Día de Muertos Tijuana cemetery trek

The annual passing of Día de Muertos calls for a visit to one of Tijuana's oldest cemeteries, which serves as the resting place of Juan Soldado, the city’s unofficial, controversial folk saint. While his guidance has been sought by border crossers since his death in 1938, the events leading up to his arrest and execution — in the very same cemetery, no less — continue to spark great debate among locals.

Also on the itinerary is a lap of Mercado Miguel Hidalgo, the city's oldest open-air market and home of its largest Día de Muertos altar, where we’ll learn a bit about the significance and symbolism each of the items used to celebrate this iconic Mexican holiday, followed by time for sugar skull and papel picado shopping.

We’ll start off with lunch at a Chiapas-inspired restaurant, and end with a few rounds of mezcal and lotería at a folkloric mezcalería.

Tickets include roundtrip border transportation, lunch and mezcal.

The group meets on the U.S. side of the Pedwest border crossing at the Virginia Avenue Transit Center at 10 a.m., with an estimated return to the border at 5 p.m.