Remember when we treated Baja like a suburb of Southern California, when you only had to point your compass south to quickly bask in sunny climes, otherworldly scenery and a tinge of the exotic? Then came the great drug wars, with the first gruesome headlines coming out of Tijuana. Suddenly, anyone contemplating a trip across the border was placed on suicide watch.
Leave aside for the moment that the drug cartels aren't targeting tourists, that their internecine battles rarely break out anywhere near tourist districts, or that crime has actually declined around Tijuana recently as the field of combat shifts to northeastern Mexico. For some travelers, those early headlines will remain indelible.
Source: Read the Full SFGate Article
