2004 Archived Reports

[KJ Vegas]

Miller2K,

How much did the bus ride cost? I may do that in the future, where do they drop you off? At the border? Thanks in advance.

Koran,

The Las Vegas Greyhound is open 24 hours a day, I drive by it almost everyday and there are always people sitting or sleeping in front at 3am. The Greyhound bus station is next to the Plaza Hotel downtown and the Plaza own the Bus Station. The Plaza was recently sold and the rumor is they are going to tear down the bus station and add a nice tower which is good, the bus station is an eyesore for downtown. If they do tear it down it won't be for a while anyway.

BTW, there is a Las Vegas New Mexico.

KJ

[Mill Just]

Konan....The Greyhound from Las Vegas, Nevada to TJ is about 10 hours in total, including the usual border stop. I took the trip about a year ago. I also saw that the Greyhound web site says that it's 24 hours, but I believe that there is a Las Vegas in Texas or New Mexico.

[KJ Vegas]

Koran,

I'm making my first TJ trip in 2 weeks, flying out of Vegas and taking the trolley to the border seems to be the best option, i'll have to see. Southwest has alot of great deals(terminal C out of Vegas), I paid about $30 each way. Vegas has direct flights to Mexico and the international terminal in Vegas is small and very convenient but I'm not sure if any go to TJ.

I go to Pattaya beach Thailand 2 or 3 times a year, it's a great place, makes Vegas look like Sunday school.

Have fun,

KJ

[JeanLuc]

Xthrax,

I also agree that taking the train is fantastic. However, I would take the train from Irvine to San Diego, and the trolley to the border. Total time from Irvine to the border is 3 hours, so from Los Angeles must be about 4 hours. Still beats driving sometimes, nice to kick back with a few cervezas on Amtrak.

[Turbolover]

On getting to TJ from LAX via mass transport:

Of the options that have been mentioned, here is a strong recommendation for choosing the train.

I would go with the option of taking Amtrak down to San Diego, and from there take the San Diego Trolley/Tram down to TJ.

Timing of the train would require investigation up front, having taken this myself I would say this is the most painless way.

The train has a stop right at the tram terminal. Even living in LA and having a car, I would consider taking the train and trolley, I am not speaking for everyone but its nice.

The trolley/tram drops you off right at the border gates.

If timed nicely, train/tram is 2.5 hours maximum ETA.

Driving is a minimum of two hours, without traffic.

Many options, bus, shared taxi or vanpool exists to get you from LAX to train station cheaply. Taking a solo cab is more like $40-50
from LAX to Downtown.

The train/tran option is so cool I am motivated to check out times to see if I can take it down and get back after work.

And when you get down, remember to bargain, a common myth is that high pay will induce great service. Down in TJ, you have labeled yourself a major sucker and you may have the chica trying to play the "how little can I get away with providing to this gringo so I can brag about this to my friends" game. Remember, market rates are already very healthy for chicas down there based on exchange rates, so don't get taken. $50 max at AB, $60 max at CC. room is extra. If you don't bargain, you will be seen as a non-regular and a patsy.

Good Luck.

[Hobby Fan]

Konan:

1. Flying from Las Vegas to San Diego (USA) is probably your best option and should be investigated. From the airport you can get public transport or a short cab trip to the nearest tram station, which then runs trains connecting to the border every 15 or 20 minutes or so. The San Diego airport is maybe 20 miles from the border. It might take you 2 hours longer than flying directly to TJ (if that were available), but you would make up the time by avoiding an 'international flight' and resulting security delay in both directions.

2. Staying on the US side of the border is not necessary and not very interesting. Prices for hotels on the US side are slightly higher ($ 40 a night) compared to comparable hotels in TJ ($ 30). You can drink the water in the US , of course, and should not do so in Mexicao. You may feel safer than staying in the Zona Norte. But there are reasonably safe and cheap Mexican hotels.

3. TJ is a 20th century developed border town, not a historic Mexican city. The cultural center and IMAX theatre should be visited for a half-day. There may be a good music program one night in a week. It has some good restaurants. But the beaches are not nice, and in general you will not be reminded at all of Copa or Pattaya. Attitudes are less friendly in areas frequented by tourists and mongers; Mexicans as a whole are warm and welcoming people but the Tijuana scene is one of a mass influx of drunk and (to the locals) rich and arrogant Americanos and the women strike many commenting visitors as jaded.

With a week, I advise you to choose somewhere else in Mexico. Or at least consider Ensenada on the same trip... you can get there in 2 hours from TJ by bus or shared cab, if bored. Renting a car would let you explore more of Baja but is relatively expensive.

