General Reports

It seems, judging from reports here, that the clubs are still active and worth a visit. Is that fair to say?

My main concern is the border. I've been hearing about this FFM card. I'll be taking the subway to the border at San Ysidro.

Should I be prepared to pay an extra $30 to cross? Who does the money go to? Where do I get the FFM card from, and are there ways to get it more cheaply or decline?

I went to Germany and Ukraine over the summer. When I entered Ukraine, I had to buy local insurance. Will there be a requirement like that?

When I left Ukraine to come back to the USA, the airline wouldn't let me board without a negative COVID test, despite being vaccinated. Does that exist for the pedestrian crossing too?

My next concern is food. Are the taco vendors still out? I love that Hieronymus Bosch-like scene on the corner of Coahuila and see. Ninos Heroes. Is it still like that?

Is Telefonica Gastro Park still open?

Thanks!

[QUOTE=Jmioffe;2605762]It seems, judging from reports here, that the clubs are still active and worth a visit. Is that fair to say?[/QUOTE]Yep.

[QUOTE=Jmioffe;2605762]My main concern is the border. I've been hearing about this FFM card. I'll be taking the subway to the border at San Ysidro.
Should I be prepared to pay an extra $30 to cross? Who does the money go to? Where do I get the FFM card from, and are there ways to get it more cheaply or decline?[/QUOTE]It is an FMM, and is a requirement for tourists to enter Mexico. The fee has traditionally been waived for visits of under 7 days, but during the pandemic they were often making people pay the fee for visits of any length. There is no real rhyme or reason to who has to pay and who doesn't -- it seems to be the whim of the day. I've seen more and more guys crossing without having to pay, or even fill out the form. If you go, you may have to fill out a form and cross, and they may make you pay the $30 fee, or they may just wave you through. If you do pay the $30, the form will be valid for six months, so you can keep it and just walk in using the Mexican Nationals line in the future. If you want to, you can pre-print the form and have it ready for when you cross the border.

[URL]https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html[/URL]
(your port of entry will be "El Chaparral")

[QUOTE=Jmioffe;2605762]I went to Germany and Ukraine over the summer. When I entered Ukraine, I had to buy local insurance. Will there be a requirement like that?[/QUOTE]Only if you are driving. You will need Mexican auto insurance. No other insurance is required.

[QUOTE=Jmioffe;2605762]When I left Ukraine to come back to the USA, the airline wouldn't let me board without a negative COVID test, despite being vaccinated. Does that exist for the pedestrian crossing too?[/QUOTE]Nope.

[QUOTE=Jmioffe;2605762]My next concern is food. Are the taco vendors still out? I love that Hieronymus Bosch-like scene on the corner of Coahuila and see. Ninos Heroes. Is it still like that?[/QUOTE]Yep.

[QUOTE=KCQuestor;2605770]Yep.

It is an FMM, and is a requirement for tourists to enter Mexico. The fee has traditionally been waived for visits of under 7 days, but during the pandemic they were often making people pay the fee for visits of any length. There is no real rhyme or reason to who has to pay and who doesn't -- it seems to be the whim of the day. I've seen more and more guys crossing without having to pay, or even fill out the form. If you go, you may have to fill out a form and cross, and they may make you pay the $30 fee, or they may just wave you through. If you do pay the $30, the form will be valid for six months, so you can keep it and just walk in using the Mexican Nationals line in the future. If you want to, you can pre-print the form and have it ready for when you cross the border.

[URL]https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html[/URL]
(your port of entry will be "El Chaparral")

Only if you are driving. You will need Mexican auto insurance. No other insurance is required.

Nope.

Yep.[/QUOTE]This is really helpful. Thank you!

[QUOTE=Gregyyr;2605581]Thanks for the Uber and GDL tips! Staying at a place in the historic center and the rates are really cheap for a nice room / area it looks like. I also am not much of a massage type of guy but if it's just a front for prostitution I am all for it. Were a bit spoiled with Zona Norte in Tijuana.

[URL]http://www.booking.com/Share-mF3Ojs[/URL]

Been to Lake Chapala?

G.[/QUOTE]I can't say the hotel doesn't look good. Most reviews seem positive. I don't know what plans you have or how long you are staying in GDL. From my experience Centro is boring at night and many don't recommend it at night. The only experience I have is spent 1 afternoon walking around taking pictures of the buildings etc. At night I only took a cab to a strip club and left. From what I could tell is that most shops and tourist stuff close at night. It doesn't have a great selection of restaurants compared to other parts of the city. When I'm on vacation I like to eat at good restaurants since I don't at home. If you stay outside of Centro it's easy to take a cab in. From my experience you only need 1 day to see everything. Unless you want to take a tour to Chapala o Tequila, they also have those bus tours thru the city. When I went to Tequila we just hired an Uber driver to take us and wait a couple of hours and take us back. Me and my buddy didn't want to be stuck on an all day tour. When I went to Chapala I had a rental car.

