Saturday, June 21, 2008

In search of the 3 Amigos



Written: Monday, March 31st, 2008 - Tijuana, Mexico

Today marks the most southern part of our journey. From this day onwards, we will be heading north.

Tijuana is a total border town. We were advised by many people that it is not the best representation of what Mexico has to offer and is actually quite unsafe. However, we had come so far and we couldn't resist popping over for a quick burrito. We did decide that it'd be best to leave the bus behind and travel to TJ on foot.

The border crossing experience was was kind of funny because there are no directions or signs pointing to tell you where to go. We parked the bus and just started following the crowds of people all moving in the same direction (when in doubt be a follower). We walked for awhile, up stairways, through cross walks over the street down some more then finally through this large ominous metal turnstile. We passed through the turnstile and then Volia' - Welcome to Mexico - I hope you want to be here cuz there's no way back now. While the whole experience was really bizarre the weirdest of all was that there were no customs! They don't care, you want to go to Mexico? well go right on ahead, help yourself.

The problem comes when you would like to go back to the U.S. The massive wall that stretches out for miles complete with surveillance pretty much lets you know how unwelcome you are.


The whole experience was overwhelming to say the least. We had this little map and were trying to find a little restaurant to have lunch. It seemed like us along with 10 others were the only white people in TJ that day and thus the haggling was pretty aggressive. We walked past countless drug stores tucked into the walls, no doors, and people inside wearing lab coats offering discounted prescription drugs, the usual gift stores, restaurants, and kids selling chicklets. Some people were even offering a shot of tequila if you just came inside to look around. I remember my mom telling me about strangers, cars and candy - but this is new territory. The strangest of all were the poor little donkeys on the corners. They wore sombreros and were painted in zebra stripes. They just stood there with this "i hate my life" expression on their donkey faces. The idea is that you could pay to get your picture taken with the zebras. I'm sure it's a great hit with drunken male American teenager demographic.




The restaurant was like a little haven away from the chaos. a little place on a sunny balcony where we could sit un-noticed, and un-haggled for a little while. After a couple of beers and a plate of fajitas we were ready for the walk home because it was getting dark soon (Make sure you leave before it get's dark was the advice at the little tourism bureau) We bought a few tiles, some freshly fried churros (deep fried pasty with cinnamon and sugar - fatty goodness) and were on our way. The line up at the border was nuts. Hundreds of people on foot and in vehichles were lined up waiting to get let into the US. The vehicle traffic stretched further back than I could see, apparently traffic jams at the border are so common place that there are booths and shops set up along the street. There's actually a mini economy here based on the simple fact that there will always be a huge grumpy line up of idling cars in the hot sun, and these cars will be filled with people looking for a snow cone, churro or one last picture with the world's only zebra donkey.

So after some mild interrogation, breif frisking and a purse x ray we were back in the U.S of A before dark and ready to head North.













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