300, Protaxis ejecutivos. Any one of them will take you all the way to Oaxtepec. We strongly recomend Sitio 300, as the other company is much more expensive (up to %50 more).

The cab will be a 7 seat SUV with space for luggage and will charge about MXP1200 (USD110). The price is the same regardles of the number of passengers, but there is an extra charge for excesive luggage (define excesive luggage). If you take this option we recomend you try to pool with other atendees who get to the airport at around the same time.

In order to board the cab you need to buy a ticket in one of the booths located within the airport, near the arrival halls. Ask for a ticket to Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec. Once you have your ticket go to the Taxi boarding areas, located just outside the airport, near the extremes of the building and marked with little debian swirls on the map of the airport we provide. It will have a line of yellow-and-white taxis, with a little black airplane drawn on the doors.

The trip will, barring trafic, take about 1.5 hours. The first half hour will be spent leaving Mexico City. You will then take a large 4 lane highway for 30-45 minutes then change to a smaller highway for the remainder of the trip.

Take a cab to the bus station, then the bus

If you are unable to pool with other atendees the previous option will probably be too expensive. In that case, you can take a cab to Terminal de autobuses Tasqueña, which is Mexico City's south side bus terminal. Once there you can take a bus directly to Oaxtepec.

If you take this option, use the official airport cabs to get to Tasqueña. Even though normal city cabs are cheaper, you will put yourself more at risk of being taken on an overly long (and suitably overcharged) trip, since they charge with a meter and you will be too obviously a tourist.

Cab fare to Tasqueña is about MXP170 (USD16). Be careful on buying your ticket that you are not given one for an SUV unless you actually are carrying a lot of luggage, as that will be more expensive. If you do want an SUV, the price is MXP250 (USD24). The trip to Tasqueña will take about 30 minutes. The cab should leave you right in front of the terminal building.

There are several bus lines givving service to Oaxtepec. We recomend either Cristobal Colón or Pullman de Morelos. Either of them will charge about MXP70 (USD7) and will have departures every 20-30 minutes, from about 6:00 AM to 11:00PM.

Tasqueña terminal has several boarding gates, so ask and be sure where you need to take your bus. Depending on the time and the affluence of passengers your bus might be destined for Oaxtepec, or it might go to Cuautla and stop in Oaxtepec. Ask the people in bus-line uniforms to show you what bus to take (show them your ticket).

Bus seats are numbered, but you are not usually asked for a seating preference, seats are assigned when buying the ticket on a first come basis. The bus has a large luggage area and you will not be allowed to take anything larger than hand luggage on the passenger area. To be on the safe side take laptops, cameras, etc with you and leave only general luggage on the area below.

The bus trip will take about 1hr 15 min. The first 25-30 minutes will be spent leaving town. The bus then takes the same route a cab would. There will be 1-3 stops along the way, on the side of the road, each for about 5 minutes. People will board or leave the bus there.

If your bus goes to Cuautla, Oaxtepec will be a stop along the way and not the final destination. The bus driver will announce the stop's name, but you might have trouble understanding. Oaxtepec is recognizable from the previous stops because it will be the first in which the bus actually pulls into a parking lot.

If the bus gets into a city, you have missed your stop and are now in Cuautla. Don't panic, wait for the bus to get to the terminal and grab a cab there to tae you back to Oaxtepec. That trip will take about 15 minutes and cost about MXP60.

I'm arriving too late

The last bus from Taxqueña to Oaxtepec leaves at 23:00 - For people who cannot reach this last bus, we recommend:

Spend the night in Mexico

Around 1km away from the Taxqueña bus station you will find Hotel Montreal. It is a cheap hotel (US$20-40 a night), and quite decent. The hotel is located over Calzada de Tlalpan, almost arriving to where Miguel Ángel de Quevedo avenue begins. You can arrive directly by taxi from the airport to this hotel, and leave early in the morning for Oaxtepec.

Hotel Montreal
Calzada de Tlalpan 2073
Colonia Parque San Andrés
Mexico City 04040
Mexico
Tel.: 5689-0011
Contact somebody in the committee.

Alejandro Sanchez, Rodrigo Gallardo and Claudia Landa have kindly made their phones available. Call them and ask for help.

But I'm a really poor student!

If you are really cost sensitive, or are in the mood for an adventure, you can try getting to Tasqueña by Metro (subway). Be aware that taking the subway in any city you're not familiar with is not for the faint-hearted. The Metro in Mexico City charges MXP2 per trip, with unlimited line changes.

The Metro station at the airport is located outside, on the street. Without leaving the airport's terminal building, walk left (your left as you come out of the deboarding area). You will walk past the National arrival areas then come to the end of the building. Leave through the door there and you will continue to walk along a roofed sidewalk. Where the roof ends you will see a (very) large avenue and the station entry. You won't need to cross any street.

