General Reports

Prologue: If I have doubled posted this message, please accept my apologies.

[QUOTE=Donnie D]CJ and BN,

The more I think about it, I wish I knew what to expect in TJ. I usually spend [. . . .] I'm thinking I could get away with 1000 for a 4 day visit down south [. . . .]

Donnie[/QUOTE]"What to expect in TJ". The seeming naivete is kind of cute. Actually, I'm not sure what Donnie is getting at: whether it's just the expenses, or "what kind of place is Tijuana?". I dare to assume it's the latter.

Start with a foundation of Newark, New Jersey (is San Pedro, California another Newark?). Lay on: downtown sidewalk throngs as dense as in Manhattan, at least in the daylight; police force like in a southern Gothic movie circa 1960; warring organized crime gangs that roam the city waging battle, like in 1920s Chicago.

Tijuana is a former podunk that in just 50 or 40 years has mushroomed into a booming metropolis -- sort of like Chicago between 1850 and 1890. Tijuana's economy is based on low wage assembly plants (and maybe also on drug shipping). Its population growth is on the order of 100 percent a decade.

Please don't misunderstand -- by all means go and enjoy the ZN. But just be real as to what this city's attractions are. (As for the ZN, a major selling point would be that you're dealing with women, domestic women, who're selling themselves, as opposed to imported women who are b e i n g sold.) The Pacific beaches, the zoo and the museums and the family fare and the arts scene, are not world class fabulous. By the way, be sure to visit the San Diego zoo (no, I do not have any business relationship with that zoo).

May I humbly suggest to newbies that they end their first foray to Tijuana by returning back to the US in the daylight and on foot, just to get the layout of the area by the crossing station: the pedestrian overpasses, the buildings, etc. (Once you've made it across, you can choose to head right back to Tijuana.)

Do you want to become a lamb in the wilderness? Here's one easy way: drive into Mexico without purchasing Mexican auto insurance (inexpensive, sold by the day, Google it). If you insist on driving into Mexico, first stop off in San Ysidro, within a mile of the border, to buy the insurance at one of the dozens of vendors you can locate by their freeway billboards or their shop signs as you cruise through the neighborhood.

[QUOTE=Embel]Prologue: If I have doubled posted this message, please accept my apologies.

"What to expect in TJ". The seeming naivete is kind of cute. Actually, I'm not sure what Donnie is getting at: whether it's just the expenses, or "what kind of place is Tijuana?". I dare to assume it's the latter.

Start with a foundation of Newark, New Jersey (is San Pedro, California another Newark?). Lay on: downtown sidewalk throngs as dense as in Manhattan, at least in the daylight; police force like in a southern Gothic movie circa 1960; warring organized crime gangs that roam the city waging battle, like in 1920s Chicago.

Tijuana is a former podunk that in just 50 or 40 years has mushroomed into a booming metropolis -- sort of like Chicago between 1850 and 1890. Tijuana's economy is based on low wage assembly plants (and maybe also on drug shipping). Its population growth is on the order of 100 percent a decade.

Please don't misunderstand -- by all means go and enjoy the ZN. But just be real as to what this city's attractions are. (As for the ZN, a major selling point would be that you're dealing with women, domestic women, who're selling themselves, as opposed to imported women who are b e i n g sold.) The Pacific beaches, the zoo and the museums and the family fare and the arts scene, are not world class fabulous. By the way, be sure to visit the San Diego zoo (no, I do not have any business relationship with that zoo).

May I humbly suggest to newbies that they end their first foray to Tijuana by returning back to the US in the daylight and on foot, just to get the layout of the area by the crossing station: the pedestrian overpasses, the buildings, etc. (Once you've made it across, you can choose to head right back to Tijuana.)

