General Reports

[Ctytek]

I was referring to your speculation about border crossing "getting bad for sure". "Caravans" of various sizes had been arriving to Tijuana earlier this year, and in previous years as well. They hadn't caused much disruption in the past.

Best thing to do is stick to the facts on the ground, and follow the reports from fellow board members crossing the border. People crossing into Tijuana and back over the last few days haven't had any issues. What may or may not happen in the future. Only time will tell.

Don't you have access to any news?

Its been all over the news in Tijuana for the past 3 days and like I said there is lots of live streaming. Not any speculation. Tijuana residents protesting right now (https://www.facebook.com/ElSoldeTiju...7032471221797/).

[FlapJacK]

What are you basing this on, other than pure speculation? There were similar fears of "caravan" and border closures in 2017, and it didn't affect much of anything. Number of refugees making it into Tijuana is likely to be in hundreds rather than thousands, and they won't be showing up all at once.

However many refugees make it into Tijuana from the original group will not be lining up at the pedwest clogging up the traffic. They are going to end up in shelters or rentals waiting their turn to claim an asylum. US CBP allows 50-60 asylum claimants a day, and people know in advance when their turn in the line is up.

I also don't think Mexican law enforcement will be too happy to tolerate refugees disrupting the cross border flow. Tijuana is a major multi-million people city and its economy is hugely dependent on interrupted cross border movement. I'd be very surprised if a few hundred of poor peasants from Honduras will be allowed to endanger all the powerful business interests that rely on the flow of Americans into Mexico and back.

Anything is possible of course, but there is a very little chance that the caravan will cause any real issues.

Don't you have access to any news?

Its been all over the news in Tijuana for the past 3 days and like I said there is lots of live streaming. Not any speculation. Tijuana residents protesting right now (https://www.facebook.com/ElSoldeTiju...7032471221797/).

Here are 3 Tijuana news outlets that have been covering this all day.

https://www.frontera.info/Noticias/2...-travesia.html

https://www.elsoldetijuana.com.mx/?f...Wo2koTMnctcF8Y

http://xewt12.com/?fbclid=IwAR0w7LiG...q2YxdSz-oPwyto

Live stream from some radio station earlier today. https://www.facebook.com/PalomaForTr...6132112319338/.

There's a bunch camped out at friendship park on the mex side. Supposedly thousands more due to arrive this weekend. This is not 2017 fearmongering. Its happening for real

[Ctytek]

What are you basing this on, other than pure speculation? There were similar fears of "caravan" and border closures in 2017, and it didn't affect much of anything. Number of refugees making it into Tijuana is likely to be in hundreds rather than thousands, and they won't be showing up all at once.

However many refugees make it into Tijuana from the original group will not be lining up at the pedwest clogging up the traffic. They are going to end up in shelters or rentals waiting their turn to claim an asylum. US CBP allows 50-60 asylum claimants a day, and people know in advance when their turn in the line is up.

I also don't think Mexican law enforcement will be too happy to tolerate refugees disrupting the cross border flow. Tijuana is a major multi-million people city and its economy is hugely dependent on interrupted cross border movement. I'd be very surprised if a few hundred of poor peasants from Honduras will be allowed to endanger all the powerful business interests that rely on the flow of Americans into Mexico and back.

Anything is possible of course, but there is a very little chance that the caravan will cause any real issues.

They are now here and more each day arriving. This is going to be bad for getting back and forth as border will be bogged down for sure. I saw a live stream video on facebook of a few hundred at friendship park taunting and playing tag with border patrol.

[HorseTrader]

They are now here and more each day arriving. This is going to be bad for getting back and forth as border will be bogged down for sure. I saw a live stream video on facebook of a few hundred at friendship park taunting and playing tag with border patrol.

I had no problems yesterday.

[FlapJacK]

They state they are headed to Tijuana. There's no doubt it will impact everything negatively when they get there, whether it's a week or a month from now.

They are now here and more each day arriving. This is going to be bad for getting back and forth as border will be bogged down for sure. I saw a live stream video on facebook of a few hundred at friendship park taunting and playing tag with border patrol.

[Member #4722]

If I am heading to Tijuana for a day trip I park at Beyer Ave. Trolley station. Last stop on the Blue Line before San Ysidro. $5 for round trip. Trolleys come every 10-15 minutes. Saves some cash, especially on weekends when some of the border lots charge $20+.

[HorseTrader]

When did you park there? The rate is $12 on the weekends and I think on Fridays too. What day of the week was it?

Monday. The price is $8 for 8 hours.

Enter between 0000 on Friday and 2400 on Sunday and the price is $12 for 8 hours.

Enter between 0000 Monday and 2400 on Thursday and the price is $8 for 8 hours.

[MongerHunger]

I park at the lot behind Jack in the Box because my car has always been safe and it is an easy walk to Ped East. Last night I paid with $20 and took my change. I drove away and found that I only had $7 change when I should have had $12 change. Next time I'll count my change before I drive off. Could have been an honest mistake or perhaps I was intentionally short changed. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and blaming myself.