All Metro lines have a number and a color. The station you're at is part of line 5, yellow and is called Terminal Aerea. You will go in the direction of Pantitlán Metro stations have two boarding areas, one for each direction. There are signs stating tha station's name and the direction of trains of that side. All trains going through that side of the station have the same destination. Pantitlán is line 5's terminal station and is 2 stations away.

Once in Pantitlán, you will be transfering to line 9, brown. Follow the signs that say Correspondencia. Linea 9. Pantitlán is a very large station and the transfer will take about 5 minutes of walking. Also, Pantitlan is a 4-way crossing of lines, with transfers to line 9 (brown), line 1 (pink) and line A (dark pink). On the bright side, Pantitlán is a terminal to all of the lines arriving there, so you can take the wrong line, but not the wrong direction.

Once on line 9, you will go in the direction of Observatorio for 6 stations, until station Chabacano Get off from the train there. You will be transfering again, this time to line 2, blue. Chabacano is also a long transfer, but is 'only' a 3-way one, so it's less confusing. Follow the signs marked Correspondencia. Linea 2.

You will be going in the direction of Tasqueña (finally!) Chabacano station has three boarding areas. As you arrive from the transfer from line 9, you will be on a bridge above the boarding areas. Keep walking to the far end and descend the stairs there, then you will be on the proper boarding area.

The portion of line 2 you will be using is not subterranean and its stations are arranged differently, with a single boarding area between the train tracks. If the train gets to an underground station you will know you took the wrong direction at Chabacano.

Tasqueña is a terminal station for line 2. Upon arrival, you will leave the station by a pedestrian bridge with two large exits. Stand looking the same direction the train was coming and go through the exit on your right. You will be in a large roofed but not walled pedstrian bridge. Get to the first staircase on the left, before the roof ends. Descend that staircase, and keep on walking on that sidewalk, in the same direction that the stairs took. You will pass several stalls selling food and trinkets. Keep walking 1 or 2 minutes and you will have in front of you the Tasqueña bus terminal. Now go to the instructions in the previous section to take a bus to Oaxtepec.

Metro tips

To enter the Metro station you must buy a ticket. There are ticket booths in every entrance, just before the revolving entrances. Get in line, when you arrive at the window all you need to say is how many tickets you want, hold up your fingers if you don't know enough spanish. Tickets are $2 each. Pay with small bills, or buy a lot of tickets.
When getting on the train, try not to stay too close to the door.
If you get a seat, get off it one station before the one you're getting off the train, or you might miss your stop.

By car

The airport is located just by Circuito Interior avenue - Take Circuito Interior to the South (left) for approximately 10Km, until you see signs for Tlalpan. Take the exit for Tlalpan to the South (left), and go on again for around 10Km. You will see signs for Cuernavaca, which is Morelos State's capital. Follow them, and be sure to go by the toll road (cuota).

You will get to the toll station, where you will pay MX$85. About 50Km later you will get to a sharp curve you will surely recognize, known as La Pera. Few kilometers after La Pera you will see signs to take right for the Cuautla/Oaxtepec highway - Go in that direction.

You will now be in a narrower highway (don't worry, it's still a very good road). After 17Km you will reach another toll station (Tepoztlán, MX$24). Just after the station there is a detour, which you shold not take - Keep by the main road, which goes to the left. Again, 17km later you will get to the last toll station (Oacalco, MX$25). Once again, keep to the left, by the main road.

Shortly after this, you will find a small detour with many small signs - Oaxtepec, Cocoyoc, PAO IMSS, and some others. Take to the right, and some meters later, to the left, crossing a smaller road. You go under a bridge (crossing the highway you were on before), and just a couple of meters later you will find the five arches Oaxtepec entrance.

Go through the leftmost arch, telling the guard you come to Debconf. Follow the road up, up, up, until you reach the reception. Congratulations, you have just arrived!

Once in Oaxtepec

Ok, so you got there and you saw the beautiful five-archs entrance. Did you enjoy your trip? Ok, I am glad - Because you are not there yet.

Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec is a huge compound. From the main entrance to the Debconf area it's over 1.5km uphill. Of course, if you come sweaty and tired from a 20 hour trip, you will probably want a good treatment for this last part.

If you got there by taxi, or if it is already dark (you can get a taxi at the roundabout, just in front of the main entrance, should charge you 15 pesos), enter through the leftmost arch, telling the guard you come to Debconf - he should let you in. Follow the road up, up, up until you reach the reception building. Congratulations! You made it, you will soon see us running around the area.

If there is still light outside, just go through the entrance and towards the white and orange sign with a Oaxtepec map] on your left side. More or less every 20 minutes there is a minibus that goes around Centro Vacacional Oaxtepec. It charges MX$2.50 per person, and will leave you at the reception as well.

Welcome, enjoy your stay and squish lots of bugs!

Contact phone for Claudia Landa