Breaking Bad Tour

So today’s big adventure entailed something I’ve been wanting to do since we arrived in America – visit a bunch of Breaking Bad filming locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Two things you should know before reading on: firstly, there are mild Breaking Bad spoilers below, so beware if you haven’t seen it, and secondly, true to the show itself, Albuquerque isn’t exactly what you’d call “safe”. We were first made aware of this when one of the Boondocking hosts laughed when we mentioned Albuquerque, and said we’d be more safe walking around New York at night alone. Upon hearing this, I conducted my own research, and the results were worrying. Albuquerque consistently ranks somewhere in the top 15 most dangerous US cities, having a crime rate of around 1,400 per 100,000 residents. When I stupidly decided to look at a crime statistics map to quell my paranoia, we were met with this immensely concerning sight:

Anyway, I’m writing this post, so we obviously made it out alive (spoiler alert), but only JUST, as we had not been made aware of the TRUE danger of Albuquerque – a threat posed not by gun violence, mugging, nor auto theft, but by those who we would LEAST expect: ourselves! When Mum had to do a U-turn, she over-estimated the turning circle of the RV, causing us to block part of the road, whilst oncoming traffic sped towards us. Luckily, she put the van in reverse, and we were off again – nobody even honked at us! Not even five minutes later, when we were pulling into the next destination, she violently mounted the curb, causing all our crockery to rattle and crash ominously, but by some freak of nature, nothing broke!

Our first stop was Los Pollos Hermanos (aka Twisters in real life), where I believe we sat at THE booth where Walter sits when meeting Gus Fring for the first time. The interior is a little different to the show, but the overall effect was still pretty surreal.

Next stop: Jesse Pinkman’s house

The next couple of places weren’t from the show itself, but sold a variety of merchandise related to the show, so we decided to stop – and I’m so glad we did! First, we made our way to the Breaking Bad store, where a 6-foot something guy with tear-drop tattoos was standing outside the front door. With all the knowledge of crime rates buzzing through my head, I was a little concerned, but at the same time, he looked a little familiar…TURNS OUT he is an actor called Jesus Payan, who portrayed one of Tuco’s henchmen, Gonzo, on the show! When he first told us he’d been on the show, he said it with good humour, so we almost made the mistake of thinking he was joking, until suddenly it clicked in my head, and I asked “Wait, were you the guy that died?”, and he said “Yes! I had my arm ripped off!”. He was also there with his wife (who is from Melbourne – small world!), and told us he’s a tattoo artist, who suggested that Walt should wear the hat and sunglasses which have since become iconic imagery of the show. Super lovely guy – was great to meet him!

The shop itself was great, filled with quirky references to the show, and a plethora of merchandise. We then moved on to the Candy Lady, who makes the blue rock candy that was used as a prop in the show, had some photos taken, bought ourselves some crystal meth, and hopped back in the car to head to the grand car wash.

Visiting the most exciting and iconic location – Walter White’s house – was actually a really depressing experience; I was aware before we arrived that the owners have been harassed by fans in the past (many have tossed pizza on the roof to re-enact the famous scene, or have attempted to sneak into the backyard to get a look at the pool), and as a result have installed a wrought-iron fence around the property, but even with this knowledge, I was shocked by what the house looked like. Not only did they have fences, but also orange traffic cones, security cameras with signs that warn trespassers, another 6-foot fence that blocks their front door, various signs stating that it’s “Private Property”, and a huge sign reading “take photos across the street, do not disturb us”. Additionally, the house itself is hardly recognisable (different paint job, roofing, windows, etc), which makes me wonder if they renovated it on purpose in an effort to keep fans away. We happened to arrive just as they seemed to be leaving, except they first backed out of the driveway, before driving straight back in; we weren’t sure if they’d just forgotten something, or whether they’d spotted the two deranged broads in the RV across the street, who appeared to be conducting the most conspicuous stakeout known to mankind. Every time they moved their car, they were vigilant in ensuring the automatic gate closed behind them, making their fear and paranoia pretty clear. Obviously, as a fan of the show, it’s exciting to go visit these places, but it’s really sad that these people have to live like this in an attempt just to feel safe in their own home, and worse still that people online bitch about how “the woman yelled at us to go away and wouldn’t get out of the photo”. I decided to just stay in the RV to take the photo, and I still felt guilty, like I was invading their privacy.

The next destination was a cool-looking dam that has been featured in two shows I love – Breaking Bad and Preacher. In both shows, the location was used as a “pick-up point” of sorts, and I thought it would be a really interesting place to photograph.

And finally, we concluded our tour at Hank and Marie’s house:

A fun day was had by all, particularly given we’re still alive 🙂