"Juarez: Enjoy, but use caution and common sense" Juárez by davequ

Maybe you will be doing business in El Paso someday and get the urge to cross the border and party some evening.

Just some unsolicited and humble advice/opinion:

In the 60s and 70s I played music and whenever we were in the southwest we would always zip over the border from El Paso to Juarez for R & R.
Even back then you had to be a little cautious & discrete if you like to "push the envelope" when it comes to having fun.

But times have changed.

Nightlife in Ciudad Juarez has sadly become, to say the least, "adventurous."

What once was a relatively harmless place to have late-night fun has become somewhat risky.
Due to serious drug-related crime, some of the old haunts and pastimes can now be a little dangerous.

It's still safe to do the daytime tourist thing of crossing the border/bridge on foot for shopping & bartering, etc. but if drinking and partying late is your favorite pastime, just be careful over there.

I have friends who grew up in El Paso and spent their adolescence regularly crossing the border alone for underage drinking, chasing the lovely senoritas, pot, etc. without a second thought.

Nowdays they will not go there at night as full grown adults: too many possibilities, and a lot of them are bad.

Some local merchants and pharmacists in Juarez will openly and without shame advise American tourists: "Stay out of the local downtown clubs or you'll likely end up robbed or dead, & stay off the streets at night, especially downtown, because the cops may rob you."
When I visited old friends there last year, they gave me the same advice.

Please take this humble caution in the spirit it is given. Not trying to preach or sound alarmist, and if you're a "G-rated" daytime tourist, you still have little to be concerned about.

Summary:

There are plenty of fun things to do in Mexico that don't involve binging on alcohol, drugs, senoritas, or vices that exploit a financially poor culture that is trying to survive.

And Mexico is a damn fine country with good, hardworking people.

But if hearty, bleeding-edge partying is your thing, think twice before you venture blindly alone into Juarez at night.

Some websites:
http://www.savejuarez.org

http://juarez.info/cat_esp/9.html

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/167juar.html

• Pros:I love Mexico and its people; Food is delicious; Still some great bargain shopping.
• Cons:Sadly, serious poverty and crime in some areas make night clubbing risky.
• In a nutshell:Enjoy, but just be careful.