Hello all. I've just booked a trip to Mexico with the primary goal of making the summit of Orizaba. SummitPost has provided me with a great amount of information thus far which has also led into my plan to summit La Malinche as an acclimatization hike.

This will be my first time travelling to Mexico and I've unsuccessfully scoured the trip reports looking for one or a combination of a few that would answer my following "transportation" questions. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

1. I will be arriving at the Puebla airport (PBC) at approximately 8:00pm on a Saturday night. Is there reliable transporation available which would take me from the airport to the IMSS facilities on La Malinche?

2. If the answer to question #1 is "no", then where would you recommend I travel to (Tlaxcala or Apizaco?) on that Saturday night and how?

The majority of my trip is planned, but I'm having some troubles finding useful information to aid my decisions on the remaining bits above. Thank you in advance!

I've always had terrific luck simply checking into my hotel and arranging a ride through the front desk. Tell them what time you want to be picked up, how much you're willing to pay, and whether or not you need them to wait while you climb (and then drive you back). Did this for my visits to Malinche, Sierra Negra, Izta, and both trips to Toluca. Never been let down. This may or may not work for your plans.

That's certainly useful input and it sounds like one of the more straightforward options! Can you give me some rough estimates for what you paid on various occasions? Especially if the driver waited for you (or others) to return.

Hi there,

I've spent most of last year in the area, am in Colombia now, but here is some input.

I will be arriving at the Puebla airport (PBC) at approximately 8:00pm on a Saturday night. Is there reliable transporation available which would take me from the airport to the IMSS facilities on La Malinche?

Yes, but I would recommend to spend that Saturday night in Apizaco. It will save you unnecessary costs.

You cannot get that late to IMSS by bus. The cheapest would be to take the bus to Apizaco and get a taxi from there. But you'll get there late, better stay in Apizaco.

I've never flown to Puebla, but I think you will need to take a taxi to the CAPU bus terminal. From there you can still catch a bus with the company Atah to Apizaco, which is the closest town to Malinche to stay at. I don't know your budget, but if you are on your own, the IMSS is quite expensive, unless you are camping. There are cheap places to stayin Apizaco (like the one in front of the bus terminal). Then take the first bus to IMSS, if I remember well around 07am, a few blocks from the bus terminal.

Besides, I would travel to Tlaxcala afterwards, it's nice to walk around for an afternoon. I've climbed Malinche three times as a day hike from Apizaco. Don't know where you flying from and how sensitive to altitude you are though, so you might want to acclimatize. Then, yes: land in Puebla, taxi to the bus terminal, bus to Tlaxcala, spend the next morning walking around Tlaxcala, get to IMSS in the afternoon, climb Malinche the next day.

My last summit of Malinche was end of January, you needed crampons and ice axe then. You still might now.

If any more questions don't hesitate to contact me.

Nic

ss5 wrote:That's certainly useful input and it sounds like one of the more straightforward options! Can you give me some rough estimates for what you paid on various occasions? Especially if the driver waited for you (or others) to return.

Sorry, I missed this.

As I recall, it was about $100 for each carload (with the driver waiting to take us back), and perhaps double that for Izta (since he had to come back the next day to pick us up).

cp0915 wrote:

ss5 wrote:That's certainly useful input and it sounds like one of the more straightforward options! Can you give me some rough estimates for what you paid on various occasions? Especially if the driver waited for you (or others) to return.

Sorry, I missed this.

As I recall, it was about $100 for each carload (with the driver waiting to take us back), and perhaps double that for Izta (since he had to come back the next day to pick us up).

On La Malinche, I remember the arrangement was for the driver to return at a certain time. I know he wasn't there waiting for us because I remember waiting around afterward a bit:

. . . and . . .

Yes, you're correct. Still, I think we paid about $100 for a group of 3 (including transportation to and from).

Are those my nasty feet? They look more like yours.