I live in North San Diego county; send me a message if you want to hook up one night in TJ (depending on my schedule) or if you have additional questions about hotels, etc.

HF

[Stern Fan]

Late Night,

The times I saw her were during the week and she arrived around 2pm. She is very tall, with long, straight black hair to her lower back. Has about 34c breasts, and both days I saw her she wore a 2 piece outfit: top part is triangular and covered her boobs and the lower part was like a bathing suit wrap. She had the same exact outfit in both yellow and white. Tended to hang out in front of ladies room, or sometimes in back right hottie central by the bar.

[Konan Grit]

Hi,

I was hoping someone here would be able to help me with a few questions I have.

I will be going to Las Vegas from the UK in a few days time, and after looking on a map I've noticed that it's only about 400 miles from Tijuana. I don't drive, so I was wondering which options I have to get there. I can't find any details of flights from the net, so I assume this is not an option. I see that I can get a Greyhound bus there, but it says that this takes over 24 hours! Is this normal for only 400 miles? Forgive me for my ignorance of US public transport. So that leaves the train. Is there a train service from Las Vegas to Tijuana? Or at least to the boarder, I'm quite prepared to walk across. Well, basically what I'm asking is for the best options for getting to the boarder from LV, if you could include roughly how much it will cost and how long it would take it would be greatly appreciated.

Secondly, from reading some of the previous reports it seems that most people only stay in Tijuana for a couple of days and some actually go back to stay on the US side each night. Is there any reason for this? If I were to stay for a week would I soon become bored? I'm used to Pattaya, Copa Cobana etc etc, any similarities? Will I get a better quality of hotel for my $ than I would on the US side?

Well, that's enough questions for my first post in TJ section.

Thankyou in advance for any answers to my questions.

Konan Grit

[ChiMan II]

Can anyone tell me if TJ is back to normal now? I have not been there for 5 months. Last time I was there there was a big clean up. Not many street girls out and the police were everywhere. I felt very unsafe because of the police staring at me. They did frisk me but let me go. Any info would help.

Thanks

[Late Night]

Wow, you guys got my curiosity peaked with this Sylvia girl. I have never had the pleasure of meeting this girl, but I would love to know what you guys are talking about.

Can you give me more description of this girl? Her schedule?

I thought blonde Fernanda was one of the hottest ones there. I guess I will have to go back very soon to see who this Sylvia girls is.

Late Night 420!

[Stern Fan]

Dosequis,

I guess I was lucky because my initial quote with Sylvia was for $60. I can see why she is quoting $70, as she is unbelievable. I also asked her to wear her stilettos in the bed, expecting for her to come back with "ok, but that is $10 more", but instead she said that she always does and doesn't understand why some guys ask her to take them off.

[Plain White Guy]

There is no good public transportation option from LAX to anywhere outside of metro LA.

Your options for getting from LAX to TJ include:

1) Take a bus from LAX to the train station, take a train to San Diego, transfer to the Trolly to TJ, walk across, catch a taxi. ($3+$25+$4+$5 = $37 one way)

You could also catch a Taxi from the LAX airport to the LAX train station, I'd guess that runs about $20. There are also various airport van shuttles that hang around at the airport, which probably run closer to $10. (Either one is preferrable to LA City busses.)

Even though this might sound like the worst option, if you're not renting a car, it's probably the best.

If you left the train station (via train), headed for San Diego, and a friend left at the same time via car, you would make it to SD first about 80% of the time. No traffic, nice ocean views, comfy cars... hard to beat.

2) Catch a Cloud 9 "LA Porter" service, arranged in advance (you can't flag one down), the price was ~$200 when I checked in February.

3) Get a super cheap rental car. try www.hotwire.com. If you don't mind being seen in a car that looks like a jelly bean, they can be had for $15 a day.

Good luck,

Happy Hunting

[Pacifico]

The cheapest way out of LAX is to rent a car, assuming that you are returning. I just checked recently, and a compact car was going for $11.99 a day unlimited mileage and $14.99 for a midsize. I'd much rather do that than take the supershuttle, which is available but with a limited schedule. The other option is to take a taxi to the greyhound station.

Pacifico

[China 69]

What is the easiest way to get from LAX Airport down to Tijuana? Is there a bus service from the airport to San Diego? I don't want to waste money on a car when I can instead contribute it to the Mexican economy.

[Dosequis]

Stern Fan that was a very good report and you had a great time. Maybe you need to give tips to Transporter. Slyvia seems to be one of the hottest grls as talked about around the Net. She usually quotes $70 and stay firm to it. How did you get her for $60?