Safest border to cross to get into Mexico....

[Everymanalion]

Walking, what is it?

 

[elperegringo]

it kind of depends on where you're coming from and where you wanna go in mexico. if you're in cali (so if you wanna check out the baja peninsula and later catch the ferry over to the mainland), i'd recommend againt tj because it's a shitty first impression of a beautiful country. i'd opt for calexico/mexicali instead. cd juarez/el paso isn't by any means safe, but it's a great way to get to chihuahua where you can catch an amazing train ride thru the copper canyon and down to the coast. if you happen to be traveling thru texas, i'd cross at nvo laredo and head for monterrey and further south. i'd say calexico or el paso is your best bet.

now matter where you cross, i recommend you catch a bus and get the fuck away from the border. once you're in the interior, it's cool to start thumbing it and sleeping outside, but dont risk it anywhere near the border. also, buy yourself a GUIA ROJI (awesome road atlas) it's totally worth the 200 or so pesos. if you're walking across the border, you'll need to ask around for immigration (it's not always right next to the crossing point, and you definitely wanna stamp in and get your tourist card). with the exception of a few spots, the north of mexico isnt that cool. it's much more expensive than the centre and south of the country, there's a supermacho cowboy vibe, and the extreme distances between cities makes hitching complicated. get south, have fun

 

[Everymanalion]

Thank you very much, i actually was down in Brownsville TX last year, going to make my 3rd or 4th excursion into Mexico and Central America but this was the first time i was going to cross by foot rather than fly across the border to avoid the troublesome areas like i have previously(my situation is a little unique, not only am i a gringo but my whole face and body is sleeved out in tattoos so i have more of a chance of being noticed, they are killing civilians more and more down there and chopping them up and saying they are cartel members when they dump the bodies and i know for a fact no one would believe i was not one looking the way i look ha.) But yes, i was in Texas, literally just about the walk across the border in a few minutes when someone started firing from the Mexican side, hitting the college in Brownsville with a few rounds, then i decided against going into Matomoros and i lived on the beach on St Padre island and actually met Snoop Dogg when he was there for spring break.....

And my only concern with that is i have heard increasingly scary stories about the Zetas and Gulf cartel stopping buses, even if they did pay the "taxes" and just killing everyone onboard. I LOVE Mexico and i dont have enough money this time to fly into it and i MUST get out of the U.S. ASAP, so im coming from NYC, i know all border towns are bad but any tiny little known border town crossings you know of? Thanks.

 

[elperegringo]

especially if you're all tatted up man i'd really suggest you avoid the gulf coast. the zetas aren't friends with MS13 and you could get capped cuz the ink will make em think you're a mara. head west before south is all i can say. calexico is the most low key place i've crossed, not really sure how all the little bumfuck spots in tx and az are like though.

 

[Everymanalion]

Thank you sir.

 

[miklo]

id recommend nogales arizona since there isnt as much cartel activity and overall is a pretty safeborder town.

 

[Raging Bird]

I didn't see any trouble in Nogales in2009. In general, it seems like smaller towns are less sketchy. Went over into Nuevo Progresso a month ago, which they said was safer than Matamoros, which was safer than Nuevo Laredo, which was safer than Juarez. I get the argument against the gulf, though. Seems like there's more trouble there in general. More turfs overlapping.

 

[smellsea]

el paso/juarez. i walked over with no proiblem and commin back they gave me a little bit of shit but it was fine, and i had no i.d. at all.. but i heard it's pretty easy to hop the fence in and out across the street from the mission in el paso.

 

[Kim Chee]

18 miles walk from Deming, NM.

 

[Monterey]

Eagle Pass, TX. Town of about 5-10K. I crossed the border with a KBar strapped to my waist, my full pack, and a pit bull on a Saturday night. They didn't bat an eye. The town is only about as dangerous as NOLA, but do not DO NOT have anything to do at all with drugs there. You will most likely die. The border guy was telling me their latest trick was having a woman carrying a bundled baby into the USA. The baby is gutted and drugs are stuffed into the body cavity. If you look like you have nothing and don't make friends, you are OK to get south of chihuahua, where it is less evil.
OH, and Eagle Pass is a hop town. Trains generally stop to start switching back right in the middle of main street, about two blocks from the border.
Organ harvesting is a big business in north Mexico, and Mexicans usually have hep... that leaves Americans. They get a ransom first, then kill you and put your organs on dry ice to sell.

-Monterey