A Businessman's Visit to Tijuana
Monday, May 20, 2013 12:00 AM
I decided to start my own story.
PART 1
OK, so here's my story. I truly hope everyone that reads this gains some sort of knowledge in preparation for a visit to TJ or can agree with my experiences.
I was visiting SD and decided to take a trip down to Tijuana. I did exhaustive studies on where to go and how to act, learned a LOT before I went, and learned even more during and after!
First of all, if you plan to visit TJ and focus your time on the Zona Norte red light district, do your homework! A SIMPLE mistake can be VERY costly. You are NOT in the US. You do NOT have rights. You are in Mexico.
Now, for preparation. You should bring at LEAST $200 in cash, with denominations between 20, 10, 5, and 1. DO NOT forget your PASSPORT!! I did not, so I can't speak to how to get back to the US without one. (It's even faster if you can get one of the new passport ID cards) DO NOT bring condoms. Bring something to take pictures or video with. You'll want to remember your experience. DO NOT, DO NOT bring any weapons into Mexico. EVERY weapon is illegal and will result in a visit to jail.
I drove to the Ysidro border and parked. My parking was $8 for 12 hours. Pretty good deal for a 2 minute walk to and from the border. On your drive south on Fwy 5, take the last exit BEFORE the border, or you're up for quite a ride. Once parked, walk towards the McDonalds and follow everyone else. There are plenty of signs to lead your way. Just below the sign to "MEXICO", you'll pass through a set of steel turnstiles. That's it. You're no longer in the USA. The path now is quite barren, lined with barbed wire, and industrial. No worries. You'll see an armed officer every 25ft accompanied by militia with an assault rifle. One thing I learned which I will continue to mention is how well present the police are as long as you are in safe areas.
You will then walk down a short street and follow guided locals directing you to the Taxis. That's the correct way to TJ. You'll walk across a bridge spanning the drive back to Mexico and witness why you don't drive across. Once on the other side, to the left will be a plethora of taxis ready to take you anywhere for $5US or to the right will be the walking path to the TJ arch. Unless you travel during the day with more than one person, I recommend taking a taxi. I was traveling alone at night, so I took a taxi each time. It is rumored that many tourists are mugged on 123 between the border and the arch. I didn't want to ruin my visit with that experience. If it had been during the day and I had been with friends, we would have walked it.
After a short $5 cab ride of "take me to the Hong Kong", I was at the red light district of TJ. It was everything I had read and more. VERY active. VERY entertaining.
PART 2
I knew ahead of time that the women on the streets would be about $25 with hotel charge and the women in the bars would be almost $100 with hotel. So I first took a few tours around the red light block. Now, BIG TIP, DO NOT veer off of that primary block. That is the block that all the bars pass through and the food vendors are around. There is a huge police presence in this area and crime is almost non-existent.
Now, the girls that are standing every 10 feet on the doorways of Zona Norte are probably between a 5/10 and an 8/10. If you choose to approach a girl on the street, be ready to know basic Spanish or the only few words they know. Every street girl knows "hotel", "fu*ky fu*ky", and "su*ky su*ky". Some speak good English. Most broken English at best. After you choose your girl, which 90% are $20 for 20 minutes and $6 to the hotel, you head upstairs to the hotel of their choosing, you pay the hotel fee at the front desk, the counter manager hands the girl a condom and lube, and off you go.
You go in to a very clean and very small room. You give her the $20 up front and you get two positions for 20 minutes. Make the best of your time. As you approach 20 minutes, you'll hear a knock on the door telling you your time is almost up. Be certain to negotiate everything on the street. Once you get in the room, negotiations are pretty much over. Afterwards, if there is a young gent headed towards your room, it is proper to tip him $1 to clean your room. Again, tipping is recommended in Mexico and often gets you further.
After a great 20 minutes, I headed to the bars to drink the night away. I spent the whole night bar-hopping and stopping out for food at different vendors. You should ALWAYS pop your head in and look around. If the girls are ugly, go somewhere else. Most all beers are $4 at every bar and the wait staff are highly attentive to your every need. I'll put my bar reviews in the next Part.
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