Guatemala and back in Mexico

 

One of the many volcano's along the Pan American Highway in Guatemala

I left El Salvador yesterday and headed for my other "dreaded border crossing" with Guatemala. As it turned out it needed not be. Its hard to figure. Coming down it came out to be $310, mostly from a corrupt official and handlers it seems. This morning I arrived early and again there was hardly anyone in line, or much of anything happening.

A young kid offered to help me, and I told him $5 and he seemed fine with it all. For some reason the young kids don't seem to be out for everything they can get like the older one's do. Their just happy when you give them something. He was one of the nicest I've had with all the borders. I wonder where he'll be in 10 years if he's still doing it. The nice thing with him too is he did both sides, the border coming out of El Salvador, and the one going into Guatemala. It makes it so much easier if the borders are close enough together where if your going to hire a handler you negotiate one time for both borders migration and customs. Instead of having to do it with one leaving and then getting to the next one and having to do it all again. Usually you should only need one for both, but sometimes their not needed for the other one, or physically the customs of each country it too far away from each other.

At any rate he helped me do my paperwork with the El Salvador immigration and customs which of course is free, just like entering the country is. Went to the Guatemala immigration who stamped my passport, and then on to their customs which did the paper work for my bike and gave me my permit for $10. That was it, it all took about 45 minutes and I was done. Total cost $15. The kid was so nice, he saw me off, we shook hands and for $5 to do both borders it was well worth it. Too bad the big borders aren't like this. The big borders on the Pan American Hwy. is where the adult handlers hang out, and if the kids try to take any of their work away from them they just won't allow it. Its too bad. If you can, hire a kid, and when the older guys come to shoo them off, tell them you hired them first. The problem is they'll probably make the kids pay them for taking you away from them in the first place, or who knows, maybe even get physical with them, their such crooks. But like my Honduras border this time thru, this was not the Pan American Highway crossing.  it was the La Hatchadura one. So it was less busy and easier to deal with. I got there early and things did seem to go better. I took the southern route because it was more convenient any way for the route I was coming and going on.

Guatemala was fairly uneventful crossing, unlike the last time where the road was closed for five hours and it took me all day to drive 150 miles. Since I changed maybe $10 at the border, (I changed $20 but 10 went to my vehicle permit), I wanted to get across and do my last border crossing into Mexico the same day. No stops in Guatemala.

My main memories of the crossing are of the impressive rows of volcano's that line the front range of mountains bordering the highway. One after another, some of them still smoking, all presenting a background to daily life here. One wonders wether it's tomorrow, or a thousand years from now, when the next time one will go off.

Also the heavy smell of molasses as you drive by big the sugar cane plants all in full production. Apparently December is harvest month for most fields, and they are already bare and harvested, or their stalks have flowers and look to be ready to harvest. The trucks heavily laden with cane creep down the highway towards the plants and must be negotiated with as your driving, their moving so slow. But their usually helpful and signal you when its clear to pass.

I remember briefly getting lost here or there and having to ask directions and thru arm gestures get the idea of which way to go. Anytime the highway goes thru a city of any size the odds of getting turned around or lost are good. After one such time I finally found my highway and I run into a race their having. This on the main road thru town, actually a freeway of sorts. There are runners and the police are following them holding up traffic as we're all following at a snails pace. I'm wondering why you would have a foot race right on your main freeway crossing your country during the day. But again like so often the answer down here seems to be, why ask why? Talk about pressure on the last runner, here there's a mile of backed up traffic right behind you. If you poop out, we all poop out! At this point we're all rooting for the last runner. The faster she can finish, the faster we can all get going again!

