deconcini and morley ports of entry

I crossed the eastern border on foot. Time into Mexico = 2 minutes. Returning to US at 4:30pm - at least an hour, while being harassed by beggars... The US officials were very courteous, there just aren't enough of them during "Rush Hour". I had a similar experience travelling to Nogales Mexico in a company shuttle - the Mexican officials opened the van door, counted heads and waved us through. The US officials took and processed all 9 passports, questioned 3 of us, searched under the van with mirrors and took about 15 minutes total. In a company shuttle that crosses the border exactly the same time every day...at least they didn't make us take off our shoes like the airports...

The Mexican border crossing seems mostly interested in allowing tourists into their country. They were very quick and only glanced at my Canadian passport before waving me through the walk-across border. I returned around 4:30pm - only to have to wait over a hour to get back to the US. There was a long line of people (very few were obvious tourists) slowly heading north. There were several beggars harassing people and a blind man singing along to a small radio and asking for handouts (that got old real fast...). The US officials were very courteous and quick, there simply aren't enough of them at what is clearly a peak crossing time. Next time I will return earlier, or wait until closer to 6:00pm.

Was it safe? I suppose so. Was it foreign? Distinctly foreign. Would I do it again? Probably not. Am I glad I did it? Yes. We went on a Saturday on a whim. It was a quick drive from Tucson. I wanted to experience a border town for myself and not just rely solely on the media's negativity and bigger-wall mentality. We parked at Ed's parking for $3 and walked right through the turnstiles without any issues. Immediately there were at least fifteen pharmacies and several dental clinics. Culture shock was instant and I was glad to speak Spanish. The experience was unlike any other I have had between the mariachis playing to the crossers, run down buildings collapsing with disrepair and vendors hard-selling their medications to whoever walks by. We stayed about an hour before I felt an almost claustrophobic need to leave. I noticed there are several ways back in and so we bypassed the longest line that looked like it would take hours to wait in the relatively short line that took about 45 minutes to get back into the U.S. There is a separate line called solo sentri that is reserved for dental patients with doctor notes and senior citizens. That line if you can use it would've probably taken ten minutes or less. When I got to customs I showed my passport and had my bag searched. It was quite an ordeal just to cross for an hour but I gained some comfort with it and know what to expect if I ever need or want to go back. We saw several federales in full combat gear and U.S. border patrol on foot and in SUVs which added to the intensity of the situation and served as a constant reminder that there's a drug war going on and these are the front lines. All the storekeepers I encountered were kind and hospitable and I appreciated the opportunity to talk to them about life in Sonora.

I hear now you don't need a passport to re-enter the USA if you have two forms of photo ID. I always take my passport with me just in case. At certain times there are long lines to get back. If you've had dental surgery, you can go to the front of line 'with permission' and 'pass' the line. Also anyone over 60 is permitted to jump the queue. Great dentists and doctors within walking distance not to mention fine dining and sushi.

We parked the car on the US side for $4, then walked across the border. Took seconds to cross. We had a lot of fun shopping and negotiating with vendors. We really felt sorry for them as hardly any tourists cross over to shop anymore. Of course, the prices start really high. As a general rule, whatever price they start at, you can get down to 50% less. But know the prices of the items you want before bartering with them. We ended up paying more than we normally would because we just felt sorry for them. I bought a ‘day of the dead’ stand-up figurine made of clay, among other things. One vendor kept giving me tequila as we negotiated....what fun! We randomly picked a place to eat lunch, and it was better than any Mexican food we’ve had in the USA or Canada. It was so clean tasting, without all the sodium and processed flavours. Tasted like home cooking! I did notice that they had two different menus - one for locals and one for gringos. Guess which one was more expensive? As expected, it was a lot longer getting back to the USA. I think we waited in line for about 1 hour. There seems to be this un-written rule that senior citizens from the USA can just by-pass the line with their cross-border pharmaceutical purchases. This really prolonged the wait time as well. For some reason we were sent to another room for secondary questioning/inspection. We spent most of the time waiting for the border official to finish her non-work-related socializing with colleagues. Interestingly, long after you’ve left the border on the Arizona highway, there is another border security check point right on the highway. You have to stop as they take a look inside your vehicle, and decide whether or not to search your car. The trip was worth it, but be prepared for delays getting back to the USA. The delay was long enough that we had to abort our plan to attend the last tour at Biosphere 2 north of Tucson. It felt completely safe in Nogales, Mexico. Be sensible and go during the day. If your goal is to do some fun shopping and eat a meal, then I recommend it.

Better to walk into Mexico than drive because, upon returning to the United States, you will have a very long wait to re-enter