One American’s story of traveling to Tijuana

Disclaimer: These are my experiences, and are not reflective of what everyone may or may not see when travelling to Mexico. It is always wise to check travel advisories from the government, and to practice wise decision making when traveling anywhere, whether inside or out of your home country.

Immediately upon crossing the border:

A cantina selling cocktails

Stereotypes:

Advertisements for prescription drugs can be seen in the streets.

Immediately, you can see alcohol for sale, and this seems a major draw for American visitors, as I did not see any Americans past this point.

We have all heard how you can buy prescription drugs over the counter over the border. I found this to be true as well. Almost immediately upon entering the Avenida Revolución, I saw signs for dental care as well as Viagra. Upon entering a farmacia, I was presented with various familiar options, albeit in Spanish. No photos of these, as I requested permission whenever taking a photo of an individual or private establishment, and was not granted any in the farmacia.

Avenida Revolución:

I was able to find street tacos, and had one, but was not permitted to take a photo of the vendor. Sadly, the nice restaurant in town only had American food, so I got a burger, a green Martini, and a Sol cerveza for $11 after tip.

The chef at the ristorante cooks in front of the customers and accepts tips. He was awesome!

An acupuncture and naturopathy clinic just outside of downtown.

Overall, the feel felt very much like being at the Saturday Market here in Portland, Oregon, USA, as long as I stayed in the tourist area. The people were warm and welcoming, and there was a significant policía presence, which added to the feeling of safety, given the propaganda we all hear on the news about Tijuana being the most dangerous city in the world.

I went into the naturopathy and acupuncture clinic, and it felt just like any establishment here in the states, very clean, professional, and confidential. If I lived closer to the border, this would be an option I would consider due to the lower cost. The cost for a 90 minute acupuncture session I was told would be $80 USD.

Hotels:

Some of the hotels I saw were actually quite swanky, and I was not permitted to take photos within, but was able to get some prices in both pesos, as well as in dollars.

One of the standard hotels in downtown.

This was one hotel which looked fun, due to the pastel coloring, and the architecture within. As you can see, the prices are pretty cheap for a visiting American, and in this part of town, things do not feel at all unsafe. Another thing I noticed was that at the hotels I saw, the checkout time was significantly later than in the states, with 1PM being standard.

In an especially fancy hotel, where the cost for a night for a double occupancy was $31 a night, there was a fountain in the foyer area, and upon a tour of the rooms, was presented with potted plants in the room, and a beautiful view of the suburbs from the window.

Street art contrasted with poverty:

Street art

In the streets, you will find murals like the one above, which are stunning to say the least, but just a block away, you can see abject poverty, as shown in the following photo.

One block away from above street arts

Poverty in the streets just outside of downtown just blocks from where the shopping area is.

A gate that appears to be boarded up.

An auto repair business, there were people inside working, and requested I not take their photo, but said I could photograph the building exterior.

This area clearly did not feel as safe, as there were stray dogs running in the street, one with what appeared to be mange, and quite sickly.

Stray dog running the streets, but wagging it’s tail as it came to met looking for food. I gave it part of a concha.

A stray dog that appeared to have mange and was whimpering as I approached.

A stray dog that ran away as I walked by.

A view of the city from an overpass. The suburbs of Camino Verde can be seen in the distance.

The homeless situation made me realize just how good the homeless here have it in reality, when contrasted.

An area where the homeless were congregated, and it reeked of sewage, and had raw sewage running through the street in direct view of the border crossing.

The border, and you can see the area next to it where the homeless are staying. A huge US flag and California Republic flag can be seen, though the sun setting obscured my ability to photograph in this photo.

This man is sitting with merely a shirt on his back, and no trousers. He clearly was very ill, both physically and mentally. I bought him a concha, and we talked for about 5 minutes about the state of poverty in Tijuana.

Deported veterans center:

I stopped by this center, and requested to take a photo of the exterior, and I can be seen the in the reflection. The gentleman inside was kind enough to explain the situation, and it can be read in detail in the below Medium article on the topic (not my writing).

We Deport Veterans

When I saw this building, I found myself asking “what is this?” Turns out that the USA has used Mexican born individuals who received resident status in the states, lets them serve the country in various capacities, and then deports them over the border. My heart broke as I heard this, as it goes against everything I’ve ever been taught about the USA and it’s policies. I mean why would we take someone who put their life on the line for this country and then deport them later instead of offering citizenship on the spot?

Closing remarks:

In the 4 hours that I spent in Tijuana and Camino Verde, I found myself feeling both familiar with the street food as well as comfortable ristorantes with complimentary Wi-Fi, as well as seeing homeless in the streets, but at the same time, felt extreme grief as I saw the US Deported Veterans center, the homeless sitting half naked in the street amidst raw sewage, to see stray dogs left to die.

That said, the hospitality of the people, both those housed and unhoused, was bar none. To anyone who gave me directions or the ability to take a photo, I gave 18 pesos ($1 USD equivalent) after we talked, in a measure of goodwill.

The police who helped me with directions, and even an officer who kindly offered me a ride back to downtown Tijuana from Camino Verde were not the stuff you read about online or hear about in the news. One officer who spoke perfect English saw me walking the suburbs, and asked me what the hell I was thinking. I asked him if he could follow me for 10 minutes while I surveyed the area, as I told him I was doing some journalism to tell people in the states if the propaganda was true, and he kindly accepted, and upon coming back to the downtown, I gave him some money for his time and gas, which he gratefully accepted.

While I do not recommend going into Mexico and leaving the tourist areas, I did, and maybe I was just lucky to not see any drug cartel activity, but I will never forget the conversations I had and seeing what I saw.