after September 11, 2001, all boarder crossings into mexico besides those of major transportation (el paso/Juarez, presidio/ojinaga, del rio/ciudad acuna) were closed. the affect was devastating. any small town on the other side that relied heavily, probably entirely, on American tourism and American "locals" crossing for basic shopping or even just a delicious authentic Mexican dinner, quickly dwindled into a ghost town. somehow, some of the residents remained and were able to (barely) survive. others had no choice but to move away. this year, over 10 years later, the crossing into Boquillas was re-opened. basically what this means is that it is not illegal to wade across the rio grande, at this location, to go into the town of boquillas. there is no road or bridge crossing the river. just a little canoe. on the other side you have the option of riding horses into town, or walking, or even a truck ride. once there, an escort shows you the immigration office where ridiculous amounts of paper work is required, along with the purchase of the boat ride and horse ride, if chosen. needless to say, mexico is not cheap anymore. a $5 boat ticket. a $9 horse ride. children running everywhere trying to sell $5 cotton string bracelets that is impossible to say no to. $2 cervezas. $3 tacos. and the most outrageous was the beautiful Mexican embroidered sun dress that was simple enough to cost $20 in the states, was $50 there. it's called globalization. there was a time when $10 was all you needed, and it was enough for the sellers too. an affordable day trip, yes. but not like the mexico I know. I still love mexico and for the sake of boquillas I would still pay.
bienvenidos !!
path to the river crossing
Ingrid at the river crossing
a shelter for men and boys to await the arrival of tourists calling for the canoe ferry
I talked Ingrid into riding the horses with me. it's a good thing too, because the walk to town was not as close to the crossing as I had thought. nearly a miles walk through hot sand, no breeze, no shade, at sea level...phew!
I think she was glad too. we both were wearing sandals and not really prepared for the trek.
first peek of boquillas
the little restaurant where we sat in the shade and enjoyed cold cerveza and tacos of handmade tortillas, and chatted with some terlinguan and big bend NP residents.
view from my perch
The Park Bar, a favorite of old time regulars. unfortunately, it was closed. we were ready for tequila shots!!
not much to do here except eat, drink, and on cooler days probably roam the town a little more. on this particular day it was completely out of the question. heat stroke was about to set in.
the trek back to the river.
