I went to San Diego back in 2008 with my family, and that trip is really what started all my traveling. One thing we tried to do on that trip was visit the border, but unfortunately the drug wars were going strong in Tijuana that year, so visiting the border was not safe at the time. It was considered one of the bloodiest years for Tijuana. I had been wanting to return to San Diego ever since, and that desire grew stronger after visiting Madawaska, Maine; Key West, Florida; and Blaine, Washington, and realizing I had been to 3 of the 4 corners of the continental United States. I had a long weekend because of Presidents Day, so I planned to finally visit #4: San Ysidro, California. My friend Nathan decided to meet me there and got there early to check in to the hotel.
So my flight to San Diego was a little different… we had boarded the plane and sat there for a while before the pilot came on the intercom explaining that for some reason, no one had refueled the plane yet. It would be another 30 minutes before they could get it refueled and take off. To complicate things, San Diego has a curfew and doesn’t allow planes to land after midnight. To put it into perspective, the flight was already supposed to land around 11:30 pm, and that’s before the delay. The pilot continued, saying that if we couldn’t land in San Diego, the alternate was Los Angeles, and the passengers basically started a riot on that plane. Everyone was screaming and cursing. No one on that plane had any plans to go to Los Angeles that night. We were told we could get off the plane if we wanted, but we wouldn’t be able to get our luggage. Some got off, but most of us decided to risk it. There were some people that couldn’t decide whether they were getting off or staying, and after the plane had been refueled, those passengers trying to make a decision were only delaying the flight even more. About half of the people still sitting down were screaming and cussing out everyone still standing until they finally sat down. We took off and the pilot was able to get a different route mid-flight, so we landed with only 10 minutes to spare! I started the trip with a crazy story, but it definitely didn’t stop there…
I didn’t get much sleep, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying the trip. I came here for mostly one reason: to get my fourth corner of the country, so I was determined to get there. According to Google, Friendship Park (where I was trying to get to for the fourth corner) opens at 10:00 am, so I planned to get there right at 10 in order to save enough time for visiting Tijuana. Nathan and I took the trolley down to the border crossing in San Ysidro, but the Friendship Park is on the other side of town, so we called an Uber to come pick us up. Our Uber driver, Jon, was interested in why we were heading to Friendship Park because not many people ever go there. I explained the whole 4 corners idea and he was interested, especially because he had never been to the park either but had been to 2 of the other corners of the country. He asked us if he could hang out with us because he wanted to visit it too, so we agreed. After driving through the Tijuana River Valley and a lot of farmland, we finally reached the park right at 10 am only to see a big sign that says “CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.” Talk about frustrating: I had planned this entire trip in order to visit this park and there was nothing online saying it’s closed. After researching it, we realized it had been closed due to a sewage leak in Tijuana, causing a public safety concern that forced the Border Patrol to shut down the park. Jon was disappointed too because he was also interested in visiting this park. He looked at us and joked, “Well we can’t legally get to the border from here, but if you want to sneak in, I’ll gladly bail you out if you get arrested.” We decided we didn’t want to get arrested, so he brought up another option. “Well I live in Tijuana, and I’m done for the day, so if you want I can take you to the Mexican side of the border so you can stick your foot through and claim your fourth corner.” Without any other options considering we were in the middle of nowhere at a park that was closed to the public, we agreed to go with him. I mean- the likelihood of finding another Uber driver out here was low because of how far we had come from civilization. He stopped our time so we wouldn’t have to pay him for driving us anywhere else, and drove us across the border.
So now, we’re traveling around Tijuana with a guy who lives there and knows the area for free. Before you think I’m completely crazy, his reviews on Uber were all great, and there were some showing he had gone out of his way to help his passengers like this in the past, so we believed he was only wanting to help me complete my goal. We kept asking him questions about himself and how he ended up living in Tijuana, and we found out he actually used to work for The Bachelor TV show and has many crazy stories to tell from his time working there. I’m very careful about who I trust when I’m traveling, but everything pointed to him just being a good guy.
We finally reached the town of Playas de Tijuana and walked down to the border wall. Jon was great to have with us because he knew the area very well, gave us safety advice, and let us know a lot of information that you won’t find in guide books anywhere. We went up to the wall, and I was able to stick my foot through the wall at the farthest corner where the Pacific was coming up onto the beach. (Of course I had to be careful not to touch the water because of the sewage leak). At this point, I finally visited the fourth and final corner of the United States, but I had to go to Mexico to get there. Jon showed us a nice place to get shrimp tacos and lemonade in Playas, and it was really good! In order to thank him for taking us here for free, we decided to pay for his lunch.
After finding out we wanted to visit Avenida Revolución, Jon agreed to take us there and show us around. We finally found a place to park downtown, and it was one of the craziest parking lots I’ve ever seen. Cars were packed in as tightly as possible with only centimeters between them. And then other cars park behind you blocking you in. You have to leave your keys with the parking attendants so if someone else needs to get out, they can move your car! This would never fly in the US… So we start walking along Avenida Revolución, and Jon tells us about one of the tallest buildings in the city where we can get to the roof for a view over Tijuana.
We go to this somewhat sketchy parking garage and climb the steps to the roof for some cool pictures. We then continue walking the strip and find some souvenir shops. One thing that I found interesting is how every shop owner will offer you free tequila for looking through their store. (I don’t drink, so I never took any). Walking down Revolución is kinda crazy with shop owners trying to lure you into their store with free tequila and random attractions locals use to get tourists’ money. A great example of this is how some locals paint donkeys to look like zebras and offer to let you take pictures of them for money. I have no idea why these are so popular but they are, and they make a lot of money off them. Of course, I made one guy mad when I accidentally walked right into his donkey while I was looking at my phone. We walked all the way down to Plaza Santa Cecilia for this one taco place. Here, they had some interesting tacos that I wanted to try: cow cheek and cow intestine. Locals like it, but for Americans it doesn’t sound that appetizing. I liked the cheek, and the intestine wasn’t bad, but the thought of what I was eating did mess it up. Here, Jon told us he could drop us off at the border or go into Zona RÃo with him where he needed to go to a market to get mangos. Of course, we decided to go to the market, so we headed to Zona RÃo and visited Mercado Hidalgo.
The traffic here was insane, and the parking was just as crazy. Jon had to make some illegal traffic maneuvers in order to save us 30 minutes of stand-still traffic, but we survived. Here, next to Mercado Hidalgo was Tacos El Gordo. This was the best taco place we visited in Tijuana! We got the taco al pastor, which is made with pork on a spit. And the tacos in Tijuana are only a dollar, making it hard to resist. We walked around the market while Jon picked up some mangos and then headed back to the border. So here’s one thing to learn from all this: Jon was one of the nicest guys I’ve met and literally gave us a free tour of Tijuana without expecting anything from us. It just shows that there are good people in the world and if you’re willing to trust someone, you never know what might come of it! I’m not saying you should trust everyone you come across on the street, but don’t automatically assume everyone is bad. You have to use discretion in these situations, and my gut told me he was good. I went to grab some money to tip him as we got out of his car, but he drove off before I had a chance to give him anything. I loved Tijuana, but I honestly wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it weren’t for Jon, the random Uber driver I just met who offered to take me across the border for free. Who would’ve known…
Also, if you’re interested in visiting Tijuana or know someone who is, check out my article on how to plan a day trip there. I learned a lot and tried to include everything you would need to know before going.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be releasing the second part of my trip to San Diego soon.
Tyler's Travels 