(La Mesilla, Guatemala)

I have a love affair with border towns. They have a frontier air that is at once exciting and threatening. It beckons to you with the allure of adventure that lies on the exotic “other side.” La Mesilla is one such town that lies on the Guatemalan side of the Mexico-Guatemala border. This town is entirely contiguous with its Mexican cousin Ciudad Cuauhtemoc; one simply steps over a line in one town and appear in another country that is pretty much in the same town.

(La Mesilla, Guatemala)

La Mesilla seemed like a quintessential border town. It is a long strip of road with shops selling trading items – I suspect that this town takes advantage of price differentials between Mexico and Guatemala. Money changers prowl the street with a thick wad of notes. Some sidle up to me, whispering the name of the national currency “quetzal! Quetzal!”

(La Mesilla, Guatemala)

I find that exchange rates at border towns tend to be the best. I am not sure what explains this phenomenon but I would guess that the massive flow of money changing hands in this area encourages competition and allows traders to earn a quantity premium.