So yes I visited Chapala. I wasn't impressed. The only thing I missed out on is on the way you can visit Vincente Fernández house but I forgot. I would recommend the trip to Tequila over Chapala. Also would check out Tlaquepaque. It's a nice little spot to walk around and buy some souvenirs if you want. Some good spots to eat as well. Just go during the day since I'm not sure how open it is at night.

I stayed at the Krystal Urbano before and it's a good hotel not to expensive but great part of the city.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Sometimes the immigration officers will not require you to get a FMM form. Just show your form & the immigration officers will usually not check. When I first got mine they claimed it was a visa. I asked the officer to show me where it said it was a visa & they refused.

[QUOTE=KCQuestor;2605770]Yep.

It is an FMM, and is a requirement for tourists to enter Mexico. The fee has traditionally been waived for visits of under 7 days, but during the pandemic they were often making people pay the fee for visits of any length. There is no real rhyme or reason to who has to pay and who doesn't -- it seems to be the whim of the day. I've seen more and more guys crossing without having to pay, or even fill out the form. If you go, you may have to fill out a form and cross, and they may make you pay the $30 fee, or they may just wave you through. If you do pay the $30, the form will be valid for six months, so you can keep it and just walk in using the Mexican Nationals line in the future. If you want to, you can pre-print the form and have it ready for when you cross the border.

[URL]https://www.inm.gob.mx/fmme/publico/en/solicitud.html[/URL]
(your port of entry will be "El Chaparral")

Only if you are driving. You will need Mexican auto insurance. No other insurance is required.

Nope.

Yep.[/QUOTE]

Is proof of vaccination or testing required to re-enter for pedestrians at the San Ysidro port of entry?

I recently crossed the border at San Ysidro. At Mexican border control, I said I was there to go to a pharmacy. I got pulled into a side room, and after waiting 10 minutes, a border officer firmly told me not to cross for touristic reasons. He let me into MX, but he also scanned my ID. Ever since, I've been leery about returning until they lift the restrictions. But the bars are calling. Are they clamping down? Do I need to worry that he scanned my ID? Is there a better story I should tell at the border? Any insights would be much appreciated.

Turgid,

In the mid 80's to mid 90's I used to go to NYC and Long Island for business. After work I would pick up street walkers near Time Square and on 42nd St at night.

Also went to a few Korean brothels, each would have 6 to 8 hot girls and got to know a few mamasans. One night I went to a favorite Korean brothel. Mamasan was smiling broadly, the whole place had been booked for a private party by an old congressman and his friends. Naked horny old men were running in and out of the hallway drinking, squeezing, kissing, licking young girls, grunting laughing, making lots of noise, having a good time. I don't think the old congressman gave a shit about being set up and blackmailed by guys like Kim Jung Un. Mamasan made a lot of money off that private party and was happy. There are on-going trafficking of women from Korea, Thailand, Mexico and Latin America to NYC as demands for sexual services there are so high.

I heard brothels run by Mafia but never knew where they were. There must be a lot of demand for commercial sex, prostitutes, escorts, gang bang, orgies by people with lots of money and power in a big and perverted metropolis like NY. What was shown with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in "Eyes Wide Shut" may be exaggerated with its slow, elaborate clergy-like rituals, but there must be lots of organized sex events every damn week in NYC with millions rich, horny perverts.

Washington DC has some high-class brothels catering to the bible-thumping politicians. The internet has made sex market far more discreet but guys still enjoy hanging out, drinking, relaxing, flirting with beautiful, slutty women, so the brothel business model like Hong Kong is still in high demand.

Your brother was very cool to have introduced you to rental women. I tried to coach my brother how to make win-win deals with women, starting with HK girls, but he balked, too much of a purist to pay for companies of women. He ended up really fucked up his life in a relationship with an old, fat, ugly, unemployed, 3-time divorced woman. Stupid guy gave his life away to a cold, greedy, ugly, evil, manipulating woman, having fights and headache every day. She got him stuck and severely fucked, cannot pull out of that ugly relationship.

Your brother must have done something very serious to get beat up by bouncers. Organized criminals running brothels usually don't want to involve with law enforcement and draw attention.

I try to counsel the young guys I know with my objective views, so they can avoid big problems and have relatively safe, happy life, sexual or otherwise.

[QUOTE=TaipeiDan;2606019]I recently crossed the border at San Ysidro. At Mexican border control, I said I was there to go to a pharmacy. I got pulled into a side room, and after waiting 10 minutes, a border officer firmly told me not to cross for touristic reasons. He let me into MX, but he also scanned my ID. Ever since, I've been leery about returning until they lift the restrictions. But the bars are calling. Are they clamping down? Do I need to worry that he scanned my ID? Is there a better story I should tell at the border? Any insights would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]I was able to cross a few times saying I was going to a dentist but last time I got pulled in and they said this time is OK but next time I needed and actual appointment.

