South of The Border... Down Mexico Way...

Heya folks!!

Currently holed up at the Gardner Hostel in El Paso, Texas!! (Little bit of trivia - John Dillinger (look him up), stayed here when he was running away from the FBI for his spree of bank robberies!). It's a big ol' place and my corridor makes me think of The Shining with a hint of Exorcist - it's dark and LONG with loads of doors. Creepy as hell!

Anyway, this is where i'd normally tell you about what went before... but this time... i've been a bit ill so i've had to slow my pace a little. I did have a second day in Fort Worth, but did VERY little, which is no great shame as i'd exhausted everything there is to do there on day one anyway! So as i say - no great loss. After that I had a 12 hour drive across Texas - about 650 miles covered... lovely. The drive was fine, though the 'scenery' didn't amount to much at all! Texas really is nothing but desert and scrub - it looks like the Yorkshire Moors... but hotter... WAY hotter at about 40oC. Some mountains finally appeared, which broke up the monotony! Also passed through Odessa... which i only know because of Heroes. Now, i'm not calling the show fictitious (because it's clearly based on reality), but i didn't see Clare 'The Cheerleader' Bennett jumping off buildings or healing herself... mind you, they moved away didn't they at the end of series 1?? That'll be it... ofcourse. On a serious note though - Odessa has NOTHING there. A bit like most of Texas (!).

Regardless, I rocked into El Paso at about 8pm yesterday to be told by some Mexican security guard that my bag didn't belong to me... so i promptly whipped it out and slung it in her face, waggling it around a bit in my hand, she copped an eyeful and finally relinquished my bag... oh, i'm referring to my passport, obviously - what else could i mean!? Anyway, after that came a walk through a pitch black city to find my hostel, cue thoughts of 'oh shit'. El Paso has about 10 street lights, so i had little to no chance!! Luckily i knew kinda where i was going and sauntered into the hostel ok - but it was a bit worrying. Hell, i'd have took a taxi for the 10 blocks, but there weren't any!! Odd!!

Skip to today, and the reason i came to El Paso - to walk into Mexico! El Paso borders with a city known as Juarez, which is about 3 times the size of El Paso, and is renowned for all things 'fruity', a bit like Tijuana! I paid my 25c and walked over the bridge... and i've gotta say, the Rio Grande really ain't that grand at all!! It's a glorified canal - i'm pretty sure you could easily be shot to death in it, and i'm sure it looks better elsewhere, but at Juarez it looks rubbish - no wonder the coyotes (smugglers) can make such a trade over it!! It looked ankle deep! Though i've gotta say - the Federali's (Mexican border police) walk around with huge assault rifles - i wouldn't wanna mess them around!

Juarez itself... how would i describe it?? I'd say it's an unhealthy mix of Blackpool, Baghdad and Amsterdam. Why? Blackpool = loads of tack on sale, and neon signs aplenty to cater to the tourists. Baghdad = the place is RUN DOWN, much worse than the US cities i've seen (and i've seen some crap!), and infinitely worse than the most run down place you've seen in England, Spain, France etc.! And finally - Amsterdam = the sex trade. I'd been on Mexican soil for about 3 minutes when i was offered trips to the 'titty bar' and offered every type of sexual pleasuring you could possibly scrape from the fetid depths of your mind (prostitution is LEGAL in Mexico..) Fortunately, sex tourism wasn't on my list of 'to-do's' in Mexico, so i just shook my head and moved on... though i was propositioned about 20 times in an hour... just crazy! Also got offered a whole bag full of white powder... which again was kinda scary! I've not been offered drugs and sex this much since Ibiza, where a man on every street corner was asking for a Mr. 'Charlie Pills'... now i never met the guy in my stay, but he SURE is popular - everyone knows his name and seems top be asking for him. Bet he gets all the attention in clubs!

Anyway...

Unfortunately, me being ill has resulted in me being unable to eat much above 'liquid' levels, so i couldn't sample any food, but is smelt good. Gotta say though - the markets weren't what i was expecting... if you want bootlegged copies of The Dark Knight or Hancock, then by all means visit Juarez, or maybe you want to buy hip-hop CD's, or even get knocked off clothes and belts? Sure, come here. But i wanted AUTHENTIC Mexican wears - which i had to search SO deeply for, but found the knick-knack shops where i could get my blanket. Hurrah!! Aimee, i REALLY could have done with you about, as i understood NOTHING in Mexico - i might as well have been deaf. How dare they speak Spanish in their own country! Though to be fair, a lot of people in Texas refuse to speak English... much to the annoyance of the homegrown Texans so i found!

So now i'm back in El Paso - gotta say, it's not a happening place at all. It seems to be here purely because of Mexico meeting it head on. No worries though, as i jog on tomorrow towards the Pacific Coast to a little known town called San Diego in a small state called California. I honestly can't wait: San Diego, Hollywood, Vegas, San Fran - they all await me in the next 2 weeks! Brilliant!

So i'm gonna sign off now, and hopefully the 20 hour journey tomorrow won't be made worse by my health! Hopefully i'll be all healthy again, and ready to kick California's ass! Hell, there's no question there - i WILL kick California's ass... right after i've finished checkin' it out, drooled a little and tried to make a move on her...!

Love y'all

Aaron! x