Down in Mexico

Before heading over to the East coast I was determined to see two more places: Las Vegas (where Im writing this) and Mexico. When I planned out the trip initially I was hoping to spend up to a month in Mexico, and perhaps go see Mexico City. However when I realised Id be going into such a dangerous country (in places) on my own, I realised that would perhaps be better left for another time. Still I wanted to see at least some of the country, so I thought one night couldnt hurt, right? Sure enough there I was on my way back to the US border after a truly great time when I got cornered by a gang and my phone was stolen. Bugger.


Thats not going to dominate the post (I hope), so lets talk about the day before. Mexico is so incredibly cheap. Because of the proximity of the bus station to the city centre it makes the most sense to get off at San Ysidro in California and walk over the border. I stood for about 10 minutes looking confused in San Ysidro, mostly because the sign you need to follow tells you where some cafe is before the country. I knew the Mexican border would be relatively lax, but the sign really set the trend for what would follow. I had by bags searched in a half arsed way. I then turned the corner fully expecting to see passport control only to find a taxi rank. No-one checked my passport. I was illegal in Mexico (oh, the irony).

I found my hotel quickly enough and then set about enjoying my time there. I walked through the market, saw some fun bartering and settled at a bar for a few drinks. The bar was selling beers at 3 for $2.50 - how can you turn that down? I met a crazy barman who came over and asked the same set of questions everyone did in Mexico. 'Hey, you like the Beatles?' 'You like Elton John? ... ... Pch faggot.' Ok, no-one else was so rampantly homophobic, but the Beatles one came up several times. The food was great too - not exactly surprising considering how much I love mexican food but still worth a mention. I really enjoyed the day there, and headed back to my hotel room for the night. Oh! I forgot to mention my room, the windows looked out on the corridor! Brilliant.

So the next morning I headed out for the border. The taxi's are really cheap so I was looking to flag one down when a guy mentioned where there was a taxi rank and then I stupidly followed his directions. Ill not bore you with any of the specifics, but what essentially happened is that I let the panic trying to catch the bus out of there overtake common sense. It sucks that it happened, but then again I had literally all my stuff with me so I think I was lucky to get away with the rest of my stuff, and without being hurt in any way myself. I dont think Im going to let it take over my memory of Mexico, I really had a good time there and I would go again. Just not alone.