San Diego

I was very pleased that it was sunny and warm when i arrived in San Diego, I checked in to my hostel and headed straight out to have a look round the GasLamp Quarter, an up and coming area of Downtown San Diego full of restaurants and bars with a very young population. It was a cool area but i definitely couldn't afford to eat or drink there!

There was an Aussie guy Jimmy working at the hostel who agreed to take a few people to Ocean Beach and give us a surfing lesson. Although by the time we got there it was a bit late and the waves were ENORMOUS so i didn't give it a go. I'm pretty sure i would have drowned if i'd tried! They were definitely not beginner waves. I did go for a swim though and came out of the water with a fetching sea weed hat on :).

San Diego is on the border of Mexico and Tijuana is not far from the border. Me Jimmy and a german girl Tina headed across the border for a day out in Mexico! It was a short trolley ride the the border and you literally just walked across, there was no border control whatsoever to get in, we had been warned it could take a while to get back across though. Tina and I were quite glad Jimmy was there as it was a little bit sketchy, there were people stood on a walkway watching everyone come in, Jimmy pointed out that they were scouts and were pointing out targets to mug/pick pocket. We were followed by two young guys but managed to loose them by going back on ourselves around different stalls and making it obvious we knew they were following us. To get to Tijuana you have to cross a bridge which overlooks a kind of giant valley/gutter. Looking down you could see children rifling through piles of rubbish and huddles of people obviously living in the underpasses. It was a stark difference from San Diego just metres away, the poverty was very evident. I had read an article that women are put top work by pimp type men who make them beg and then take most of the earnings. In order to get sympathy from tourists they have babies with them, the article stated that to keep the babies/children quite and able to lie in the woman's arms all day they are drugged. Despite having read this and being aware of it nothing prepared me for seeing woman after woman cradling babies and young children who at first looked asleep but on further inspection you could see their eyes were rolled back in their heads and they were clammy, pale and not sleeping at all but completely unconscious on whatever concoction of drugs they had been given. It was the most harrowing thing i think i have ever seen and ripped my heart out a little. I just wanted to take the children and bring them back over the border, i still can't understand how it is pretty much basic knowledge that this happens, every day, and yet the authorities don't seem to either care or do anything to try and stop it.

As soon as we got out of the area around the border there were no people begging. It was much more relaxed and a friendlier environment. We saw a small alley with some stalls at the end of it. We contemplated whether it was safe to go down or not and decided we would have a look and turn back if it seemed hostile. I'm so glad we went down it! We came across rows and rows of stalls all selling various Mexican items. There was hammock, toys, musical instruments, leather shops etc etc. We looked around them all for hours and had a go at bartering for a few souvenirs, everyone as really friendly and welcoming. We asked one stall owner where we could get some good Mexican food and he pointed us through about different alleys to Pepe's Tacos. The restaurant was a tiny place, it had no doors and only 3 tiny tables and a bar. behind the bar was about a metre of space and the stove where the owner, and chef, Pepe, cooked up the meals. For $3 we had the best burrito i have ever tasted, it wasn't wrapped up in a tortilla like burritos we know but rather open on bread that was closer to a naan or a soft taco. I can't describe how delicious it was! We chatted to the owner for a while and he let us try some cactus that is a traditional Mexican dish. It tasted a bit like green beans but with a sharper flavour. On the way back to the border we got pulled into a great little bar where our server, Camilo, plied us with super cheap, super tasty cocktails and free shots of tequila! We had a brilliant few hours there and a little dance with Camilo, who was great fun!

Although we had been warned about the queue back across the border, we didn't realise it would take 3.5 hours to get back! The queue wound back for what seemed like miles. We made it more interesting by chatting to people around us and having a laugh with the police at the border entry. There were constantly beggars going up and down the line, the strangest of which was a woman with a tiny dog who carried a sign asking for money, the dog never moved without picking the sign up and even knew which way round to hold it in it's mouth as when it was backwards he spat it out and picked it up to face the right way!! Although it was really cute you could tell the dog hadn't been trained to do that with treats but rather through fear of a beating, he looked really tired as well which was sad. After over 4 hours we ere back at the hostel and exhausted but elated from having such a brilliant day in Mexico!

The next adventure was La Jolla, a cove about an hour out of the central San Diego. Tina couldn't make it as she had to fly back to Germany but Jimmy and I headed over and rented a kayak. We brought our snorkelling gear and jumped off the kayak to look at the bright orange fish, baby sting rays and swim into the caves dotting the coastline. Then we headed up the a rocky area which was FULL of sea lions. I jumped out of the kayak and swam up to the rock where about 20 were basking in the sun. One by one they slid into the water and started swimming around and under me, they were so playful. I would swim down and a sea lion would come right up to me look at me and then swoop under me. It was so much fun and incredible to be just centimetres away from these gorgeous and wild creatures. Eventually as the sun was going down we had to tear ourselves away from our new friends and head back in. The only way to get back in was to ride one of the enormous waves in to the beach. I hoped out and tried to keep the bag we'd brought dry whilst Jimmy got the kayak in. Somehow in the choppy sea i ended up being pushed into the back of the kayak which hit my right in the ribs and winded me. After drowning a little bit i got to the beach, bruised and coughing up a lot of water, i pretty much failed at keeping the bag dry as well!

On my last day in San Diego after making some greta friends at the hostel a few of us went to the famous Hodad's for a farewell meal. Probably the best burger of my life! I was really sad to leave as i'd had such a great time, San Diego was definitely one of the highlights of my trip, what a brilliant and diverse city! I got on a bus to LA with a heavy heart but full of excitement as this was my last stop before Fiji!