Tijuana Dreamin'
Written: Sep 10 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: prescription drugs; t-shirts; unique experience for sheltered Americans
Cons: aggressive sales techniques
|
|
|
| skippio's Full Review: Tijuana |
No visit to San Diego is complete without the obligatory day trip to Tijuana, the most tourist-visited city in the world.
We got a cheapish motel room in San Ysidro, California, which is basically the American version of Tijuana. A suburb of San Diego, San Ysidro is home to many motels, outlet malls, and duty-free shops. The border crossing was situated about half a mile from our motel, so we decided to walk down and take the shuttle bus across the border. Tickets were $2 a person, roundtrip. We were given a tiny little map of the downtown district as we boarded the bus with many other Americans. Unfortunately, we were not adequately prepared for what awaited us south of the border.
The bus ride down was uneventful. We were dropped off at a little mall, where many shops offered anything a typical tourist could possibly want, from booze to t-shirts. As we walked out to the main street, we were immediately accosted by several men with silver necklaces draped over their arms. They shouted at us (they had to shout to be heard over the noise of the street) and thrust their arms under our noses. Bewildered, we mumbled “no thank you” and walked on. We soon learned that “no thank you” is an indispensable phrase in Tijuana.
Our experience in the streets of Tijuana seemed like a drug-induced dream sequence from the movie “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” From all angles, shady-looking merchants descended upon us, crying for us to look in their shops. We suppose most used-car salespersons visit here for training. Others physically blocked us from passing on the sidewalk to show us menus for their cafes. Pinatas, ponchos, sombreros, leather belts and purses, jewelry and other trinkets seemed to close in on us. We quickly became disoriented and befuddled. A Tijuanian merchant can smell a befuddled American six blocks away—we must have looked like easy targets. “Amigo! Amigo!” they shouted. “No thank you! No thank you!” we shouted back. For a while, we walked behind another group of Americans, in the theory that there is safety in numbers. But unfortunately, our decoys were quickly set-upon and once again we were left alone.
It’s a good thing the ASPCA is not active in Tijuana. Here and there along the street are tethered little burros, accompanied by their sombrero-and-poncho clad owners. The strange thing about these burros is that they have been spray-painted in the manner of a zebra, with black and white stripes. Tourists are apparently supposed to pay the sombrero guys $5 to have their photos taken with the painted burro. We thought this was strange the first time we saw it. But as we wandered around, we saw three or four other similar painted burro scams. However, we didn’t see anyone actually having a picture taken with the painted burros.
Our main goal in visiting TJ was to find a pharmacy to get cheap prescription drugs. By a nifty loophole in United States customs law, it is legal to buy prescription drugs for your own use, even without a prescription. But if you want to be safe, it is easy to find a doctor in Tijuana who will be happy to write you a prescription for a small fee. Luckily for us, there were at least a dozen pharmacies within a few blocks. They advertise in English, take American dollars and even have Physician’s Desk References available so you can see exactly what you need. It pays to shop around—pharmacies closer to the bus stop are more expensive than those further down the street. The pharmacies offer every drug you could probably ever want, with the exception of really good painkillers. The drugs range from ¼ to ½ the price you’d pay for them in the US.
After we’d taken care of our health-care needs, we set off to find some TJ t-shirts. We soon discovered some problems with the basic t-shirt selection in Tijuana. For one thing, there were only three basic t-shirt motifs available in most places: Hard Rock Café, Harley-Davidson, and Corona Extra. If these styles don’t appeal to you, you’ll have to dig a little deeper to find something you like. Another difficulty is that Tijuanians assume that all tourists from north of the border are very large in stature. Therefore, if you need a smaller size (small or medium) you will REALLY have to dig to find what you want. Eventually we located a well-stocked t-shirt emporium that had a very nice selection of reasonably-priced shirts in all sizes. Another plus to this shop was that it was staffed by females, who tend to be less aggressive in their marketing techniques than male Tijuanians.
We ended up purchasing five t-shirts, a pair of sunglasses, and enough drugs to fit our needs for at least a couple years. After about an hour and a half, we went back to the bus stop to catch our ride back to the States. We had to wait about fifteen minutes for a bus, during which time we watched many happy Americans disembarking other buses, excited about their Mexican excursion. We also watched the bus drivers eating lunch and some Americans shopping in the mall.
The bus drive back was chaotic, to say the least. Traffic in Tijuana is not for the faint-of-heart. We became entangled in a traffic jam near the border and sat there for several minutes. While stopped, we had the chance to observe Mexican driving from a (somewhat) safe viewpoint. Looking down from our window, we observed a car with a crushed bumper and what appeared to be blood spattered across the hood. Drivers tear through the streets as fast as possible, squeezing into any available spot, braking at the last possible second—now we know why American insurance companies won’t insure drivers in Mexico. If you are adventurous, and would like to drive into the country, there are booths offering daily insurance coverage near the border.
At the border, the bus dropped us off so we could walk with our purchases through Customs. This is no big deal; just plop your bags down on a conveyor belt and tell the border guards that you are an American, and you waltz right through. They don’t even want to see any ID. The bus will pick you up on the other side and take you back to where you started.
We recommend a day trip to TJ if you happen to be in the area—it’s definitely an experience. One thing you should bear in mind, however, is the basic cultural difference in the concept of “personal space.” Americans feel comfortable with about three feet of space between speakers; but Tijuanians usually get within eighteen inches when speaking to you. We are just mentioning this so that it won’t shock you when a broken-English speaking, silver-chain brandishing merchant gets right into your face.
By no means did we see or experience all in Tijuana. Like most Americans, we only visited the touristy part that was created for tourists. The city actually offers many more things, like museums and theaters, that usually are overlooked by day-trippers. We didn’t make any plans when we went there, so we were not aware of any other activities. If you want to visit Tijuana, do some research before you go and figure out what you want to do. And try to find a decent map, because the one we had was of little-to-no use.
Don’t be afraid to visit Tijuana, but remember the all-important phrase: “No, thank you.”
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
skippio
|
|
Member: W. Fritz
Location: Newton, Iowa
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 109 members
About Me:
Winners of Fitter Families, Best Couple, Texas State Fair, 1926. We haven't aged much.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.