Tijuana 08

Now, I'm a big fan of Mexico. I spent some time there in the early eighties and I've never forgotten the friendly atmosphere and great people and fantastic food and all of that. Not to mention Herb.


Tijuana however remains a bit of a blot on the landscape, a border town of around a million people, many of them either trying to enter the US, or making some kind of living off its citizens. A city that can in no way be used to judge the nation. The contrast between the US and Mexico is massive at the border, as you plunge into the third world from the land of Burger King and Calvin Klein..

I went earlier this week, on a day when the temperature topped 35c... it seemed hotter though on the mean streets south of the border.

To get downtown you cross the glorious Tijuana River.

Below is the main drag - in the past it has been tourist central, but today I saw only a handful of foreign tourists in the whole place. Times are tight and the lack of tourist dollars is really hurting.


There's a more menacing tone to the place now, many young men sitting around on the streets doing nothing..just watching the lonely tourists.




The police dept were out in force - and when I returned to the safety and peace of La Jolla I heard on the news that ten people had been murdered in Tijuana today.

This is a view of the border crossing Mex > US...