Another recent trip I offered $5 to Taxi Libre driver for ride to Hong Kong. During the drive he was trying to talk me into going to a massage place away from Zona Norte, my guess is he could get a kickback for taking me there. I declined. When we arrived at Hong Kong he insisted that the agreed rate was $10. I insisted it was $5, put a $5 bill on the seat, and walked away. From now on I'll use Yellow Taxi, at least until they tick me off.

My recent return trips to Ped East have been by HK VIP return shuttle. Nicer experience than taxi and recently I haven't needed to wait. It doesn't save me any money because I still tip the HK driver about 100 pesos.

When did you park there? The rate is $12 on the weekends and I think on Fridays too. What day of the week was it?

[Micwam25]

After doing some research here for a few months, I decided to just go today to check it out. I wound up making the trip solo. Parked at San Ysidro right by the Ped West gate. I had no idea it was there and, like a rookie, walked across the bridge to Ped East. I was one of two in line, they scanned my passport and waved me through. After reaching the other side, I caught a cab and asked to go to HK.

During the ride, I talked to the Driver just to make sure I had some general words and phrases down since it has been a while since I spoke any Spanish.

I got dropped off in front of HK with a plan to just scout out all the bars just to get an idea of what they are all about. The first bar was HK. I walked in and I was almost in shock. As a man who has frequented many a strip club, I expect the talent to be pretty low quality when you go before noon. That was not the case. There were probably at least 30 girls with about 12-15 guys at the time I walked in and better quality than the women at my two favorite clubs; cheetahs in SD and Jaguars in Phoenix.

I went to the bar and got a drink then sat down just to check out the scene. I was not bothered at all by the guys working inside, they left me alone for the most part. My plan was to finish the drink then move onto the next bar but nice young lady with all the right proportions walked up to start a conversation. She spoke good enough English that I didn't have to use any of my terrible Spanish to speak to her. She was also very playful and flirtatious. At this point, I had to call an audible and simple the local flavor. She threw out $100 initially, I countered with 60, then she said 70 so up I went. I paid 19 for the room, which was a little higher than I have read on threads here in the past but, other than that, I was satisfied with the experience. I don't remember her name, I apologize for that.

Afterwards, it was onto the next one, which happened to be Adelitas. I walked in and, in my opinion, the girls were maybe 1-1. 5 points below HK. The girls in HK were 8-9 average and the Adelitas girls were 6. 5- 8, both on a scale of 1-10. I got a beer after walking in and sat down to take it all in. I will say the girls were a lot friendlier and outgoing here than HK. In HK, most of the women stood to the side without looking at me but in Adelitas the women started talking to me or waving as soon as I walked in. I will admit I wasn't in HK for very long though so who knows what would have happened if I had stayed longer.

Anyway, after sitting down, one woman walked up to me immediately. She was a 7-8 in my book, great body, but looked a little younger than I like. She was very flirtatious and straightforward. I was a little standoffish, mostly because I was still new to it all but she called me out on it and proceeded to grab my hands and place them over all the areas of high interest. She also took the time to shake hands with mini-me while we sat there. I bought her a drink but wasn't really interested in taking her up so I never brought it up, although mini-me disagreed with that decision. She eventually brought it up and quoted $60 right off the bat. I thought about negotiating just to see how low I could get her but, truthfully, she was a little annoying so I just said no and she walked away.

Less than 2 minutes later, another one walked up, I think her name was Michelle or something similar, and she sat on my lap and introduced herself. After some light conversation and flirting, she started to give me a nice lap dance so I bought her a drink. From there, she danced more, we talked more, she had no problems with my hands roaming, and it turned out to be a nice conversation but I wasn't really interested. Had I not gone up with the one in HK, I probably would have went with her. Actually, I probably would have went with the first one too. Of note, Michelle did constantly ask for tips as she danced. When I was done with my drink, I said bye to her and left. There were 20-30 girls and maybe 5-7 guys the whole time I was in Adelitas.

From there, a guy outside caught me and told me I should go to Chicago. I have read a lot about it in here so I was a little hesitant but decided to go so I could see for myself. I walked up, they offered me a free shot of tequila, which I refused, and I went in. There were maybe 3 guys and around 20 girls went I went in but they were all pretty standoffish. None really even made eye contact with me. I decided to just get a beer and stay until I was done with it just to get a fair assessment of the place. After sitting down, one of the women walked up, said Hi, and introduced herself in Spanish. Up until this point, everyone I had spoken to spoke good enough English so I didn't have to speak much Spanish at all. This one, named Gracia I believe, spoke no English. Even though she spoke no English, I had the best connection with her out of all the women I spoke to while I was in the Zona. I ordered her a drink and we powered through a conversation where I stumbled through Spanish and gestures and she spoke really slowly at times in order for us to understand each other. Through it all she was extremely patient and it turned out to be one of the funnier and more interesting interactions I have had with a person in a long time. Eventually we got to the negotiations, she wanted 1400 pesos, I countered with 1000 and she accepted. The room was $15. Afterwards we went back to the club, and had even more intimate convo where she told me more about her personal life and even her real name, so she said. Gracia is her stage name. After saying our goodbyes, I walked to Tropical Bar to check it out.