Do you want to become a lamb in the wilderness? Here's one easy way: drive into Mexico without purchasing Mexican auto insurance (inexpensive, sold by the day, Google it). If you insist on driving into Mexico, first stop off in San Ysidro, within a mile of the border, to buy the insurance at one of the dozens of vendors you can locate by their freeway billboards or their shop signs as you cruise through the neighborhood.[/QUOTE]

Nice.

Tijuana is one place where you feel almost instantly the fact that what Americans have come to know as "civilized" society has not yet found it's way into this part of the world. The place has an edge to it that keeps you slightly off balance and maybe somewhat insecure.

But that's the allure.

Tourists are generally safe as long as they behave. I've been living here for almost the past two years and I'm very comfortable but still guarded. This is one place where you NEVER let your guard down. Finding the balance between being comfortable and yet secure takes some work but it's worth it IMHO.

The only thing anyone can expect with certainty is a very difference ambience, not necessarily a more dangerous environment despite what you hear.

I agree: Visit Mexico. Visit Tijuana. But read the fucking board. Do your research. Understand the risks associated with your reasons for coming here. Browsing the leather shops on Revolution is very different from strolling the Zona Norte, that's for sure.

I happen to like Mexico. The social vineer is very very thin here and most people are genuinely nice or not. It's easy to get along etc.

Country John

[QUOTE=Country John]Donnie, you should be fine with that kind of money but here's one tip: NEVER talk about stuff like that on a public board. It's fine to talk about money but not how much you'll have on you when yo arrive etc. It's a personal security issue.
Always keep your personal stuff personal, don't let anyone look up your skirt. If you're bringing a million dollars, cool but don't let anyone else know that.
We like to believe that everyone reading this board is a solid citizen. Wrongo bongo. Now BlueNose will be looking for you to buy his beer.....sheesh....
Country John[/QUOTE]


Come on now CJ. You gotta be kidding. You're thinking I am too naive. I did not mean I'd be travelling there with a grand in my hand (or pocket). I was referring to how much I may end up spending on the 4 day trip altogether. I was including the flight, hotel, food, drinks and ladies.
Of course most people, like me, will use an ATM on the U.S. side and only take across the border what they plan on spending that particular day.

[QUOTE=Embel]
"What to expect in TJ". The seeming naivete is kind of cute. Actually, I'm not sure what Donnie is getting at: whether it's just the expenses, or "what kind of place is Tijuana?". I dare to assume it's the latter. [/QUOTE]


Gents,
My thoughts were more rhetorical in nature.
Rhetorical question - my asking what to expect not to gain information but to assert more emphatically the obvious answer.

I've already read the forum - therefore homework is completed. Also, if I do make the trip, I will be travelling with 3 friends who have been there every year for the past 4 years. So they know the ropes in TJ. Plus they are all Hispanic.

I do appreciate the comments. However, I was not really looking for a response as to 'what to expect' - but I will offer an elaborated answer to what I was referring to. I was actually thinking out loud (as I typed) about what I can expect from the women. After seeing women in Europe and Brazil, I was just thinking what the experience would be like with women south of the border. Thats all. My buddies have been down there and can go on and on about TJ. But they have never been to Rio or Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Prague, etc. So thye can only talk about TJ. I'm hoping my good experiences can be repeated in TJ.

Hope that clears the cloudy air.

[QUOTE=Donnie D]Gents,
My thoughts were more rhetorical in nature.
Rhetorical question - my asking what to expect not to gain information but to assert more emphatically the obvious answer.

I've already read the forum - therefore homework is completed. Also, if I do make the trip, I will be travelling with 3 friends who have been there every year for the past 4 years. So they know the ropes in TJ. Plus they are all Hispanic.

I do appreciate the comments. However, I was not really looking for a response as to 'what to expect' - but I will offer an elaborated answer to what I was referring to. I was actually thinking out loud (as I typed) about what I can expect from the women. After seeing women in Europe and Brazil, I was just thinking what the experience would be like with women south of the border. Thats all. My buddies have been down there and can go on and on about TJ. But they have never been to Rio or Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Prague, etc. So thye can only talk about TJ. I'm hoping my good experiences can be repeated in TJ.

