NCAAbbs

My wife and I lived in El Paso for 4 years while I was VP for Finance and Administration with the EP Community College there...ending Aug 31, 1999. I pass along the following suggestions for your protection.


1. Don't cross the border with a gun in your vehicle......you will wind up in a Mexican jail for a long long long time.

2. If you drive into Juarez...have Mexican auto Insurance. There have been many cases where a Mexican will deliberately run his car into your car, and you will be the one the Mexican police ticket. Organized crime activity like this is well known.

3. Watch where you eat in Juarez ...select only the best known and respected eating houses...you will know why if you drive the streets or Juarez and see the sidewalk market places...beef hanging from hooks above sidewalks with the flies, bugs etc.

4. If you go to the Mercado...the well known block wide long two story building filled with shops...bring tolit paper.....no joke there is none in the rest rooms...you will pay 25 cents for a small pad of paper.

Suggestion: If you must go, take a tour with a tour bus (or a taxi) which will take you to reputable eating establishments safely and return you.

These are not dreams.....they could turn your trip into a nightmare. My wife and I had many occassions where we had to attend official meeting in Juarez, we read the El Paso newspapers.

UTEP will not be playing these teams for another year atleast..post your advice then..they will need it then, not now. :rolleyes:

Also, there are many different experiences one will have if they venture into Juarez..some good, some bad..no one will have the same experience...just like any other town.

When we were joining the 16-team WAC back in 1996, we got similar (good) advice about side trips to Tijuana for those making the San Diego State road trip. In TJ, it's all about staying out of the Jai Ali joints and not taking too many free samples of tequila.

Hey, that whole auto insurance thing is true for anywhere in Mexico. It is even pointed out by the US government as a travel advisory for Mexico. Basically, if you get in a wreck with any car and you do not have insurance for Mexico...you are thrown in jail until the local police figure out which person was at fault. Lets just say, Mexcian justice isn't that quick. The US government advises anyone driving in Mexico (your car or rental) to take out insurance from a Mexican insurance company.