Crossing the border into Mexico
I have been asked by a number of people what our experience was crossing the border on foot from Calexico, CA to Mexicali, MX... carrying three large duffel bags and three backpacks... acquiring the proper legal immigration papers... and then finding our way to the bus station... one woman and two kids unaccompanied... in an unfamiliar border town.
My father-in-law and I had inquired on the US side first about taking a taxi across the border... our bags were loaded down and I didn’t think to bring our folding cart with us. The cost to take us across was ridiculous... $80US. The cab driver explained in rapid Spanish that the lines were so long 
and that customs taxed him extra to bring people over. He was clearly waiting for a different American... I refused to pay that. So, after our hugs good-bye with Grandpa, we lumbered across the border with bags in tote. Tim, clearly the strongest of the three of us and having just turned 15, got to carry to two largest and heaviest bags. He did a heck of a lot of complaining most of the way to Immigration until I offered to take the heaviest bag from him... I think that shamed him into quietness and he refused my help... thank goodness, because I’m really not sure I could have followed through on my threat.
We began the trek through the metal, barred, one-person-only-at-a-time rotating gates that remind me of a line in the the Eagles’ song "Hotel California"... you can check out any time you like but you can never leave! Our biggest worry is that we wouldn’t be able to fit inside the small space with the luggage! Tim, the family genius, set his largest bag down on the ground and twirled the gate around where Carolyne caught it on the Mexican side and pulled with all her might. We went through two of these gates before landing in crowded Mexicali... the only gringo faces we saw were our own.
The 104* heat in the late afternoon made lugging our belongings that much more cumbersome. I began wondering if I really needed the two bottles of Paul Newman’s Sesame Ginger salad dressing I thought I had to have? And the jar of coconut oil... maybe I hadn’t looked hard enough in Mexico for it? I had a bottle of Cabernet for Jim... if I drank it all now then I wouldn’t have to lug it around. I don’t know if it was the heat, the weight or the combo, but I was clearly not thinking clearly!
We passed the guard at customs and he paid no attention to us. Tim was worried that his birthday dive knife would be confiscated. I was worried that if anyone started going through our luggage that we would never be able to stuff all our goodies we bought in the US back inside! I turned back to the guard and asked in Spanish about the location of the Immigration office. He splattered out a rapid fire response... only part of which I understood... the office was less than a block away. We started off in the general direction of the Immigration office and a scruffy local in his 30's motioned for us to follow him. I hesitated only briefly... if this was an evil man trying to take advantage of us then I figured I could squash him easily with my bag! There were plenty of people around and I would refuse to follow anyone down a deserted alley. Right around the corner, our ‘helper’ lead us to the Immigation Office... a sign taped to the door said that the office was closed. I tried not to panic... we needed our tourist Visas to be legal in Mexico! Our helper motioned for us to continue following. We walked a block or so to another location... Immigration officers welcomed us and I tipped out helper for guiding us safely.
Immigration is totally easy. You show your passports, fill out some paperwork, go to the bank to pay the fee (which is usually located near the Immigration office), and then back to Immigration to pick up your VISAs. The bank is usually the longest wait... why? I don’t know. The government office building was clean and Tim and Carolyne stayed inside with the luggage under the watchful eye of the Immigration boss. I trekked across the lines of traffic coming across from the US to the Mexican side and found the small HSBC bank where I paid my fees. It took about 30 minutes. When I returned to Immigration, the kindly boss had already called a taxi and it was waiting to take us to the bus station. We loaded up our belongings and drove four blocks to the bus station where we had plenty of time to down cold water while we waited for our bus to arrive.
Border towns tend to be the ickyist... dirty, crowded, stinky. Most people have it in their heads that because of the drug problems and then the domino effect stemming from the retaliation: murder, kidnappings, etc... that Mexico is dangerous all the way around. While I concur that Tijuana is an armpit and that Juarez is probably worse now than it ever has been, Mexico is a big country geographically and it is full of good, kind, decent people... even on the border! As far as border crossings go, we highly recommend Mexicali or Tecate.
NOTE: Visas are different now than in past years when crossing the border via foot or by car. The photo above shows what they look like now and there is no longer a need to also have a bank receipt. In fact, Immigration keeps the bank receipt. We paid 786 peosos for our three VISAs... 262 pesos each... about $21US each. We received the maximum amount of time allowed... 6 months. This does NOT allow us to work in Mexico... only to be here.