Hope that clears the cloudy air.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Be safe and be nice.

Country John

I first started going to TJ almost 20 years ago. After enjoying the Revolution Clubs--Bambi, Unicorn, etc. in those early days, where some nights were like wild orgies with guys sucking on bare titties in the booths and at the tables while they were being jerked off at the same time, one fine day I stumbled over to the Zona Norte where the the streets were lined with SW for $10 USD. This was sometime around the late 1980s and I was hooked. Yes, they were ten bucks a pop! And the rooms were $2. The girls were "easier" too, without the rampant upselling you get today, where everything is "extra" and the attitude often changes for the worse once you get inside the room. There were also more simple girls from the countryside---darker Indian girls wearing older, country clothes, not the hot hooker outfits you see a lot of today.

During the last few years I've gone to TJ less and less. I've learned to expect much less from the place I loved in "the good old days". Now the street girls are still programmed for a 15 minute quickie session, but the price is $20-30USD sin ropa and the no-pussy touching, no tit-sucking rules come up more and more. The rooms that are clean are 5-6 bucks and the Adelita girls are asking for $60 and the rooms are $12USD for the 20-30 minute session last time I was there. Suddenly, several $40 experiences on the street and one or two $70 experiences at a club is getting to be an expensive day...and then it just isn't worth the boring, tedious 2 hour drive in each direction! Sure in LA it's $100-150 for the same little Latina on this side of the border, but fuck, I hate that drive. And here in LA the girl is giving you the GFE for at least 1/2 hour or more, not just pulling down her panties to the ankles for 15 minutes and staring at the ceiling.

Also, anyone who has had the opportunity to travel to Thailand or the Dominican Republic knows what high levels mongering can reach.....short time means 1-2 hour sessions as a rule, complete, full on, sometimes TLN sessions, no holds barred, in your own clean and comfortable hotel room for $30-50 and an unending supply of girls willing and wanting to please. After such trips, sadly, TJ feels sorely lacking in most departments. Just IMHO....what I've learned to expect from my old stomping grounds.

#2128

[QUOTE=Member #2128]I first started going to TJ almost 20 years ago. After enjoying the Revolution Clubs--Bambi, Unicorn, etc. in those early days, where some nights were like wild orgies with guys sucking on bare titties in the booths and at the tables while they were being jerked off at the same time, one fine day I stumbled over to the Zona Norte where the the streets were lined with SW for $10 USD. This was sometime around the late 1980s and I was hooked. Yes, they were ten bucks a pop! And the rooms were $2. The girls were "easier" too, without the rampant upselling you get today, where everything is "extra" and the attitude often changes for the worse once you get inside the room. There were also more simple girls from the countryside---darker Indian girls wearing older, country clothes, not the hot hooker outfits you see a lot of today.

During the last few years I've gone to TJ less and less. I've learned to expect much less from the place I loved in "the good old days". Now the street girls are still programmed for a 15 minute quickie session, but the price is $20-30USD sin ropa and the no-pussy touching, no tit-sucking rules come up more and more. The rooms that are clean are 5-6 bucks and the Adelita girls are asking for $60 and the rooms are $12USD for the 20-30 minute session last time I was there. Suddenly, several $40 experiences on the street and one or two $70 experiences at a club is getting to be an expensive day...and then it just isn't worth the boring, tedious 2 hour drive in each direction! Sure in LA it's $100-150 for the same little Latina on this side of the border, but fuck, I hate that drive. And here in LA the girl is giving you the GFE for at least 1/2 hour or more, not just pulling down her panties to the ankles for 15 minutes and staring at the ceiling.