I got tired of the BS and just said I was planning on traveling to a few cities in Mexico like Guadalajara and also taking a driving trip with a friend to Cabo San Lucas. This forced them to offer me a 6 month visa but they required that I pay for this on a credit card (which was fine) and they wrote me a 6 month visa. When they asked where I was going I first started saying I was going to Guadalajara, and border patrol interrupted me and said I should just get Visa at the airport when I leave, but when I added I was driving trip to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja peninsula with a buddy, I think this got them to offer me the $30 visa good for 6 months on the spot. The reason for my trip to Tijuana was just to get prepared like go to TelCel and get a sim chip etc.

So they gave me the 6 month visa and now I skip the line on the right for Foreigners and walk in the Mexican line on the left when going through the border into Tijuana. I just have my visa in my hand if they ask to see it. The last time I walked by he didn't even ask to see it. Just walk with purpose and if they want to stop you they can.

G.

Chavellas girl I met a week before said she would meet me Saturday but flaked. I kind of thought she may do that but it was a good excuse to go down to Tijuana for a few hours. I won't ever meetup with a verbal commitment again but kind of felt like this girl really wanted the $100.

Met up with mr "Implying" from the board a bit later and it was great to hang out in Azul's and exchange Mongering and other travel adventures. Checked out a couple bars which were just starting to humm late in the afternoon and he had not been to Taco's El Frac so we stopped by there as the place has a great ambiance before I headed back to the border. For others coming down if you have a few minutes stop by Mercado Hildago which is very close to downtown. I have a buddy / tour guide in Tijuana who always takes tourists to Mercado Hildago to wander around the big open air market.

G.

Greggy,

Did you have her tel # and stay in touch?

I whatsapp the girls and usually had no problem hooking up. A few times the girls would bullshit that they were in the club or in Tijuana but they were really still back in their little towns trying to scrape up money for airfare to go to work. Conversely a lot of guys would make dates with girls then no show. Girls are selective whom they answer texts to.

It's good you connected with Implying. El Franc is a very popular taco joint with all sorts of meats, beef, pork, mutton, goat, head cabeza, tongue lingua, tripe tripa, good to try all. I am going down this afternoon with a couple bros. Will try to raise Implying and have a few drinks. Last time he was in HK speakeasy he was in love with this girl with lots of tats all over her little body and a nose ring hehe. Hope he finds his sweetheart again. There are a few highly decorated girls in HK lately, really up his alley.

Mexico has been closed for tourism for a long time. Well that has been said at the Border but we all know people flying down there and all that goes with that. If you do not search it.

Usually this leads to a payment of $30 for a 6 month Visa. This has been going on for over a year now. Sometimes I am allowed to get in without payment and without a visa. Once I get the visa I use it to get back in for 6 months until I need to pay again.

My excuse for crossing is always to see a friend. I use that going in to Mexico and coming back to the USA.

My friend has gotten dentist information and used that reason to cross. He still has gotten charged $30 twice in the last year.

[QUOTE=TaipeiDan;2606019]I recently crossed the border at San Ysidro. At Mexican border control, I said I was there to go to a pharmacy. I got pulled into a side room, and after waiting 10 minutes, a border officer firmly told me not to cross for touristic reasons. He let me into MX, but he also scanned my ID. Ever since, I've been leery about returning until they lift the restrictions. But the bars are calling. Are they clamping down? Do I need to worry that he scanned my ID? Is there a better story I should tell at the border? Any insights would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Flyer47;2605964]Is proof of vaccination or testing required to re-enter for pedestrians at the San Ysidro port of entry?[/QUOTE]No.

This is not realistic.

[QUOTE=Hargow20;2605804]Sometimes the immigration officers will not require you to get a FMM form. Just show your form & the immigration officers will usually not check. When I first got mine they claimed it was a visa. I asked the officer to show me where it said it was a visa & they refused.[/QUOTE]I read the link you attached, it says that you can only use the FMM for one entry but that you can use it within 180 days?

[QUOTE=Scbb1;2606174]I read the link you attached, it says that you can only use the FMM for one entry but that you can use it within 180 days?[/QUOTE]It is good for up to 180 days multiple entries but make sure they give you full 180 days up front (or input when filling the form on-line yourself).

I filled one out on-line this last visit over LDW and think it saved me some time. I still had to wait for a border agent to inspect it and validate my receipt printed which I made sure I brought. A groups of 10 guys ahead of me without visas had to first be processed. I waited 15-20 min for the initial but got it stamped and signed and my 2 follow on visits over LDW flow I breezed right thru.