You know how American cities in the search for identity claim with varying degrees of desperation, to be the world capital of this or that uninteresting product or service? Los Algodones has claimed the slightly bizarre title of “Molar City, Mexico.” But not without justification it seems.
If you want to know how many dentists there are in Los Algodones you can add them up for yourself:
I should add the only reason we are here is because Layne had two teeth break last year and she needed implants. $12,000 in the US or $3500 for both here? If you think dentistry in Mexico is still stuck in the 19th century with bloody pliers and a knee on your chest think again.
Los Algodones makes you realize dental care is so expensive in the US this tiny town makes a handsome living offering cut price first rate care and thousands of Americans come from all over to get it.
I wish I could say there is more to it than that but there isn’t really. I’m pretty bored here after two days hanging around waiting for Layne and her two new teeth. In January they fitted her gums for the implants and everything healed perfectly. On Tuesday they opened the gums and prepared the inserts and on Wednesday the lab had the new teeth ready to go. By the time you read this we should be in Arizona with all new smiles.
Rusty enjoyed the break from van life as there is nowhere to camp here. We decided wild camping in 90 degrees with toothache wasn’t going to be much fun so we took a $70 a night hotel with secure parking and lots of lovely hot water for the shower. Rusty was delighted.
Americans usually arrive by the bus load and park in the Indian parking lot in Andrade California which is essentially a farm labor camp and gives its name to the official border crossing. They walk across imagining themselves in Mexico, which they are sort of…
…but the reality of Los Algodones is everyone speaks English when they see a gringo coming and the currency is the US dollar; offer to pay in pesos and you get confused looks. Also the city operates on Arizona time to stay in synch with customers arriving from Yuma. In summer it’s Pacific time and in winter it’s Mountain time. Stay confused as Arizona doesn’t do daylight saving!
It’s literally a world unto itself. It is also in the hassle free zone to encourage Americans to come to Mexico. In all Baja and Northern Sonora you need no vehicle permit to drive here, just insurance which you get online and a tourist card issued by the immigration office.
Of course we had a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) as we drove all over Mexico but there is nowhere to drop it off here. So while Layne was recovering from her morning in the chair I drove an hour to Mexicali to find the Banjercito office to drop off my TIP which would release our $400 bond and make us eligible for another TIP when we return in October.
Driving Highway 8 west to Mexicali reminded me a bit of the agricultural bounty of the Salinas Valley where I used to live. I could get NPR on the car radio and the road was smooth and straight. I got confused momentarily as to where I was as I listened to the coverage (with nothing useful to say) of the indictment of a former President in Miami. Mexico looks quite sane at the moment.
Except of course for the huge line of cars waiting to cross what the Mexicans call “La Linea.”
There is a reason we prefer smaller less obvious ports of entry.
Luckily I needed the Sentri lane which is for regulars who have expedited passes to cross more easily. Half way up the Sentri lane there was a cut out before the border and I made a u-turn into the Mexican customs area. In fifteen minutes and some chatter about the joy of being retired with a fellow bureaucrat I was done. In a few days the deposit will be restored to our credit card account and that is that.
It was an easy drive back to Los Algodones, my job for the day completed.
All watered by the Colorado River that forms the border here between California, Arizona, Sonora and Baja California.
If you need tooth work you can do worse than come here. Layne spoke with a fellow victim who said he is spending $20,000 to fix his mouth. I figured that would be a hundred thousand in the US!
Other than teeth there no reason to come here and I did try to walk around and see what there is to photograph. Those pictures tomorrow, Los Algodones at dawn!