Also, anyone who has had the opportunity to travel to Thailand or the Dominican Republic knows what high levels mongering can reach.....short time means 1-2 hour sessions as a rule, complete, full on, sometimes TLN sessions, no holds barred, in your own clean and comfortable hotel room for $30-50 and an unending supply of girls willing and wanting to please. After such trips, sadly, TJ feels sorely lacking in most departments. Just IMHO....what I've learned to expect from my old stomping grounds.

#2128[/QUOTE]


Thats exactly what I was talking about. I may make a trip down there with some friends to see for myself. Just because these are old friends, they need an excuse to get out and we can catch a few ball games while in town. But I've been asking them about their experiences and I'm not getting a warm feeling. After being in other countries and treated well, I'm afraid I will be disappointed when I do visit TJ. Sure, I'll still have fun seeing the places, drinking, and fucking. But I will leave with a blah feeling. My expectations will have to be adjusted prior to the trip.

Then the following month I will leave for South America!!!

Thanks 2128. Donnie

If you can erase all the memories from your trips to Brazil, you should be fine. Unfortunately, it will be hard to do and you may be a little disapointed. I live in L.A. throughout my life so tj was my first mongering stop. I had nothing to compare it to except for the high price chicks in the states. Beautiful chicas at a low price in tj versuse hot chicks but high prices in the states. The two hour drive was worth it.

Fast forward many years when I could actually afford trips to Brazil and Thailand and other places. My favorite destination is Brazil. The passion, looks and the overall gfe the gdp give, is second to none. Not to say you can't find a good gfe in tj, but it is harder to find.

In my over 20 years going to tj, I have only had 4 Brazilian type gfe. They are there, just harder to find.

Do I still go to tj? Yes, as many times as I can. Why? Because I can put in perpective the difference in culture between Mexico and So. America.

Should you go? In my opinion, yes. Don't expect the Brazilian gfe, but if you are lucky, you just might get one. Also, in tj, when you go upstairs to the hotel, expect the knock on the door to tell you time is up, whereas in Brazil, if the girl likes you, the knock will never come.

Hope this helps and I hope you have a great time in tj.

Q

Hi there fellow mongers.

After nearly 20 years exploring the red zones of the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia, I finally got around to TJ and the zona in '95. I've not been back since '03 but am planning a trip soon. ( I used to live in San Diego).

The one thing learned was to expect the unexpected. It's more fun that way !

Once I was relaxing at Chevales, took a seat by the stage to enjoy the show which was about to begin, then somebody tapped my shoulder. It was a so-so chica who said her friend sitting at the bar would like to meet me (now I'm thinking "is this a new scam of some kind ? "). The chica pointed out her friend, and she was definitely attractive. Wow attractive, killer body.

I motioned for her to come on over, she did. The strip show was starting but I wasn't interested in that anymore, so I escorted her to another table away from the stage and bought her a drink. After the requisite polite chit-chat, I learned that she was now sort of a semi-pro, having worked at Manhatten on a limied basis. It was an easy negotiation for a $50 pop, the best I ever had in TJ, and the closest thing to a GFE for me.

I will never forget her, never saw her again, and believe me I had an eye out for her ever since.

On a final note, this forum is great!

[quote=country john]nice.

tijuana is one place where you feel almost instantly the fact that what americans have come to know as "civilized" society has not yet found it's way into this part of the world. the place has an edge to it that keeps you slightly off balance and maybe somewhat insecure.

but that's the allure.

tourists are generally safe as long as they behave. i've been living here for almost the past two years and i'm very comfortable but still guarded. this is one place where you never let your guard down. finding the balance between being comfortable and yet secure takes some work but it's worth it imho.

the only thing anyone can expect with certainty is a very difference ambience, not necessarily a more dangerous environment despite what you hear.

i happen to like mexico. the social vineer is very very thin here and most people are genuinely nice or not. it's easy to get along etc.

country john[/quote]
well put. since people are asking philisophical, open ended questions, please allow me to put in my philipsophical and somewhat rambling two cents on this matter.

