Tough Towns of Baja California
Beyond the party town of Cabo San Lucas, the cool designer feel of Todo Santos, exhilarating whale sighting tours in the Sea or Cortez and the emerging wine lands south of Tijuana, much of Baja California is a dusty desert still trying to throw off a reputation as a tough and lawless Frontierland. Here are five Tough Towns to visit in your next trip to Baja.
Tijuana
This is the barrier that keeps Mexicans out of North America and where people risk their lives to get into the States. For North Americans, Tijuana has always had a reputation for being a wild border town. Nowadays, though, you are more likely to find a hamburger than you are a to find a gunfight. Having said that, it is still a haven for criminals on the run, leachy businessmen, gamblers and schoolboys looking for a good time.
Over twenty million people come into Tijuana every year, but hardly any stay the night; this is No Man’s Land. The border patrol is where all the helicopters come in and at the borderline it is not really Mexico or the United States, until you get over the fence. Army people sometimes have to come to the border and try to stop the Mexicans from going across. When this happens the army people are pretty rough on the Mexicans.
San Quintin
Baja’s highway is literally littered with small towns like San Quintin, where locals drift in from the countryside, buy groceries, get repairs done or have a beer. Apart from that time passes very slowly. In San Quintin is a hotel called Cielito Lindon. Built for 50’s Hollywood stars, the place is now fading as we move further into the 21st century.
San Ignacio
San Ignacio, colonized by the Spanish, is now a local centre for the ranching community, known here as rancheros. It’s also an oasis, a life-saving source of water in the past and a good place to cool off today.
Mulege
Mulege is a small town on the coast which is popular with tourists. Mulege is another oasis town where the Spanish built a mission. These days, Mulege is quiet and peaceful, but a lot of Baja towns still have a hangover from the rough and tough frontier times when the peninsular was a haven for mercenaries, revolutionaries, prohibition busters and gangsters, or anyone on the run from the law.
Batopilas
A single rough track leads to the town of Batopilas, at the end of the missionary trail. It became rich in the 18th century, when silver was discovered in the nearby mountains. Because of its isolation, Batopilas quickly got a reputation as a hard town with tough men and strong women.
Batopilas is a cowboy town. There are no bars and no discos, so every once in a while, the people here get together, and this is when it gets dangerous. This is a butch and macho place, and the girls from town belong to the boys from town.
Destination – Mexico