Tropical bar had about 10 girls and maybe one other guy but the talent was not the same level as the previous three bars. They weren't bad though. I only spent about 2 minutes there before walking out to take a tour around the block and scope out the action on the streets. I walked in the alley behind HK and there were a lot of SG out in all shapes and sizes. I didn't want to partake so I went back around the block to get a cab back to the border. As I was walking toward the cab, the doorman for La Gloria caught my attention and said I should check it out. I figured I might as well so I walked in and walked out less than 15 seconds later. The women were a little bigger, not as good looking and I was on a tight timeline to get back anyway.

I walked up to the cab, asked the driver to go to the border and off we went. It took maybe 10 minutes of standing in line at Ped West before I got to the desk. They checked my passport and waved me through. From there I just walked to my car and left.

Overall, it took about 4 hours from the time I left my door to get back to the door. The whole visit was pretty painless and easy. Everyone that I interacted with was extremely helpful and at no point did I feel unsafe. I have wasted a lot of money doing my business in the San Diego area. If I had known how easy it was, I would have saved all of it and come to the zona at least once a month.

In my opinion, HK had the best women but Adelitas and Chicago weren't too far behind. I'm a man who really likes variety so I could see myself going to all of those places, even La Gloria, just depends on my flavor of the day.

I have to go on a Friday or Saturday night just to see how crazy it is one of these days. Next time I'll just be a little more choosy with who I buy drinks for but I still had a great time.

[Asting]

I park at the lot behind Jack in the Box because my car has always been safe and it is an easy walk to Ped East. Last night I paid with $20 and took my change. I drove away and found that I only had $7 change when I should have had $12 change. Next time I'll count my change before I drive off. Could have been an honest mistake or perhaps I was intentionally short changed. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and blaming myself.

Another recent trip I offered $5 to Taxi Libre driver for ride to Hong Kong. During the drive he was trying to talk me into going to a massage place away from Zona Norte, my guess is he could get a kickback for taking me there. I declined. When we arrived at Hong Kong he insisted that the agreed rate was $10. I insisted it was $5, put a $5 bill on the seat, and walked away. From now on I'll use Yellow Taxi, at least until they tick me off.

My recent return trips to Ped East have been by HK VIP return shuttle. Nicer experience than taxi and recently I haven't needed to wait. It doesn't save me any money because I still tip the HK driver about 100 pesos.

Yeah, the taxis are getting kickbacks from that massage place.

I don't take taxis in Tijuana anymore because most of them just trying to rip us tourists off. If I don't see HK shuttle at the border, I'm taking an Uber. Nicer cars with AC and cheaper.

[HorseTrader]

I park at the lot behind Jack in the Box because my car has always been safe and it is an easy walk to Ped East. Last night I paid with $20 and took my change. I drove away and found that I only had $7 change when I should have had $12 change. Next time I'll count my change before I drive off. Could have been an honest mistake or perhaps I was intentionally short changed. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and blaming myself.

Another recent trip I offered $5 to Taxi Libre driver for ride to Hong Kong. During the drive he was trying to talk me into going to a massage place away from Zona Norte, my guess is he could get a kickback for taking me there. I declined. When we arrived at Hong Kong he insisted that the agreed rate was $10. I insisted it was $5, put a $5 bill on the seat, and walked away. From now on I'll use Yellow Taxi, at least until they tick me off.

My recent return trips to Ped East have been by HK VIP return shuttle. Nicer experience than taxi and recently I haven't needed to wait. It doesn't save me any money because I still tip the HK driver about 100 pesos.

[JesseJames]

An AP article from the Laredo Morning times says. "The migrants appear to be on a path toward Tijuana across the border from San Diego, which is still some 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) away. " https://www.lmtonline.com/news/texas...n-13381511.php.

They state they are headed to Tijuana. There's no doubt it will impact everything negatively when they get there, whether it's a week or a month from now.

[Bbond]

"You heard". Please stop posting Fox News inspired mis-information. Let's stick with the facts and post our trip reports. Rumors and misinformed speculation do not belong on this forum.

An AP article from the Laredo Morning times says. "The migrants appear to be on a path toward Tijuana across the border from San Diego, which is still some 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) away. " https://www.lmtonline.com/news/texas...n-13381511.php.

[StRobert]

"You heard". Please stop posting Fox News inspired mis-information. Let's stick with the facts and post our trip reports. Rumors and misinformed speculation do not belong on this forum.

Guys asked why soldiers on the border install barbed wire and extra security. I am not for caravan or against caravan. Facts only. And I don't watch FOX news. But that is the fact: 5000 migrants from Central America goes to Tijuana and will be here at pedeast and pedwest with the end of the month and deal with it, because crossing over border can be disrupted. For more information please google "migrants caravan".

[Ctytek]

"You heard". Please stop posting Fox News inspired mis-information. Let's stick with the facts and post our trip reports. Rumors and misinformed speculation do not belong on this forum.

Soldiers are preparing US borders with Mexico because I heard that migrants caravan about 5000 from Central America goes to the border crossing in Tijuana / San Ysidro (not to McAllen Texas). I hope it will not close the border, but it may be a mess at the border when they come to the border crossing in a few weeks.