Tijuana ... ever been?

[Cary and Don]

If you are interested in Mexico, look at the blog Travel with Kevin and Ruth. They do Mexico all the time and might have some helpful information. 

Cary

[Lin]

We used to live not far from the Mexican border, and it was not uncommon for people to cross into Mexicali.  I only drove there once, but there were just too many horror stories from neighbors for us to continue.  We even knew some guys that were arrested and held hostage by the police until one of them returned with a ransom.  However, sometimes we would park and walk across to Algodones, which was considered much less trouble.  Most likely you will be fine and nothing will happen, but the same can be said about drunk driving or unprotected mingling with intravenous drug addicts.

[Cary and Don]

Speaking of Los Algodones.  There have been a lot of good reviews on some of the rver sites about dental care there. We have been debating about going there or Tijuana. We need to get some expensive stuff done and sure can't afford it here. It sounds like Los Algodones is a better option for safety. Since we haven't been there has anybody had experience with this?
Cary

[luvrbus]

Cary, check the dentist out good you can get some bad dentist there ,we stay at WinterHaven and drive the car about 6 miles, the Indians camp ground at Algodones is not much     

[Iceni John]

Randy the Mobile Kodger is impressed with the dental care he received in Algodones:  http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-birth-of-dental-empire-at-algodones.html

His blog is always a good read anyway.

John

[Ed Hackenbruch]

 I had some minor dental work done there a few years ago and we used to go there several times during the winter for various things. Have had lots of friends go there and never a problem.

[bobofthenorth]

We've spent a lot of time in Mexico over the years - truck, truck & 5th wheel, bus, flying to destinations and renting a car once we get there.  We've never been down the Baja but its really nothing to do with perceived danger - we just don't have any desire to go down the Baja.

This is a great forum but probably exactly the wrong place to have a discussion about Mexican travel.  There's not many people here who have direct experience with anything other than border towns but there's plenty here who are dead certain its dangerous and are happy to tell you so.  A better place to look for information is Rolling Homes Press

I'd be pretty careful anywhere within 50 miles of the US/Mexico border, on either side of the border.  We always try to get well south of the border the first day into Mexico.  If you haven't done it before, unless you are staying within a couple hundred miles of the border, there is a bit of dicking around that you have to go through.  You'll probably need special insurance - check with your carrier.  I wouldn't dream of crossing at Juarez and to be honest Tijuana doesn't have a really good rep either.  I don't think Tijuana is anywhere near as bad as Juarez and in either case getting south fast is the most important thing to do.  When you do cross the actual border will seem like nothing but there will be another stop about 10 miles into the country that will be more detailed.

You don't want to travel after dark for a bunch of reasons.  Obviously crime is more of a risk.  You may find a cow or two sleeping on the warm pavement.  Some Mexicans also have the bizarre notion that driving with their lights on is hard on their battery.  You may see signs which say that vehicles with no lights must yield the right of way which is fine - as long as they do that.  We very rarely travel after dark and when we do it is only on local roads which we know very well.  For a first time trip I'd stick to the toll roads wherever possible and only ever in daylight.

If you buy the Rolling Homes book they have the campgrounds listed for each area.  There's probably websites now that will give you the same information for free but I haven't bothered looking - anywhere that we want to go we already know where we are going to stay.  If you're in the country for an extended period they have really cheap cell phones that you can buy.  If you're going to use your own phone make sure you know what it is costing you.  A recent trip we made to Guadalajara resulted in a bill that approached $2k for about 10 days of use and at the time I thought I was only using my phone for "emergencies".  I wouldn't want to imagine what kind of a bill you might get if you piled up any amount of data use.

[eagle19952]

Bob's disertation...probably the most accurate.... Baja is not mainland Mexico.
from baja most of the illegal activity is via the ocean ... i am told

[Dave5Cs]

If you go out of country and you can text on your phone try Viber it free and you can use it anywhere. We used ours from Jamaica when we were there last year to California, and no charges.
Dave

[luvrbus]

We traveled the Gulf of Mexico side of Mexico up and down for years then inland as far as Mexico City

Check points any place in Mexico can be a bitch you can wait them out or pass a 20 dollar bill and be on your way 20 bucks is 2 days work for those people.I went hunting in Mexico for years with no problem now a days who really knows. 

I know they have stopped the Copper Canyon Rv travel on the train because of safety concerns and that was a fun caravan     

[Nel]

WHY!!!!

[Iceni John]

Yes, TJ at night is somewhere that you want to be very aware of your surroundings and to always have a Plan B, but the same can be said for any large US city at night in its grottier areas.   Some years ago I had to pick up some folk from the Camionera Central, the main bus station, at 3.00 AM, and there were plenty of police and security guards there.   Border towns are always unrepresentative of their countries as a whole  -  TJ or Mexicali are no more typical of Mexico than plenty of other countries' border towns I've been through in my travels.   Once you're further south of TJ and into the real Mexico you should be safer anyway  -  I feel safer at night in Mexico City than in Los Angeles, but the DF is generally safer than most Mexican cities.   One technique I inadvertently discovered to instill a sense of safety when driving through TJ is to "accidentally" get into the middle of a convoy of federal police or military going through town  -  the soldiers in the back of the pickup truck ahead of me thought it was a big hoot to have a gringo in their midst, and they were smiling and waving at me!

Some of the most amazing places I've been to have been where tourists were discouraged from traveling to.   If I had paid heed to naysayers I would never have experienced Mashad during Ramadan, or Lahore during elections, or Srinagar during some anti-Hindu riots, or plenty of other places that still now evoke strong memories  -  I never felt personally threatened at any time, and looking back I have no regrets doing that.   Travel isn't always smooth-sailing or easy, and you have to take the rough with the smooth to truly appreciate a country.   Just keep your wits around you and pay heed to your gut-instincts, and you'll be OK.   The world is not like Disneyland, thank goodness.   

John

[luvrbus]

That is true John when I traveled around the world working for Cooper in the 60's I never feared for my life either.When I was in Israel they made damn sure nothing was going to happen to you lol even the Turks protected the Americans back then.Now the world is a different place cover your own back no one else will 

[lvmci]

Yea Clifford, I  always wanted to do the Copper Canyon train/RV trip too, maybe we should get our own convoy with bus conversions trip to a nicer coastal rv park in Mexico, Baja, lvmci...

[Dave5Cs]

And hold a BAJA Bus race. Thats the ticket!>>>.LOL
Sorry couldn't resist... ..
Dave