Juarez, Mexico
Juarez, Mexico
Off the I-10 corridor, border crossing from El Paso, Texas
One of the easiest entry points from the United States into Mexico, this battle-ground looking entrance to Mexico enters a talented city with music and culture, marketing, vending, and history. It’s dirty and grimey, but filled with great shopping deals and things to do. Lots of rumors that its a place of crime, thievery, murder, kidnapping, and the lot of stolen children - I did not experience any of the sort. Though several visitors talking with enroute in and out of the border walk, discovered a friendly city, though we heard tales from the mouths of the fishes themselves who have said they’ve been robbed at night by both policemen and muggers, but apparently only the crimes struck toward evening. Apparently the policemen who robbed one Texan guy were fired and arrested after the incident once he reported it to internal affairs. But he does not travel there at night. Many of the hole-in-the-wall bars do seem seedy, and I wouldn’t travel there alone at night myself and I travel some rough areas along my journeys. A friendly chap in a dental/pharamacy suite came up to us and guided us to the market (with an unexpected request for a tip afterwards) even though he said he’d show us since he was walking that way to home anyhow. He offered many deals of steroids, pharmaceuticals, and drugs he said he could get for anyone at his pharmacy. Shady, shady, shady. Many stares and many friendly faces, we hit the Juarez market and I bartered down a black n’ grey poncho, hand woven hammock, a bottle of vanilla, a bottle of tequila, some culinary delights, and snacks for the road - spending a mere $35 USD (all I had). Tried to barter down the hand woven blankets to less than $5 (we reached $5 from $15) but Las Cruces has blankets for $5 marked, so why bother? We walked by the cathedral and had some burritos at a taco stand. Cruised through the flea market then headed off back across the border. Mexico charges you an admission fee of 35 cents, and an exit fee of 35 cents. If you buy liquor across the border, when exiting the State of Texas (unlike all the other American States who let you bring over a liter free of duty), Texas charges a hefty liquor tax. For a bottle of tequila I paid $6.50 USD for, I was imposed a $1.00 tax. Overall the visit was good … but I did want a shower afterwards …
Rating: 3 stars out of 5. Visited 9/17/05.
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