Weird Border Crossings: Too many Stamps!

Geo-political crap tends make things more difficult than they need to be.. and also more time-consuming as well.

Today, I'd like to share my strangest border crossing experience yet. 

Good Times in Tijuana, Mexico

I was in San Diego, which is right next to Mexico. I couldn't go to San Diego without going to Tijuana too! But I really didn't want to go there alone.
After all it is a border city with a reputation that makes people stress to me to be careful. People pretty much tell me to be careful in every time I go to a big city but I don't think they are as dangerous as people say they are. 
But border cities in Mexico are known for stuff like violent drug cartels! I had seen enough of Breaking Bad to be a little worried... just a little! Don't go thinking I'm a pussy.
I talked to the 2 friends that I had in San Diego and one of them couldn't go because of work and the other one didn't even have a passport!
Well, Fuck.

Then I logged on to Couchsurfing.org. I had only recently joined and was a bit nervous about using it. I'll just have to use my judgement. What's cool is that you can read people's profiles and other people can leave a positive or negative reference about their experience with the person.
I clicked on the Tijuana area page and as I was scrolling through the conversations, I noticed someone's post titled Border Hopping. The guy's name was Alan and he was from Ireland and traveling around America. He said he had done 2 months out of a 4 month journey and wanted to go across the border while he was here but wanted someone else to go with too. So, I responded to his post.

He seemed excited and gave me his phone # and we communicated with our cellphones. So, the day came and it was time for me to go to Mexico with a guy I've never met.
I got my luggage and took the trolley to the gas lamp quarter of San Diego where we decided to meet up. I instantly felt relieved when I finally met Alan in person that he seemed like someone I could get along with. One of the first things I noticed about Alan was that he was very social and talked to a lot of people and could easily meet and have conversations with strangers. Shortly after meeting, we took the trolley all the way to the border.

Now what really surprised the fuck out of me was that there was no check in place or anything. You just walk across and you're in Mexico. Nobody even checked my passport or bag or anything. Anybody and everybody was allowed to walk into Mexico without any security. I couldn't believe it! 
Of course, I was sure that going back to U.S. will have a lot of security.
We had already reserved a hotel before we met. It was a 5 star hotel and the price was equivalent to about 80 something U.S. dollars. Splitting that price between the 2 of us made that a cheap stay for such a fancy place.

The First two people I met in Tijuana:

I got an interesting first impression of Tijuana because of the first two people we met there. 

Soon after crossing the border, I went to an ATM to get some pesos. While Alan was waiting for me near the ATM, he got into a conversation with someone.

I finished pulling money out, turned around, and saw Alan talking to some guy. The guy was friendly and said he came to Mexico to get fake abs surgery!

Why the hell would anyone want to get fake muscles?! So he could look stronger but not actually be stronger?

He started saying how it felt weird and showed us his bandages under his shirt. Then he started talking about how cute the prostitutes are and I'm not going to type the details of what he said next. He said something disturbing.

Now, let me tell you about the second person we met in Mexico...

On the roof of the hotel was a swimming pool and a hot tub!

As I'm writing this many months later, I have never stayed in any place as fancy as that again.

 We explored our large hotel some after checking in and found the pool and hot tub on the roof.

While we were relaxing in the hot tub, a large Mexican man gets in and immediately starts talking to us and telling us stories about him cheating on his wife and how he almost got caught one time. 

I think it was a strange thing to tell two strangers so early in a conversation.

Then he said he had to go take care of his kids or something and left.

Another odd thing was that inside that hotel was 2 plastic surgery centers!

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Later, someone else wrote to Alan about his post on Couchsurfing. Her name was Christian, or Chris for short, and she lived in Tijuana. She wasn't able to host us but was able to meet up and show us around.

Her and her friends picked us up and we went and got a bunch of Tecate beer, which is what I saw a lot of locals drink while I was there.

We dove down to a town called Rosarito and met up with people she knew on the beach. A lot of people were camping on that beach and also a lot of people had fires. 

So did we.

I realized that I had went to Mexico with a guy I just met and then got in car at night with several strangers to go to a beach somewhere deeper in Mexico but I felt comfortable.

