Exploring the Zona Rosa of Reynosa, Mexico

Thursday, October 2, 2003.

Today's plan was to cross into Mexico from Hildago, TX and visit the downtown area of Reynosa, also known as the "Pink Zone," as this is supposedly where all the "touristas" go to shop, eat and drink.

Reynosa is an old city, originally founded in 1841, and "moved," due to persistant flooding, about 10 k.m. to the present location in 1817. It's an agricultural hub, with many different crops grown, including green pepper, tomato, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, grain sorghum, corn, etc. Thanks to NAFTA and the maquiladora program, there are now scores of manufacturing plants, turning out consumer electronics, auto parts, medical supplies and many other fields. Like in many other cities in Mexico, "farmacias," doctors and dentists are plentiful.

Verious websites suggest the alternate spelling of "Reinosa." I didn't see any signs with that spelling, but I saw many signs that were spelled "Reynosa," so my assumption is that is the correct spelling. However, I didn't see any of those chintzy "Work From Home" signs either...

We crossed the Rio Grande (or Rio Bravo, as it's known in Mexico) river at Hildago, crossed into Mexico, and were waved through Mexican customs without incident. For a city of nearly a half-million or so people, the border crossing was surprisingly empty; there were only two or three vehicles in front of us and we crossed with incident. If you don't care to drive in Reynosa, there is a parking lot on the U.S. side, which features a twenty-five cent bridge toll if you're walking, and a 1/2 mile walk to the downtown area.

To get things into proper perspective, the other day we travelled via the "business route" of Federal Highway 2, which passes through Reynosa. The "business route" was lined with businesses that catered to travellers, as well as the local citizens. The downtown area is to the north, adjacent to the U.S. border, and is marked by signs directing you to "El Centro." From the "business route" one needs to turn to the right, cross the railroad tracks and simply head to the U.S. border.

The downtown area of Reynosa is both compact and extensive, and very dense by American standards. We are talking about an area of about 15 city blocks by 30 city blocks that is devoted to businesses of all kinds. The streets are very narrow; with a vehicle parked on each side, two, full-sized vehicles must do the "duck-and-cover" thing and two sub-compacts can forge a strong friendship. Many of the streets are one-way; you have to be careful to observe what you can, and can't do. You can imagine the fun that Jerry had manoeuvring his full-sized Dodge pickup through the narrow, congested city streets! "Situational awareness" definitely applies when driving the narrow, congested streets of downtown Reynosa! I had it easy; as I was riding shotgun and didn't have a clue of where to go or what to do. Edna is a great back seat driver as she has a keen sense of direction and an even stronger opinion of what must be done to get there, so things happen. If you need a back-seat navigator/drive, Edna is the person to have.

The downtown area of Reynosa has everything a city of comparable size anywhere in the world has, including department stores, specialty shops, electronic shops, street vendors, restaurants and endeavours associated with Mexico, namely street food vendors. In keeping with other Mexican cities, there are no tall buildings, a six-story building is about as tall as it gets in Reynosa. As I mentioned before, the streets are very narrow and congested so great care must be used when navigating the tricky environment. You have to watch out for the cars, busses, trucks and the occasional horse-drawn wagon that will feature very bald automotive tires.

We found a parking spot, alongside a mall, near the railroad station on Blvd. Quintana Roo (where did they ever get that name?) Edna had a mission to procure some "fleecy" material at a fabric store; there are three fabric stores located in downtown Reynosa and she had to visit all of them to find the perfect material. We walked up Calle Juarez, toured a few blocks and finally wound up on Calle Matamoros, the main tourist area in the town, featuring lots of specialty shops and a brick-paved street where no vehicle traffic is allowed. After touring a couple of fabric stores (very big with just about everything a fabric person could desire) Jerry and I coaxed the girls into getting something to eat. Note: Various websites tout that some 3,000 U.S. citizens visit Reynosa each day, I doubt that as we didn't see any other "norteamericanos" in the several hours that we visited the city. U.S. and Canadian citizens can be spotted by the "bullseye" painted on their backs, you know the big, red ones that read "I am an American or Canadian and everything is better back home; I have an attitude, and I'm only here to visit and laugh at your country and tell the homeboys about all the illicit things I did while I visited Mexico." I speak enough Spanish to get by and I try to blend in, but I really stood out as a "gringo." As relating to the aforementioned mentality, that type of behavior makes me ashamed to be a U.S. citizen. I have nothing but admiration for Mexico and the fine people that live there.

