Tijuana, Mexico- April 8, 2008

I couldn't quite stand to be so close to Mexico and not go and visit! I have heard so much about Tijuana over the years but it was never positive. Due to lots of changes and "cleaning up" over the years, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.

I had read about a tour on the internet when I was researching the possibilities of what to do on my couple of days here and had jotted down the number of a company that does full and half day tours. Tijuana is only 15 miles from San Diego, so it was easy to do in a half day tour. Only 9 people went on the tour bus; represented were Australia, Russia, and Spain, in addition to the US, of course! We were an interesting group. I got to hang out with the man from Spain, as he didn't speak any English.

I pictured dusty dirt roads, burros, and crimes being committed along the sides of the street, but again, it was quite different than that. The only burros I saw were painted like zebras and were ready to pose with the tourists. I had no need of the Mexican souveniers but did enjoy stopping at the panderia and buying some nice rolls.

Tijuana saw amazing growth in the early 20's when prohibition in the US drove may Americans south of the border for various pleasures. I'm told that in the last twenty years, the city has really cleaned up and police presence was very apparent.

Coming through customs was amazing. The line of cars was huge and fortunately, the bus had it's own line and we didn't have to wait as long as the sea of cars next to us had to wait. We had to get off the bus and walk through customs and then, board the bus again on the other side. Twenty minutes later, we were back in San Diego. Tijuana isn't the Mexico I know and love, but it was a fun experience and I'm glad I was able to go!