After a while, we got all got back in the car and Alan, Christian, and I drank beers in the back seat on the way back to Tijuana. We drank a lot of beer.

By the way, Christian told us that locals don't drink Corona.

It's well-known as a Mexico beer in America but when we went to a small bar sometime in Tijuana and Alan tried to order a Corona, the waitress asked "are you serious?"

That night Alan, Christian and I went to La Sexta street. 

It was a main party street with lots of clubs and pubs.

We went into a loud and crowded club and drank a Flaming Sambuca. The bartender lit the drink on fire. At that time, I had never seen one before. 

To be honest, I didn't have much partying experience. I had always been a shy and subtle guy.  The fact that I was dancing that night and enjoying it must of meant that I was pretty drunk!

The next day I discovered that the check out time for hotels in Tijuana was 1 p.m. That's awesome! I've never seen it that late but I guess it's because Tijuana is a place of nightlife.

We decided to move into another big fancy hotel that we saw in the city the previous day just to see what the other one was like. 

We met with Chris again that day and walked around Tijuana

The big ball of Tijuana called the Cultural Center. Inside is a theater and a museum.

                   

This is supposed to be a clock. the city spent a bunch of money putting it up and it doesn't even work.

Later a homeless man walked over to us and said something in Spanish and then Chris gave him some money. 
Then she told us that the man had been deported. She explained that when people get deported, they take them to Tijuana and the Mexican government doesn't allow them to work so they are stuck and have no money to get back to their home town in Mexico.


As we continued walking, we found some kind of weird show people were doing in public where little kids were dancing wearing a mask of an older man's face. It was very funny looking and the announcer guy was dressed like some kinda clown for some reason.

The day came to and end and Christian had to go so we said goodbye and agreed to keep in touch on Facebook.
Alan and I walked around Tijuana at night for awhile and then got a couple beers and played pool at a bar.
The next day we walked around some more before crossing the border back into U.S. sometime in the afternoon.

I discovered they sell speed in Mexico!

Crossing the border into America had a lot of security and a line. Completely opposite of crossing into Mexico. They had x-rays and I saw a drug sniffing dog. I hate going through security.I still felt uneasy because of  The Bitch at the Canadian Border.

A few days later, I went back to Tijuana again to go to a costume party on the Saturday before Halloween. I had a great time and some amazing tacos that I am craving now as I write this. 

 Well, I guess that's all I have to say about Tijuana for now. 

I'm sure I will go back there again someday. Thanks for reading!

The Bitch at the Canadian Border

I had seen Niagara Falls from the American side and I also wanted to see them from the Canadian side. On the American side you are able to get closer to them but on the Canadian side you are able to get a better view of them. 
I didn't know how long I wanted to be in Canada. I thought that since I was crossing the border that I should spend a week or two at least exploring some of Canada and maybe go to Toronto too. I had read before on the U.S. travel government website that I didn't need a visa if visiting under a certain amount of time.
I was a little nervous about crossing the border.

                                          The view while crossing the bridge into Canada

This next part is something I don't like thinking about... sigh

At the end of the bridge, I entered the Canadian check in place.

It was a little room with one guy behind the counter checking people's passports. I approached the counter and showed him my passport. He asked me if I had any knives or pepper spray.

"I have a pocket knife" I said. He had me pull it out and show him but allowed me to bring it. He then asked how long I would be in Canada...

Looking back at my response, I now see how ignorant I was. I had never crossed a border on foot before and of all the places, I sure the hell didn't  expect Canada to give me any problems! Americans didn't even used to require a passport to go there!

When he asked me how long I would be in Canada, I told him that I might wander around for a week or two. Then he called somebody over and told me to follow the lady to the building next door...

The woman had short blonde hair. I said "hello" then she said "hello". As we walked across the street she asked if I went to school. I said "no" and then she asked "do you have a job?"

I'm sure that not having a job like "normal" people didn't make me look too good. 

We went into the building and the blonde lady left and I had to talk to another woman behind the counter. She asked me some questions. 

