"tequilla, sex, and marijuana"

ensenada!

it´s like tijuana light. less noisy, feels safer, has a pretty waterfront and plenty of places to stay and things to do.

"i can get you whatever you want my friend," he said, "tweak, marijuanna, acid, you name it..."

we arrived late and stress from the crossing and the crazy bus ride. have i mentioned the buses yet? well, they´re very nice inside and out, classy like the amtrak buses, not crappy like greyhound. the ¨plus¨class bus even has movies. these machines are huge, plush, rolling masses of steel... now imagine that these are piloted by indy 500 drivers on crack!

yes, you are in 10 tons of diesel-driven metal mass powering along at ass-puckering speeds. passing on the left, passing on the right, shit, passing overhead if these guys could, they would. i swear we were faster than many sports cars. and yet it all somehow feels safe. these guys are pros.

we walked around ensenada in the early evening and found a little hotel just off the main strip. it was all of $15 dollers per night for two, and like many hotels in mexico it had a basic bed, innovative plumbing (our sink drained into our shower floor, for instance), and (nearly) hot, (barely) running water.

we spent the next day changing dollars into pesos (at a rate just over mx$10.1 to the us$1), eating, and getting our tourist cards at the local departamento de micracíon. the tourest card was us$2.50 to buy the blank form, $21 to process, and a $5 penalty for not doing it at the border -- that last is worth the extra cost if you want a more mellow experience with less scruteny.

mexicans are nothing if not resouceful, and anything and any place can be turned into a business. one example is the place we found for dinner. in the usa, you´d call it an ally between two buildings. in mexico, it would be called a hot potential retail location. we found a woman tucked into a four-foot space between a club and a bank and she was doing a brisk buisiness in quick and tasty food. for 8-12 pesos (80-120 cents US) you get a great soft taco or tostada, topas, quesadia, or whatever. she has a tiny burner and stacks of food. yum!

my favorite new friend was "juan" from the club down across the street. we met him while getting food and he was very polite and friendly. originally from san diego he moved down to ensenada for the lucrative work in the clubs. he was very clean-cut and profession in his suit and manner. "i can get you whatever you want my friend," he said, "tweak, marijuanna, acid, you name it, i can help you."even viagra?" i asked. "of course, amico."

there is certainly a wild-west atmosphere here, as americans come down to spend money on things they can´t legally get at home (prostitutes, gambling, drugs), or what might be legal at home but more expensive (beer at 50 US cents each). so long as people are not killing each other, the police seem pretty laid back about it all.

ensenada is still enough of a dirty border town that we wanted to blow out pretty quick. we cought the bus that afternon, and headed for the next spot that looked half-way interesting...