El
Paso is the famous border city between the US and Mexico in west
Texas. The high desert city is divided between from Juarez,
Mexico by the Rio Grande River which at times can be dry, but the river
is usually pretty shallow. In the early 1900s, the Rio Grande
flooded and extended the border further north so Texas gained more
territory since the treaty that ended the Mexican-American War in
Guadalupe Hildago said the border would be cut along the middle of the
deepest part of the Rio Grande River even when the river changes its
course. This was a point of contention between the US and Mexico
so in the 1960s, a treaty was signed to dig a concrete lined channel
for the Rio Grande to have a more permanent border. The Chamizal
Monument is built on land that changed between the US and Mexico
several times and documents the border struggles. One can see the
new border wall that was built by President Donald J. Trump from the
monument.
Downtown El Paso has lots of older historic
buildings and lots of shopping in the El Centro area. This area
ends at the bridge which crosses into Juarez, Mexico. Looking
into Juarez is very odd since on one side there is the developed city
of El Paso and on the other is a more primitive third world looking
city with homes that lack windows or doors around unpaved roads.
One can see a Pemex gas station right across the border too which was
the only gas company in Mexico for a long time.
El Paso is the largest boot manufacturing city in
the US. Tony Lama has a factory store where one can get a good
deal on Tony Lama, Justin, or Nacona boots.
The Mexican food is great in El Paso. I
recommend Los Banditos de Carlos y Mickeys for their sizzling Tex Mex
fajitas. Mexican Fried Ice Cream is delicious too! Ojos
Locos is a Latin style Hooters where the beautiful seniorita waitresses
serve customers bar food with a Latin flare in a Cantina setting which
has lots of TVs to watch mostly soccer games.