for me personally, i think the things that i like the most about tj and mexico are the same things that prevent other americans from going there in the first place. the fact that it is rough around the edges - to me that just means that the place, and its people, have character. i like the fact that it is kind of gritty, and that you are never sure what may happen next. so many places (houses, neighborhoods, businesses, shopping malls, even gas stations) in the us and in socal have become cookie cutter pleasantville type places - clean, well lighted sterile and oh so dull. i live in a nice area here, and i am lucky to do so, but some days it just bores the hell out of me, and i find myself wishing i was in tj.

like most in mexico and the rest of latin america, the people in tj are survivors. life is not nearly as easy for them as we have come to expect it to be. travelling one half mile south of the border, you will realize just how unfair life is. like people who live anywhere where life is more of a struggle than what we are used to, the people of tj and mexico typically have more character, more soul, if you will, than their counterparts in the us. the whole mantra of "less is more" seems to ring true in mexico - the people there certainly have less than we have in terms of material goods, but they value their relationships with family and friends much more than we do. i have had many pleasant conversations with mexican men and women who really are wonderful people - nice, humble, friendly and generous. i have bought countless beers for guys in mexico only to have them return the favor on the next round.

to summarize, i think in many ways that during a trip to mexico, you will see what you want to see, depending on your point of view. while most americans (from their posts north of the border) see a somewhat backwards, developing country with a large population of poor people, or a place where women and beer are cheaper than back home, others choose to peel back the onion a bit and see beyond the surface. those of us fortunate enough to be able to visit mexico and spend some time getting to know it find something entirely different.

i love tj. i love the grittiness, the sense of adventure, the lack of social structure and civil regulations and most of all the people. hopefully, with time, you will see it the way that i do and learn to like it also. no matter what is happening in the rest of my life, it always keeps me coming back for more.

blue nose

There may be many who are already aware of this, but there are at least three videos available online of TJ street girls .. each varying in length from 2.5 to 4.5 minutes. Search key = 'Tijuana street girls' in Google, YouTube .. etc.

Hard to say how recent the videos are, all btw provided by the same guy. I found it interesting, in asmuch as I haven't been down to the zona in a few years now. The videos do reflect the way I remember the girls and the streets themselves.

That said, if anyone should happen to have a look at these and confirm (or deny) that at least some of the locales are in the 'alley'?

Thanx,

Wm54

[QUOTE=Blue Nose]

I love TJ. I love the grittiness, the sense of adventure, the lack of social structure and civil regulations and most of all the people. Hopefully, with time, you will see it the way that I do and learn to like it also. No matter what is happening in the rest of my life, it always keeps me coming back for more.

Blue Nose[/QUOTE]

Well put Blue Nose
To add my 2cents in: No matter where you are, the major things that really make any place bearable are your relationships with the people. It's all just a matter of perspective & taste where you enjoy living. I think you've reached a certain wisdom when you can appreciate new experiences in new places for what they are & try to understand other people & their way of life. I've learned a lot & I've also come to appreciate the many advantages of living in the US. I've learned to appreciate them even more since I've experienced living in other places where things are perhaps not as "civilized" or "modern." Yet there is a certain beauty to living a simpler life. To each his own.

Latest health monitoring news: half blow off some of their monthly checkups.

Beg pardon for submitting something so long and it's not even a trip report. But it is all about the chicas' bodies, so I'm sure we're all still interested.

The first news report appeared just three days ago in a Tijuana newspaper (in Spanish, of course). It's at their Web site. Interestingly, the article's last paragraphs are missing from the paper's own Web page, but a different Tijuana news site has the complete version.

Tijuana's prostitute monitoring system was also the subject of a feature in the New York Times on Dec. 31, 2005 by James C. McKinley, Jr. (see excerpts below).

from FRONTERA (the Tijuana daily), March 16, 2007

. . . Only half of the nearly six thousand sexoservidoras [sex servants] registered with the Municipal Health authority regularly report for their checkups, states Manuel Mayor Noriega, chief of the department of Health Inspection. [For you Spanish challenged, the guy's *main* surname is *Mayor*, not Noriega.]