Unfortunately, lately, there has been a lot of drug trafficing in the lower Rio Grande Valley, as the Mexican government has jailed some of the kingpins, and their lieutenants are retaliating. There have been reports of Americans being killed or kidnapped and held for ransom. The new mayor or Reynosa, Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, disagreed and held a news conference across the border in McAllen, Texas, to let Americans know they're safe in Mexico. You can read the complete article, as I've copied it elsewhere within this webiste.

Jerry and Edna knew the place to eat, from previous visits, the "Taqueria Parasio" on the corner of Calle Hildago and Calle Matamoros, located in the main "tourist" area of the city. This place occupies the southeast corner of the block which is occupied by the enclosed mall, Mercado Zaragosa. There are over 100 business in the Mercado Zaragosa, ranging from restaurants to hardware stores and just about everything you could imagine.

Taqueria Paraiso is one of those semi-open type of restaurants in that it is pretty much enclosed except on the side that borders the sidewalk; it is open to the elements but shaded by an awning. It also affords an excellent view of the street; pedestrians, traffic and the weeds growing on the roof of the building across the street. If you are a people/thing/whatever watcher, this place is for you.

After an enjoyable wait of only a few minutes, our friendly server named "Teo" brought us our meal. There is only one way to describe the repast that we enjoyed: Delicious! What makes all these little-known restaurants in Mexico so good? I don't know the answer to that question, but what I do know is that the best food that I've ever tasted is food that I've eaten while travelling in Mexico. Figure that one out!

After lunch, Edna directed Sharlene to another fabric store on Calle Portirio Diaz, while Jerry and I hiked over to the town square, on busy Blvd. Zaragoza. As in many Mexican cities, Reynosa has a town sqaure, anchored by a large cathedrial at the north end. The town square also serves as a park, as it's nicely landscaped, has benches, restrooms and even a bandstand. It's also lined with "puestos" (small, semi-enclosed stands) and push-cart vendors selling just about anything you could want. I almost regretted eating lunch, as there were street vendors selling all sorts of tacos, tortas, menudo and roasted corn. If you love authentic Mexican food, it doesn't get any more authentic than the street vendors.

Edna ended up buying a bunch of fleece and a little white with red poka dot dress and matching hat for her granddaughter; I can't imagine a little girl being caught dead in that outfit. Sharlene bought a batman "wannabe" outfit for our grandson Paris; Jerry and I got to carry the booty back to the truck.

We drove out of downtown Reynosa and headed for "business" Federal Highway 2 which goes though the south side of town, leaving the small business, taco stands and junk yards that mark the outskirts of Reynosa behind. We stopped at the Star Mart where I purchased some smoky dried, chipotle peppers I planned to give my brother Michael a Mexican "care package" for his birthday.

We hiked back to the truck and, since it was getting late, decided to head home. We drove east on Federal Highway 2 and took a detour into the city Rio Bravo as I wanted to buy some "Cusano Rojo" mescal tequilla for local consumption. We knew the place to go; "La Victoria" grocery store, the home of the "dumb" security guard from the story a couple of days ago. I walked into the store, as everyone decided to stay in the truck, headed to the booze counter and immediately the same "dumb" security guard was there to assist me. He wasn't so "dumb" today as I told him what I wanted: Mescal. He escorted me to the cash register and I paid my $13.00 in U.S. funds for a $28.00 bottle of mescal if I had purchased it in the 'states.

We then headed back to the U.S. via Nuevo Pregreso and crossed the border without incident. Since we breezed through U.S. customs, and the tequila was so cheap, I didn't have much of a problem paying the Texas booze tax of $1.10 on the mescal.