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Published: March 21st 2006
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Shall We Cross?
Mexico and the States, all in one How the hell did I end up back here? It's hard to pass up an opportunity to cross the border, and the Mexican was the easiest to cross from San Diego, so why not? Tijuana it is.
Chris and I met up with Mark in the hostel and hopped into the car moments later. The plan was without a map this time as we figured we could head south until we could drive no further. We had actually read up that it's a better plan to park in the States and walk over to avoid any insurance issues. Unfortunately we missed the last exit and proceeded to join the line up of cars. I hopped out to ask an official where we could turn around and was very quickly reprimanded for exiting the car in a prohibited area.
"But I just want to know..."
"It would be best for both you and me for you to get into your veeeehicle mam. Now."
So perhaps it's not best to mess with these uniforms! And we did manage to find the way without the kind directions requested.
After crossing the freeway and touring various parking lots
Smile! We're in Mexico!!
And is it a donkey? No no no, it's a Mexican ZEBRA!!! and duty free shops, we were all a bit surprised at the lack of an official watching over us entering Mexico. Our hands were ready on our passpports but we had to let go only to push the clanking revolving gate. And now we're in Mexico. Hmm!
We walked into town and I began to see the familiar crafts that I had bought down south a few weeks ago, although at nearly three times the first bargaining price. As we proceeded up to the touristy shopping strip the local shopkeepers were quick to pick up our presence. Various flattering or simply ear catching comments were thrown at us from the opposite side of the street to attract our attention to their goods for sale. I particularily liked the "Aaahhh, you must be the BayWatch girl!". Pamela and I have a couple of features that seem to catch a man's eye, so I can understand the confusion.
Having walked around and seen all the tat for sale, we opted for a couple of Coronas in the sun. We were still able to catch the pounding base from the clubs across the road whilst people watching along the
Drugs Anyone?
It really is a drug hotspot! Although not quite what I was expecting main strip. A couple of chaps ran by at top speed which I thought was the action for the day, but then they were followed by a couple more chaps huffing and puffing a little harder, followed by a cop car maxing their siren sounders with doors open. It later unfolded that the bad boys weren't able to find such a hot hiding spot. The cops strutted around for the rest of the afternoon on their cell phones making everybody aware who the dudes in town were.
Reflecting over our Mexican surroundings over the second beer resulted in an overall agreement, border towns are so very different to the rest of Mexico. Every now and then our thoughts were interrupted by the Mexican donkey protesting at having to pose wearing a sombrero and a crying kid. No wait-he's a Mexican zebra with those (painted on) stripes!! Bars and shops are geared towards the American day tourists whilst every other shop seems to be a pharmacy. Yes, the white cloaks are also the shop keepers calling out at us with amazing deals.
"How bout a smile for half price Prozac? Or some more excitement with 30% off Viagra?"
Drugbust maybe?
We did see them running by, but it seems they weren't quite fast enough to get away. Bad boys bad boys, what chya gonna do? What chya gonna do when they come for you? Apparently there are others that get a lot more out of Tijuana than I did. We ended up buying nothing and spending just a couple of hours taking in Mexican life. There are no comparisons to the thrills and beauties I experienced just a month or so ago in the south. Border towns are in a league of their own.
We joined the line for people heading back to America and expected to wait a few hours due to the number of people, but luckily the time spent in the queue was less than that in Mexico. I obviously hadn't been noted as the gal that exited the car as the man behind the desk was extremely friendly and accommodating. Ironic that he was a football fan and had a few words for Chris parading around in his Celtic shirt.
Now that I've really had a quickie (country visited) it's time to get back to exploring the rest of California. And then home sweet home is calling.
Cheers all,
Fiona
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