Monday, January 25, 2010

Los Algodones, Mexico

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Wished I had taken a picture of the parking lot on the US side. It was huge, Disney World sized, and cost $5.00. You just walk across the border into Mexico along with hundreds of other old, retired Americans looking for cheap drugs, eyeglasses and dental care.

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Luckily we got there around 9 am, so the lot wasn’t half full, but the cars were pouring in. We had read about the wait getting through customs on the way out in the afternoons, so we wanted to get in and out before lunch.

Algodones is a 4 block area of pharmacies, liquor stores, optical shops, dentists, and outdoor vendors. We found our dental office about 2 blocks from the border. It looked like a nice office, and there were a couple other Americans waiting. Unfortunately, the cleaning was not very thorough, and they were trying to sell us on having a bunch of crowns replaced, besides the one Jim went in to consult about. At least we know where not to go, and as it turned out we aren’t crazy about Yuma, so he doesn’t really want to come back here for the crown, anyway.

We did buy a couple things at the pharmacy, and managed to get out by 11. There was no waiting in the pedestrian area of customs, but there was quite a long line of traffic coming back into the US.

Jim here. Just goes to show that you should go with your own common sense. Guy had a good internet site. Claimed to belong to several American professional dental organizations. He even has images of the certificates he received from them on his site. I checked those before we went and found that he is not currently a member of any of them. One can only conclude he joined them for one year for the certificates and to impress us gringos. Found this to be the case with another dentist there as well.

What we should have done was go to the dentist that my cousin had recommended. They have been using him for several years getting a variety of work done and never had a problem.

We both felt as though we were being sold a used car sitting in that dental chair.

The pharmacy prices are worth the trip to Mexico if you are already nearby and you need the meds of course.

Gayle and I were Debbie’s mom’s mules today but that is another story. All I can say is we will be entering the witness protection program. Just call me Raul.

1 comment:

  1. I have a certificate that says I can fly without wings...
    Hey Jim,
    I'll crown ya for free.
    JDM

    ReplyDelete