There are presently 5,860 persons working in prostitution who have registered with the Municipality [of Tijuana], of which around 100 are of the male gender, he indicated, and only 50 percent come in for testing monthly. Some come in every three to four months.

. . . many are transients in Tijuana, he said; they come into town for just a few days.

Mayor indicated that last year, eleven sexoservidoras tested positive for HIV. Persons who test positive are referred to the General Hospital and are reported to the Secretariat of Health. Their health card is also pulled permanently.

The prostitutes more often test positive for syphilis or gonorrhea.

Jorge Larrieu C., director of Muncipal Inspection and Verfication, said that when police conduct roundups of sexoservidoras, the fraction of them that have expired health cards or no card at all is 10 to 15 percent.

Sexoservidoras with a health card [from the Municipality]

2004: 2,500

September 2006: 4,624

March 2007: 5,860

Source: Dirección Municipal de Salud.

Costs [current exchange rate is 11.1 pesos to one dollar]

Health card, 568.98 pesos

Lab culture exam (monthly) 189.64 pesos

HIV test (every four months) 379.27 pesos

Source: Control Sanitario [Health Inspection].

One sexoservidora said, "It seems the fees we pay are high because we get no services. If we test positive for something, they don't give us a prescription, they send us to another doctor, and we have to go to whichever doctor they choose."

* * *
Excerpts of what the New York Times reported on New Year's Eve 2005 (they interviewed the same Manuel Mayor).

"The city has also begun issuing new credentials to prostitutes to replace the old pink booklets. The new licenses look like a credit card with a photo. A magnetic strip on the back allows health inspectors with hand-held scanners to check the card-holder's medical status in seconds.

"If a person is infected at the time when they read the credential, there will appear a red light that says she cannot work," said Manuel Mayor Noriega, who runs the city health clinic for prostitutes.

"Though there are still laws against prostitution on the books, the sex trade has long been part of the atmosphere in downtown Tijuana, a city that bloomed from a tiny town during Prohibition around bars, casinos, brothels and racetracks.

". . . Martha Montejano, a city councilwoman who pushed through the new law at the behest of Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon, said the city has legalized the sex trade for all intents and purposes, in hopes of stopping the spread of disease.

". . . Dr. Jorge Alvelais Palacios runs a clinic at the state hospital here where free H.I.V. tests are available. He estimated that, according to preliminary data, between 10 and 12 percent of the people in the sex trade who come to his clinic test positive." [Article doesn't say how many persons this is and how broad a territory they come from.]

". . . Dr. Mayor said the incidence of AIDS in women registered with the city clinic is very low - with only three cases detected so far this year. All were women who had arrived from other cities and were seeking a credential to work. The incidence of syphilis and gonorrhea is similarly small, less than five cases of each discovered this year, he said."

END

[QUOTE=Country John]Nice.

Tijuana is one place where you feel almost instantly the fact that what Americans have come to know as "civilized" society has not yet found it's way into this part of the world. The place has an edge to it that keeps you slightly off balance and maybe somewhat insecure.


[/QUOTE]

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in the newspaper. Two guys sitting at a bar, one of them reading a newspaper with a worried look on his face. The other says to him: civilization as you know it may about to end, but civilization as I know it is about to begin.

It's a matter of perspective, gentlemen.

[QUOTE=Embel]Latest health monitoring news: half blow off some of their monthly checkups.
Beg pardon for submitting something so long and it's not even a trip report. END[/QUOTE]

Ther has to be 'ONE' ___________ (you fill in the blank) in every forum -
This should be posted in the General Information or Safety section.
If its not a TJ report for mongering and the like find another place to post.


Donnie D