Main plaza in Tecate MexicoToday we decided to take a day trip down to Tecate, Mexico. Though it is a border city, it is a much smaller and better representation of Mexico than Tijuana. It's also within an hour of San Diego. I had been once before, but today I went down with my girlfriend. We drove to the border, parked, walked across, and within 15 minutes we were sitting in the central plaza sipping beers and eating chips.

Prior to my first trip there, I had heard that it was a nice place to visit, but I wanted to check it out for myself. At the time I couldn't find much consistent information about it online, but if you're interested in visiting, it's a simple day trip. No border lines, no stress, and not even much walking.

As it turns out, you can park on the US side, there are side roads where it is fine to just pull over on the side and park for free. As you approach the border, turn left (east), and you will where there are other cars parked, just pull up and make sure you're off the road. The border is less than a 5 minute walk, and once you enter Mexico, just go straight for a few blocks and you will see the main plaza. It seems that this is where most things happen, as the park is filled with locals just relaxing. Today, a Sunday afternoon, there were very few tourists.

It's a great day trip, there is very little stress involved, and crossing the border is about as easy as it gets.

It doesn't seem that there is much to do in Tecate other than hang out in the plaza, but isn't that ok?


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Memorial Day Weekend in Punto San Jacinto, Mexico

Labels: mexico, San Diego, travel

A few hours south of the US/Mexico borderThe place we were to be going in Mexico was called Punto San Jacinto,and it's located on the Pacific coast, and if I recall it is somewhere around 150 miles south of the US/Mexico border, definitely a good several hour drive. Getting there is pretty easy, you just head south towards Tijuana, cross the border, and head to the toll road going south. Once you get out of Tijuana it's a straight shot on the winding highway. There was only one checkpoint, and the fact that my girlfriend is pretty fluent with Spanish made it easy.

At the time we took this trip, the Tijuana area was getting a pretty bad rap in the news because of murders and kidnappings, but we had no problems. We left after dark with the goal being a straight drive with no traffic. Everything went smoothly, all you really have to watch out for is the truckers who wind up and down the narrow highway, and the sharp turns. Not knowing where our destination actually was, we followed our friends and after a few turns from the main road, we were there. The property we were going to had no house, and it was quite desolate, with nothing around for miles with the exception of about 20 or thirty other lots, some of which had proper homes, some which just had campers or trailers. On our friends' lot they had constructed a shack with a water tank on top which was used as a makeshift bathroom, and a nice little windbreak made of corrugated tin which was quite good at doing its job, which of course is to block the wind and provide a bit of shelter The area is right on a point, and even as the temperatures inland are warming, the breeze off the Pacific down there is quite cool. We quickly set up the tent, did a couple obligatory shots of tequila, had a few beers, then went to sleep.

Read the rest and see photos here

Labels: adventure, mexico, photos, time off, travel