[LEMONS] 2.22.2002
And since I went on about what I loved in Mexico, here are a few complaints:
- Guidebooks suck. We had two, "Lonely Planet Baja" and Hidden Baja. Both were awful, both were highly inaccurate, neither was particularly useful. For example, the hotel, the Motel El Pescador, we stayed in was one of the best places in town, as well as the cheapest. It wasn't reccomended by either guidebook, yet both provided faulty descriptions. Oddly enough, the hotels recommended were dumps, and they cost a lt more money to boot. The same was true of the restaurants. We met a really cool couple from Northern California who also had the LP Baja, and the same complaint. The four of us discussed it over a lousy, overpriced dinner at a place the Hidden Baja book called the bext restaurant in town. As Matthew said (and I'm paraphrasing), "I thought LP was suppossed to find out of the way places that were indicative of the country. Instead it reccomends places like the Tiajuana Denny's." I'm writing my own guide to San Felipe.
- I'd never been to TJ before. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Daytona Beach with taco stands, tequilla bars, maquiladoras, and easily obtainable prescription drugs, I guess. Which it was, and I'm sure there's a lot to be said for TJ. But I was so overwhelmed by the air pollution that it became pretty much all I could focus on. I was in Kuwait rebuilding for three months immediately after the Gulf War. To give you some idea of how bad the air was, I left before they started filming Fires of Kuwait. And although the sky overhead wasn't black in TJ, the low-level pollution certainly reminded me of Kuwait. When we woke up in the morning, I went out to get some shaving cream and razors from a nearby pharmacy while Harper showered and got ready. As soon as I opened the door the chemical smell of the air hit me, and I had the onset of a headache (that would grow to epic preportions before we got out of town) by the time I got back to the room. I assume much of the pollution is due to the maquiladoras, and what isn't is due to auto eissions. Anyone who isn't thouroghly convinced that we have to do whatever it takes to reduce emissions, from all sources, on a global scale needs to spend a week in TJ. It's actually quite frightening.
- San Felipe is host to lots of off-road racing enthousiasts. See points above and below.
- Gringos. I love the USA. I would not want to spend the rest of my life anywhere else. But Americans themselves can be some of the most obnoxious, arrogant, obtuse people on the planet. Sometimes, when traveling in a foreign country, I just want to apologize for their behavior. I'm shocked sometimes at how rude they can be to their hosts (you're a guest, remember, dipshit?). It's as basic as bothering to try and speak the language. I see European and Asian touristas in San Francisco all the time. When they ask me questions, and it does happen on occasion, they ask in English. If you're in Mexico--or Thailand, or France, or India, or wherever--at least learn the basic phrases you need to get by. The other thing is that Gringos tend to loudly voice opinions on the superiority of American culture. If traveling makes you feel that way, hey, good for you. I'm sure that makes you appreciate your home all the more, and that's a great thing. Be happy with what you've got. Digging the scene with a gangster lean and all that. But why tell your hosts that? Would you want a guest of yours telling you how much better it is back at their place in Gstaad? I found all the driving through San Felipe's malecon and revving the engines of whatever off-road thingie you drive to be similarly obnoxious. True, there were quite a few Mexicans who did the same thing. But overwhelmingly when I heard an engine racing obnoxiously, or glass pipes on a bike, I'd look up and see a fifty-something anglo with his socks pulled up to his thighs and an American flag T-Shirt.
But that's it. And I don't want to complain too much. It was a spectacular vacation, we're already trying to figure out when we can go back. It was the most amazing week I've had in a long, long time.
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