I explained that I had saved up some money and now I'm travelling. She was a polite woman and told me that they were concerned about if I was planning on ever leaving Canada and also that I have enough money to support myself while wandering around. She seemed to believe me that I'm simply an explorer and not some criminal or someone trying to escape to Canada and said that If I could show her my bank statement that shows I have enough money to support my travels that I could stay however long I needed.

Of course, I didn't have a bank statement on me. She pointed to a hotel across the border and said that it had a computer room and that I could print it there. She said to go print it off and bring it back and then I can travel Canada! 

I walked all the way back across the bridge border and found the hotel and the computer room, then had to pay a fee in order to print it and then I walked back across the border with my bank statement in my hand.  I was getting sweaty since the sun was rising higher and all of the walking with my backpack on. 

I entered the building once again and a man told me to take a seat. Soon after, the lady with the short blonde hair called me up to the counter. I handed her my passport and bank statement and explained that the other lady told me to come back with it. Unfortunately, that other lady was not there...

The woman with the short blonde hair was a bitch. She had a very serious face and began questioning me. I had to explain again that I was a wanderer. She said "why would I let you into My country! you haven't shown me any proof you intend to go back to your life in Texas!" I once again explained that I didn't intend to go back for awhile. I told her that I might go to Europe or somewhere after Canada because I'm a wanderer and I'm travelling!

She didn't seem to get it.

She said that me wanting to wander was a problem. I directly asked her if wandering a country was illegal. "no" she said. "then what's wrong with that?" I asked. " I told you what's wrong with that, aren't you listening! I can't trust you to leave Canada!"

Whenever I first crossed the bridge, the guy in the booth let people pass when they told him that they would be there just for a day or two mainly to see the falls. I didn't even see him stamp anyone's passport. He simply looked at it and asked a couple questions and let them pass...  But of course, because I was honest and wanted to be in Canada for more than just a couple days, I ended up being a security concern.

I understand the concern and suggested her to give me a date to be out by and I'll make sure to leave by then. You can't technically know for sure that the people who walk across to see the falls plan to leave either because a lot of people walk back to the U.S. and don't have a return flight or anything. She then said "oh, I intend to give you a date!" 

She began asking me more questions like "did you reserve a hotel room?" and looked at me like I'm a complete moron when I told her no. "Then where do you intend to stay?!" I told her that I could walk in and get a room. I've done it many times and there are a Ton of hotels in that area. Of course, I didn't tell her that I was carrying a tent in my backpack and I planned on camping some; she probably would've thought that was terrible!

She then asked me if I had researched about Canada and knew what I was going to do there. "I haven't looked up Everything, maybe go to Toronto" I said. After mentioning Toronto, she said "do you even know anything about Toronto?" "I know it's big" I said.

That answer seemed to make her even more frustrated with me. 

She starting angrily ranting things like "when you go on vacation you need to plan what you are going to be doing!" Several times she used that word.Vacation. She didn't seem to get the point that I'm a drifter and I'm not on vacation. "I'm a wanderer; I like to explore" I said with emphasis. "Go sit down" she said and I waited once again.

After awhile, She called me back to the counter. She had a document stapled to my passport. "I'm allowing you to enter Canada for today which I probably shouldn't even be doing! If you're not out of Canada by midnight tonight there will be a warrant out for your arrest!" It was about 12:00 p.m. As I was leaving she said "have fun wandering for 12 hours!"  Bitch.

It wouldn't have been worth it to get a room. I would have the room for less than a day and wouldn't have been able to sleep there! I didn't have anywhere to leave my bag and had to carry it around while in Canada that day. 

The so called Canadian city was just a bunch of gimmicks and tourist stuff. It looked like a freaking carnival.

However, the place had some beautiful parks and I got to see a good view of the falls.

While in Canada I felt somewhat like an unwelcome guest even though I knew I shouldn't because it was just that one lady that I had a problem with. I thought that Canada would be a welcoming neighbor. But whatever, assholes are everywhere. I was probably there in that tourist town for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours then I walked back across the border.

It was my first time to ever go to another country completely alone and where I didn't know anybody. It was also my first time to walk across a border. Many people who have had more travelling experience than me at that time would've known this: Do Not EVER say to immigration officers that you don't have a plan or a scheduled departure date.