In Mexico remembering loved ones during Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is mixed with reverence and ritual. Sugar skulls, flowers, washing gravestones, and family meals are a few traditional aspects. I witnessed and learned, when the Turiste Libre group walked me into Tijuana, although it felt a bit like going to a party where you don’t know the host.
Crossing the border
The founder of Turiste Libre, American born, Derrik Chinn, made everyone feel welcome from the moment we met in the Otay Mesa border plaza, just south of San Diego. He has been polishing the Tijuana tours for years.
The plaza was a maelstrom of action. People of all ilk bustled in and out of the money exchange kiosks and little stores, carrying bags, suitcases, and boxes. Customs officers and border police strolled into the government buildings and sauntered through the plaza at the end of their shifts.
Even with recent upgrades the walk through the revolving border gate hasn’t changed much over the years. Once on the other side, passports are checked and it’s an easy exit into Mexico. Uniformed taxi drivers waited for business at the first street but Derrik guided our group to a pair of decorated, white buses commandeered for the day.
Our itinerary was announced and we were offered fortifying Tequila shots before rumbling off into the Tijuana neighborhoods, far from the tourist ruckus along Avenue Revolucion.
Puerta Blanca Cemetery
In Tijuana the annual DĂa de Muertos calls for a visit to Puerta Blanca, the oldest cemetery. It’s also the resting place of the unofficial, folk saint, Juan Soldado. His story is controversial but his memory is revered.
Relatives lounged at family grave sites. Teenagers scrambled between stones, earning a few pesos for washing away the dust from the past year. Too soon we headed out to the street and off to an adventure of another sort entirely.
Into the Mercado
Mercado Hidalgo is Tijuana’s oldest, open-air market and home of the largest Dia de Muertos altar in town. The bus slipped into the central parking lot of the dizzying marketplace. We had over an hour to wander, shop, sample and watch the Aztec dancers.
Lunch at El Taller
Shopping stirs the appetite and our last stop was El Taller, a Baja Med Cocina, for a communal meal of Mole Pizza and ‘mucha cerveza.’ The building was originally a screen-printing bodega but its cavernous space has been transformed into a comfortable, dining mecca. The pies, a far cry from the Italian based Mozzarella cheese and oregano style, were served on stands. The thin crust pizzas were piled with meat and a thick, spicy Mole that can only come from hours of tender cooking.
New friends were made during our full day of sight-seeing, story-telling, eating and drinking. If only I could say that crossing back into the U.S. was as quick and easy as entering Mexico, but that’s not the case. Too often it means standing in long lines before clearing customs. Lucky for me, I had applied for a SENTRI pass months earlier and the potential ordeal became a leisurely stroll back into the U.S.
Read more border and safety tips in my post about crossing into Mexico.
I’m so grateful to the Mexican people who let us gringos crash their party and it’s wonderful to see more visitors from around the world participate in Tijuana’s Day of the Dead.
If you go:
- Find out more about Turiste Libre Tours
- El Taller Baja Med – Much more on the menu than pizza!
- Listen to my interview with Derrik Chinn on the Gathering Road Podcast
- To get to Puerta Blanca, walk west out of downtown on First Street. The cemetery is in front of the Z Gas compound and closes at 4 p.m.
Hope you enjoyed the tour. Share on Pinterest!
Wow, what an experience! 🙂
It was and a wonderful tour guide. They offer many different kinds of experiences. Perhaps you’ll have a chance to visit Tijuana one day and see for yourself.
In Poland, where I come from the Day of the Dead is called All Saints’ Day and it’s a pretty serious and solemn holiday that why I’ve always dreamt of spending this time in Mexico – I hope one day my dreams will come true, as it must be truly fascinating to see something that is so different from my own culture.
I’m sure there’s solemnity for the families but also, in Mexico, a light-heartedness in remembrance and being together sharing memories of loved ones past. I hope to visit Poland one day and if not for All Saints Day then another solemn, true celebration.
I experienced it once in the Philippines. It was amazing though initially shocking. It’s very festive. They do not consider it disrespectful to be celebratory. It’s very family oriented.
It is more celebratory than sad in many cases unless in the US. The wakes I’ve attended here though…
I love Dia de los Muertos. The mixture of death, life, color, sweets is excellent. It looks like a cool tour you took.
It was an incredible day. Glad you’re also a fan. I’d like to go deeper into the tradition one day.
I love how beautifully colourful this festival is, I can really get behind the idea of celebrating life, as opposed to mourning death. Also, you are very brave to eat those crickets!! I took one look at the scorpions on a stick in Beijing and practically bolted out of the market!
I’ve seen some of the bugs on offer in street markets and can’t say they appeal to me either, but the crickets were tiny and nicely spiced. Celebrate life in all its diversity, yes!
it sounds like a great experience! I hope to go there one day!
There’s so much to discover in Tijuana and the region.