North Baja
Written: Apr 12 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Unique atmosphere, fun, pretty girls
Cons: Cities are few and far between, displays the worst of the two cultures
The Bottom Line: If you take a Mexican from the Mexican mainland, and put him or her in Baja Norte, it might seem to him that he visited another country.
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| jesse12's Full Review: Baja |
I have only visited the very northern tip of Baja.(from Tijuana to Ensenada) so don't expect a complete travel guide through the state. I have seen very little of Baja Norte, but I can tell you the impression that it left on me, and how it compares with the states on Mexico's mainland.
Baja Norte is located on the upper half of the Baja peninsula, which is separated from the Mexican mainland by the Sea of Cortez. This Northern Mexican State seems separate from Mexico's mainland in a few other ways also. Like much of northern Mexico, Baja Norte is hot desert, and very rugged.
Tourists are free to travel as far as Ensenada without a passport. If you want to go further, like San Felipe, you will need a passport.
My impression of Baja Norte
Having traveled through most of Mexico, or at least many of the major cities and historic sites, I feel free to compare Baja Norte with the rest of Mexico that I am so familiar with.
Compared with the rest of Mexico, Baja seems less religious. In most other places of Mexico colonial style churches spring up everywhere, dominating all of the towns and cities. Most of these cities or towns have a historic center, which feature old colonial structures and buildings.
This is not the case with Baja Norte. Most of the architecture is much newer, and was built within the last hundred years. Baja Norte does not have the strong Catholic culture that might be found on the Mexican mainland. Instead, the focus is a little different. I call Baja Norte a party state. The same could be said for Baja Sur.
If you want to travel the Baja Peninsula by car, you will not make it all the way south. The road ends somewhere between. The landscape is very rugged so you will need a Dune Buggy or something of that sort. Most people travel by air to visit the ever-popular Cabo San Lucas, which is located at the lower tip of Baja Sur State.
Baja Norte and the rest of the Baja Peninsula is a fishermen's paradise. Many Americans travel to Baja for the sole purpose of fishing. And that reminds me. The seafood in Baja is spectacular.
The Baja Peninsula is known as the unexplored region of Mexico. This is mostly due to the inaccessible landscape. So there are many places yet to be explored.
Places that I have been:
Tijuana:
Baja Norte's most major city, and by far the largest city of the Baja Peninsula. In fact, most of Baja Norte's population is centered here or in the border region. Tijuana is a very interesting city. Different than most other cities in Mexico, Tijuana in some ways is like Mexico's sin city. Tijuana can be described as intense. It's crowded, it's loud, and you don't know quite what to expect from the person that walks past you. You kind of feel like you got to watch your back. Like something is lurking behind the corner. Some of the people of Tijuana look kind of crazy, like some of the people you might see in East L.A. I have not seen many people like that in the rest of Mexico. Additionally, it seemed to me that there were more beggars in Tijuana than any other city in Mexico. You will be surprised of how many beggars will approach you in one trip to Tijuana. I would really like to help them, but there is simply too many.
In the downtown area, you will find more bars and nightclubs than in most other Mexican cities. Prostitutes, shoe shiners, taco stands are a common place. Tijuana is a poverty-stricken city, but it's not nearly as bad as some of the neighborhoods in Mexico City.
The way that I describe Tijuana, you might think that it's a bad city, but nothing could be further from the truth. I love Tijuana. It's a fascinating place. It has it's own distinct atmosphere and culture. When you walk through the city, many scents are in the air that you will not find in other Mexican cities. The food that you smell in Tijuana is not the same kind of food that you will find in most other parts of Mexico. Souvenir stands are everywhere selling everything from Aztec chess sets to Chinese stars. Despite being the farthest point from the ancient Aztec capital (Mexico City), You will find more monuments to the pride of the Aztecs than most other Mexican towns. You should see the big statue of the Aztec warrior near the mall; it's very impressive in architecture. Tijuana is so interesting that I wanted to explore the whole city.
The road to Ensenada:
After passing through Tijuana's urban sprawl and impoverished shantytowns, we passed through Rosarito. Rosarito is another party town with bars nightclubs, except this ones on the beach. It's about 20 minutes from Tijuana.
There is allot of small resorts on the coast of North Baja. These resorts or hotels look very impressive at night because they are all lit up in an attractive display of light. The many resorts are very fancy and elegant in architecture. You will find Arabic influence in the architecture of some of these resorts. About the only other thing that you will see on the hour and a half drive to Ensenada is small campgrounds, white two story houses with North American architecture along the coast and mostly nothing.
Ensenada is the third largest city in Baja which sits along the coast, and is most popular for Yellow Tail fishing. My impression of Ensenada is that it was more of a toned down cleaner version of Tijuana. Not nearly as populated as Tijuana, Ensenada has a more touristy atmosphere near the ocean, which is Ensenada's downtown area. And of coarse like many other Baja cities, Ensenada has the bars and nightclubs. Some parts of the city seemed somewhat Americanized to me. But I have never been to any of Mexico's resort cities, so I don't know how Americanized Mexico can get. When I go to Mexico, I always go to the real Mexico not the resorts. I don't consider Ensenada a resort; just a tad bit Americanized in some places. It's still a good city, but I found Tijuana far more interesting.(Perhaps the most interesting city in Baja altogether). There is not much more to say about Ensenada. Tijuana is everything and more than what Ensenada is. You should feel allot safer though. While Ensenada is not unique for a North Baja City, it is different than the cities of mainland Mexico. Ensenada is the farthest you can go without a passport.
Parties nightclubs and fishing are three good words to describe Baja Norte:
The cites of Baja are few and far between and the population is very small. The bulk of the population is centered in the border cities of Tijuana and Mexacali, which is Baja norte's capital.
Now if you want to know about the rest of the Baja Peninsula I can't tell you because I have never been there, But those three words that I mentioned should sum it up. Most people visit Baja Norte to screw around. It takes more of a commitment to see most of what Mexico has to offer. That means some serious traveling.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
jesse12
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Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 2 members
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