My friend and I had planned...

My friend and I had planned to spend an entire weekend in TJ so that we could check out everything about Adelita Bar and the surrounding venues. When it came time to leave on our trip we almost cancelled because of the recent outbursts of cartel violence. Reading the newspapers it seems Tijuana is turning into the wild west.

Eventually we decided that we would head over the border in the daytime, check things out and if it seemed uncomfortable, head back to the U.S. before nightfall. So we walked over the border, headed over the pedestrian bridge toward the stainless steel arch and checked into a hotel that was recommended by the Lonely Planet travel site: el Hotel Nelson. The rooms were $56 each, were located on the sixth floor and had great views of the city across the border. The place is old, but seemed very clean and secure and the staff were all very friendly.

We went down to the Adelita Bar from there (a 3 block walk) and basically found there what has been outlined in other reviews. In the day time there were probably some 30 odd girls in there and some for all tastes ranging from super model types to chubby hags. One of my favorite parts of being there is just sitting and watching all the activity. Some of the uglier girls will be more aggressive about soliciting business and requesting you buy them a drink at $7 a pop, but I didn't waste my time with them. It seemed acceptable to give them a firm but polite "no gracias." Buying a drink for the prettier girls is fun. They'll hang with you and allow some two way touching with light conversation. (My friend insists the girls were nicer to me because I can speak good Spanish, but I honestly just think they were nice and friendly.) Anyway, over the course of the weekend we made 6 trips to the bar and waited patiently chatting with the girls and waiting for the perfect one who eventually would come along. All the details about going upstairs you can read in the other reviews. Work on your Spanish. The girls seem to really appreciate the effort.