More San Diego and a little bit of Mexico

Unfortunately I lost a big chunk of that last post when the internet disconnected me.

I've been doing heaps in San Diego.  Last you all heard I was staying in Ocean Beach.  I really loved it there, it's kind of like a cross between a suburb of San Diego and a small independent town.  It hasn't bean built up like a lot of coastal land at home.  The houses are very small and simple, with even alot of quite run down places right on the beach.  There's a Starbucks there and a Subway but they are the only chain type stores, apparently when Starbucks moved in there was a bit of outcry in the community because they really take pride in the small business "Mom and Pop" thing they've got going.

There are heaps of hippie type characters and surfers and skateboarders and also a lot of people who are homeless (teens in particular) and sleep on the beach and hang out there all day (they all hang out together though and don't hassle anyone for money like everywhere else I've been.  The downside to this ultra-laid back attitude is it quite a sleepy town and it feels a bit unmotivated, the staff at the hostel were certainly that way.  They all just worked for 3 hours a day to get their bed for the night and then hung about being stoned and unfriendly.  I kept commenting to people that this would be such a great town to live in because it's so relaxed yet so close to downtown, you could work in the city and come home to what feels like another world.  People agreed with me but I got the feeling that it's not a full time job town.

After a week in OB I felt like I had seen enough, I'd taken the bus Downtown a couple of times and I could see there was a great bar and restaurant culture but the last bus to OB is at 6:40pm, ridiculously early.

I'm now staying right in the heart of Downtown's Gaslamp District.  It's a very cool part of town, like I said, lots of funky bars and nightclubs and restaurants with seating on the foot path.  There are some good shops to see too (no bookshops, just a shell of a Borders).

One day last week I went to the San Diego Zoo.  Apparently it's supposed to be one of the best Zoo's in the world.  I was told that I wouldn't be able to see it all in one day but after reviewing the map in the line for the bus tour I was pretty sure I could give it a crack.

The only Zoo I can compare it to is Melbourne because that's the only other one I know.  It was a bit bigger, not as big as I had imagined though, I guess we've got a decent sized zoo at home.  It was built on quite hilly ground, which I didn't mined because I've been walking around heaps and also it's a good way to get a bit of exercise.  It would be really hard it you had kids with little legs or a stroller or a wheelchair, or even if you were particularly unfit.  They do have buses that take you from one part of the zoo to another but that seems a bit pointless to me, you'd miss all the animals on the way.

The best difference is how close you seem to be to the animals, they have decent sized enclosures but I guess they're shaped so there's always a good vantage point.  I love the zoo so much so I was excited to see so many different animals up close.  The worst difference is that apart from a few exhibits like in the reptile house, they haven't really got information displayed about each animal.  They have if it's endangered and where it's from but I didn't really feel like I was learning much about the animals I was looking at.  Mostly it was very familiar in feel and style and layout to Melbourne Zoo.

There are about a million koalas at San Diego Zoo, I think that might be the official animal of the zoo.  People were crowding all around to see them.  They are a seriously boring animal compared to others at the zoo, they were all asleep with there faces buried in a tree trunk.  They just look like a furry grey growth on a tree.

I also spent a day at Sea World last week.  I wasn't planning on going because I didn't think I would get much out of it alone, but a lovely girl, Corey, staying in my dorm at the hostel  said she was keen to go too.

Sea World was really fun.  I know it's probably not all that PC but I love performing sea animals.  We saw the dolphin show and the sea lion show and the killer whale show.  We got drenched to the bone in the last one, we sat in the "soak zone" , we had for the dolphin show too and hadn't got wet at all.  This time we may as well have jumped into the pool with the whale.  He started off by spitting water on us (yes, whale spit) and then splashing us about 40times.

I've spent a couple of days wandering around Downtown, it's a great area for wandering.  Yesterday I wanted to check out Old Town, which is a part of San Diego which is set up like the original San Diego.  A lot of it is a state Park and all the shops are like little museums selling ye olde time wares.  I guess a bit like Sovereign Hill but without an entry fee.  The rest of the town follows the theme too.  It was much bigger than I had expected and I hadn't really allowed enough time for a proper look around.  I had to get back to the Hostel for a trip to Mexico so I think I'll go back another day.

The trip to Tijuana happens every Saturday afternoon at this hostel.  I though it would be more shopping and exploring but really it was all about drinking.

We had to assemble at 3:30pm but it took nearly an hour of them taking everyones $17 and checking everyone's passport.  San Diego is really close to the border, it's only about 20 minutes if you want to drive.  We took the trolley (that's a tram) but there were track works going on and we had to change to a bus at one point and then get on another trolley a bit later on.  It must've taken us an hour to get to the border.

To get into Tijuana you just have to go through what is essentially a turnstile.  There's no official or passport checking.  We had 10 minutes for "shopping" at a couple of souvenir/liquor stores (you can bring back 1 bottle of tequila or a carton of cigarettes).  I bought a fridge magnet.  There were lots of little kids trying to sell us lollies and other bits of crap, they were only about five years old but they had rotten teeth and grotty clothes, it was a bit depressing really.

This part of Mexico is pretty much there to serve arrogant tourists and Americans who want cheap booze and I guess to say they've been in Mexico (which is about all I got out of it).  We went to a bar and drank coronas (exotic) and all got a free shot of tequila but it was so watered down.

Then we went to another bar/nightclub/restaurant/tattoo parlour/strip club(that's right, all in one) where there was more coronas and shit tequila and shit frozen "mango" margaritas.  I also had the worst Mexican food I've had so far on my trip.  It was seriously a rank joint, it was all pretty rank.  It's incredible to think that you cross a made up line in the sand and enter into poverty from (although clearly in recession) one of the most affluent nations in the world.

Having said all that I did have a pretty fun night.  I met two people from Melbourne and I'd already been hanging out with this girl from Denmark who I'd met (obviously we met heaps of other people from the hostel too, but I spent most of my time with these guys).  The guy from Melbourne has already moved on today but the girl, Leisa is here until Thursday.  She is just the kind of gal I like to hang out with, she has a similar sense of humour to me and we have been getting along famously.

Today we went on a harbour cruise which was largely a tour of all the massive naval ships down there.  The tour was pretty dull but it was lovely to be out on the water for a couple of hours.  We even saw some sea lions hanging out on a barge.

Then we had lunch in a seafood restaurant on the water and after that wandered around little Italy.  It's been a good cruisey sort of day but somehow we're both pretty tired.  There's a movie night on tonight at the hostel which is great because I think that's all I want to do.

Until next time....