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Can someone please verify whether or not a passport is needed to re-enter the U.S.? I am going to get some surgery in Tijuana, and when I spoke to one of the hospital employees, they told me as long as you LOOK American, it would be no problem to re-enter the U.S. (I am a blonde and white ) My passport expired years ago, and since my surgery is in 2 weeks, I won't have time to reapply. So can someone tell me the truth of this? I don't want to be stuck down there...
A friend and I went across last weekend to do a tasting at various restaurants in Tijuana and northern Baja and we were not required to have a passport. I just used my CA driver's license and a copy of my birth certificate.
BTW the restaurant Mision 19 is well worth a visit. Truly excellent Baja med cuisine using all local ingredients (the shellfish was especially excellent) at a cost around half what a comparable meal would go for in San Diego. Service and food were both excellent while all of the staff were English speaking.
For a perspective on how safe it is in Tijuana, consider the following: there were 30 homicides in San Diego in 2010, and there were 400 in Tijuana.
Yeah, but almost all of those people were involved in organized crime. Don't get involved in illegal activities, don't be an easy target by being falling down drunk in public or flashing cash, don't try to wander around on your own in the ghetto at 2am, don't break the law by urinating on the street or drinking alcohol in public, don't try to do drugs in the street, and stick to the well policed tourist areas (the officials in Tijuana aren't dumb, they know tourist dollars pay for a lot of jobs so they protect those areas) and you'll almost certainly have a nice visit. It all comes down to not being stupid and treating the locals with respect. Do that and you'll likely love your visit.
I look forward to visiting. I just have not been up to the hassle-my main agenda is great food so I need to find a way to find the best eats, markets and maybe a museum and not have to wait hours to get across the border coming home. Between my neighbors, my former volunteer colleagues (medical researchers) and current current coworkers I am collecting great ideas for Tecate, Tijuana, and Baja. Honestly, I meet so many people (latino and anglo) that cross the border a lot and no one is sounding an alarm call for general visits. I have to say my main issue is the hassle.
1) read the local food blogs in San Diego as there are dozens of bloggers who have already ferreted out the best restaurants, food carts (yes, some of them are truly excellent and a bargain to boot), or taco stands. They will steer you in the right direction plus the path has already been laid so the cabbies will know where you want to go.
2) Avoid driving your own car down unless you plan to go further south than TJ and if you do drive across buy Mexican insurance as it is cheap and will save you lots of hassle. If you walk across the border instead of drive then your wait is typically less than 15 minutes while the car line can be 2 or more hours as the border patrol slowly goes through every car looking for drugs or other smuggled goods.
The only thing that's holding me back from a trip to TJ is the long wait getting back. That just doesn't appeal to me.
Now, if it's true that the crossing is only about 20 minutes if you walk, well, I'll take the trolley and go. I hear about the 45 minute wait times on a slow day during the KPBS traffic reports and I'm so over it.
Park on the U.S. side and walk across. Then take a $5 cab ride to Revolution. Eat lunch. Drink a few beers and walk to Zone Norte. It is a buffet of ladies lining the street who are legal hookers.There is a big police presence there. So you won't get mugged unless you set yourself up as an easy mark.
Prostitution is a business there not unlike Northern Nevada. Pay the lady.Pay the man for the room. Put on a rubber, Bada Boom.BadaBing.
Don't act like a drunk ya hoo. Don't pee in the street. Don't look like a hick at Disneyland. Can the checkered shorts and flip flops.Don't wear a Rolex or a big fat wallet on your butt. Stay low key and you will have a great time. You pay $30 for a lovely young lady and $10 for the room. Stay out of the dark little bars with the curtains for doors. The Chicago Club and Adelitas are big loud stripper bars with working hookers. But the girls expect to be bought drinks and they charge $60 for sex and $10 for the room. Stick to the street. Twice the fun for the same money.
You can have a blast and be back in the US before dark. Also there are many pharmacies where you can buy medicines at cheap prices. Asthma meds, Valium, and Viagara.
A valid drivers license is all the ID you need to walk back into The U.S. And pass a few sentence interview with a young Marine type Border Guard.The line can be two hours on Weekends, but it's a good chance to sober up.
There are just as many dangerous places as TJ as in L.A., N.Y., or L.V.
Be Cool.Have Fun.
Hope the rubber doesn't break; ~20% of sex workers in TJ are HIV+
A colleague of mine at UCSD has a research project focused on TJ sex workers. Many of them are injection drug users, hence the high HIV and Hep C prevalence. Plus, do you really want to take advantage of some poor woman's desperation?
Hope the rubber doesn't break; ~20% of sex workers in TJ are HIV+
A colleague of mine at UCSD has a research project focused on TJ sex workers. Many of them are injection drug users, hence the high HIV and Hep C prevalence. Plus, do you really want to take advantage of some poor woman's desperation?
There is a HUGE amount of trannies in TJ in the hooker trade. No bueno.
The only thing that's holding me back from a trip to TJ is the long wait getting back. That just doesn't appeal to me.
Now, if it's true that the crossing is only about 20 minutes if you walk, well, I'll take the trolley and go. I hear about the 45 minute wait times on a slow day during the KPBS traffic reports and I'm so over it.
yes its great. go home b4 dark. if you club late at night stuff can happen. drunk, young, stupid, & rich, lookin for fun in a foreign country late at night, is a bad combination.
Hope the rubber doesn't break; ~20% of sex workers in TJ are HIV+
A colleague of mine at UCSD has a research project focused on TJ sex workers. Many of them are injection drug users, hence the high HIV and Hep C prevalence. Plus, do you really want to take advantage of some poor woman's desperation?
I don't visit any of the establishments he mentioned (happily married, thank you) but I think he is being especially foolish. Sex work is regulated by the government in Mexico so at least if someone goes to one of the licensed brothels then you know all the girls are licensed and have received recent medical exams for STDs. He, however, said he preferred the street walkers, who are the lowest of the low in the prostitution business, and the main reason those women are not in the licensed brothels is because they can't pass the medical exam to get a state issued license. In short, most of them have AIDS or some other STD and that's why they're on the street instead of in one of the licensed brothels.
I don't think saving $30 is worth my life and anyone who does is foolish.
Only if you drive and are trying to cross at peak hours. Park on the US side, walk across, and then take a taxi from the border (the Taxi ride will cost you ~$5). The wait times to return will be 15 minutes or less.
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) My passport expired years ago, and since my surgery is in 2 weeks, I won't have time to reapply. So can someone tell me the truth of this? I don't want to be stuck down there...
