Mexico La Entrada
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View out the bus window between Juarez and Chihuahua The gigantic sprawling and modern Chihuahua bus terminal. Another view out the window; just east of Chihuahua. |
Ciudad Juarez was better than my expectationsócertainly less chaotic and it felt less dangerous than Tijuana. My expectations were very low though since what I'd heard of Juarez was a big sprawling city which wouldn't be there except for the influence of the border and the accompanying Maquiladoras (foreign factories) operating in the special economic zone. It is a little creepy being here if for no other reason than the main thing I've heard about Juarez in the past is the unsolved serial murders of more than a hundred women. They are mostly young factory workers found dumped in ditches; vulnerable as they come and go to work for their long work days in the dark–often both before and after work. It's also famous for its violent drug cartels.
It actually looked a lot like El Paso, Texas (a 10 minute walk across a bridge spanning the Rio Grande) except a little dirtier and a lot more bustling and active. It even sounded like El Paso where, at least on the two local buses I took from the airport everyone was talking Spanish. But it has that same feature of many Latin American cities that I've never liked: sprawling, few tall buildings, lots of traffic and few green spaces. But I didn't feel harangued and unsafe like I remember when I was in Tijuana last, many years ago. I ended up going to bed at 8 pm after my long day which had started at 4 am in Seattle and so I missed experiencing the local gay scene. But my walkabout showed that it had a gay scene more open than I've ever seen anywhere else in Latin Americaóa couple of blocks with about 4 large bars/discos — all pretty obviously gay replete with rainbow flags and not closed up and requiring knocking on a unlabeled door to enter. Another surprise.
There were actually no border controls at all coming into MexicoóI had to search around and find the immigration office to get a tourist card which I would need since I was going beyond the border zone. But now more than a week later and 2,000 km from the border and no one has yet requested to look at my passport so I'm glad I searched out that office. I know I'll need the tourist card when I leave.
