Tijuana , Mexico

My Mexico travel was planned for a long time, but then it happened when I was least expecting a travel. I wanted to renew my Visa in US and a travel to US Consulate abroad was impending. Tijuana US Consulate being the nearest one I decided to cross the US Border for first time after entering here.

US Consulte is almost near to the US Border with Mexico. From San Diego you can reach the border within 30-35 minitues of journey by car. There are lot of parking lots near the San Ysidiro subway station. For less than 4$ a day you will get parking here. You can cross the border with Vehicle but its not advisable since any repair or damages to the vehicle after crossing the border may not get the insurance coverage.

Once you reach the border you can cross the border by less than two minitus walk. There is a fly over which you have to cross to reach the other side of the border. You will be walking thru corridor like structure and after that finally you reach the other side of the border. There is no customs checking at the border and you could see some armed force and some border security force at the border from both sides.

I took a yellow cab from the border to reach the Benamax bank at the border. There you can convert your dollars to Mexican pesos. The taxi charge is around 6$ and most of the time the taxi drivers take dollars so it should not cause any issue. Most of the shops in Tijuana accepts payments in US dollars and they accept US credit cards too. The US consulte is also nearby the Bannamex Bank and its three or four blocks away from the bank. All of these points are located in a place called Zona Rio.

Language could be a problem as most of the people dont know English. But most of the cab drivers can understand English to a great extend. So travel thru a cab is easier.
Most of the time when the cab drivers see you at the border they expect that you are coming for a visa stamp. Although the Tijuana city is infamous for Mexican Drug Cartels and thier gangwars , from outside it looked a peaceful city.

The staff and security at the US consulate are very friendly and courteous. Sometimes due to rush you may have to extend your stay mostly to one more day (max) to get the VISA stamped. I got the VISA stamped next day and I stayed there in a hotel overnight. I returned back to border nextday. Tijuana is city with lot of hotels and other stores so staying there should not be a problem at all. You need to be careful while crossing the roads and all , especially when you are used to the US traffic system. There will be no push buttons for road crossings and all.