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About 16 miles south of Monterrey on the National Highway you'll find yourself in an area called "Los Cavazos." This is often considered the "heart" of the National Highway area because many, many people from Monterrey drive specifically to this area to purchase items from the many stores and restuarants. In this area you'll find a large number of small establishments selling Mexican handcrafts,rustic furniture, t-shirts, cheap CDs and cassettes, leather goods, and buffet all-you-can-each lunches for as little as $3 or $4.


View of Los Cavazbos
 View of an establishment in Los Cavazos
Business in Los Cabazos
 Picture of three friends and myself sporting typical Mexican sombreros
Three friends and me

Soon I'll get some better picture of Los Cavazos. Above, is a picture of a typical establishment in Los Cavazos, followed by a picture of some friends of mine and myself wearing some typical Mexican sombreros which we found (but didn't buy!) in one of the stores in Los Cavazos.

To be sure, these are not clean, large, well-lit stores like a shopping mall. These are small establishments on the side of a highway. If you are good at haggling, you can find some real bargains. On the other hand, when they see you are an American they generally won't want to negotiate much since they assume you're loaded.

Also, watch out for the typical "take advantage of the tourist" schmucks. As we were leaving the store above a young child--which may or may not have actually worked at the store--said, "That'll be 10 pesos." (US$1). We asked "What will be 10 pesos?" to which he responded, "For the picture!" We just told him, "You know, that might not be a bad business, you might be able to make some money. But you need to tell people first or put up a sign." Of course, we didn't pay. That's just a typical situation of someone trying to see what they can get away with--and you have to watch out for that.

On weekends Los Cavazos is very busy with a large number of people from Monterrey. Traffic can be downright frustrating and slow. Parking can be a problem on weekends. Look for parking lots ("Estacionamientos"), and make sure you see the price for parking posted clearly, or ask the attendant. You'll be charged in advance, and currently the price for all the parking lots in Los Cavazos is 10 pesos (US$1) for all-day parking. Don't haggle over the cost of parking--that ISN'T negotiable.