While most of the roads in eastern Guatemala are fairly good, the ones in the middle and western part are terrible. At one point I got behind 3 other bikers apparently from the states heading north it looked like, and watched them push their bikes and themselves on these roads to make time. Trying to pass on the right and on hills, I couldn't keep up with them. Which was fine, while I do want to make some time to get back before Christmas I don't need to push to do so. If anything these roads and the traffic down here will beat you up enough without trying to make time as well. That is a big adjustment to make down here. If you want to not just be driving all day, and you want to stop for some meals, and not drive after dark then 200 to 300 miles a day is about the best you can hope for. In fact if I come back and plan another trip that's about what I will plan on time wise. And if your going to stop and say see the pyramids then you need to plan your days off as well. To simply jump on your bike and go and figure things out as you go is fine, but one needs to a lot time for how far one can realistically travel in a day down here as opposed to other places.

Anyway my over all approach to travel, the planning, the places to stay, sites to be seen and coordinating it all with time and money are all part of the challenge of putting together a good trip. And as I'm understanding these things that I've never been necessarily good at (like organization and sticking to a schedule!), are essential factors in having a successful trip. All these things also become more difficult or at least put in a different context when one is engaged in long trips such as this, or crossing South America, or even going around the world. Which are other trips I weigh against this one and think about wether I would want to do them or not. The sights to be seen and what one really has time for actually takes a back seat to finishing the trip itself and having the time and money to do so when on a longer trip. So comparing distance traveling, to just touring in general one realizes the different goals involved and thus the different approaches. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. While I like the idea of covering great distances and getting a "feel" for the bigger lay of the land, in the end I think taking shorter trips that get more out of a certain area, its history and scenic spots etc. are in a way more appealing. But again, both have their advantages.

Before I approached the Guatemala Mexican border I stopped at the family diner I had stopped at before. The diner consisting of a tent, two picnic tables, and a fire pit for grilling with the whole family working the various talks. The father wasn't there and I ended up having a bowl of chicken soup and tortilla's. What should have been 2 or 3 dollars before, now was $5 with the mother charging me. I only had dollars on me, and felt again I had paid too much. But that's what she asked for, I should have bartered, just one more aspect of life down here to get good at. To know when and how much to barter for is the key. For her doing it before the meal would have been the time. But I thought I had already eaten there before, surely they would remember me and give me a good price wouldn't they? No, trust no one, barter for everything, and ask for everything you want, rules to live by......

So as I approached my last difficult border crossing, getting out of Guatemala and into Mexico I was hoping for an easy crossing. This whole area, from Guatemala into Mexico and vice versa is very confusing. This crossing which is by Mexico's town of Tapachula is so confusing. I knew I went thru Tapachula on my way into Guatemala, but I had no idea where that border was that I went thru. I assumed I would be going thru the same border crossing, only in reverse, I wasn't. As I approached from the opposite direction I came to a crossing guard that seemed to telling me I had to be going a different way. Its like I was coming in the reverse side, like the side that people coming out of Mexico and into Guatemala use. I needed to have my passport stamped out of Guatemala and my vehicle permit nullified. Instead I seemed to be in a place where they wanted to stamp me in, and give me a vehicle permit to enter, not leave. I thought I should have been at the place I should have been at when I came into the country 5 weeks ago, but wasn't, it was very confusingI if I was in the same place I was at when I entered Guatemala the first time I would have known where I was, but even though I was using the same highway going out as I had coming in, the customs buildings and immigration were totally different. Like the same highway had two sets of customs and migrations for both countries. If your confused now, you can imagine how I was. I just kind of knew I was in the wrong place to exit Guatemala, and no one spoke English.

Finally one guy offered to help, somewhat reluctantly I accepted, it was like here we go again. Another handler finds his way in. He walked me over to another building and they told him something that confirmed that I was at the wrong border. We walked back to the building we were just at and a friend of his told him we needed to be at another border crossing as well, and apparently offered his motorcycle to him so he could  lead me over to it on his bike. He asked me how much I paid to get in the first time. I told him over $300. He said this would cost me about $50. I told him I only paid $10 to get into the country this time. He said it was going to cost $50 to leave, and I suspected he was talking about handlers fees for the other guy helping me and him letting him use his bike. But for now we'd just have to wait and see.

Guatemalan countryside

The guy got on an incredibly slow moving bike and I followed him about five miles to a totally different customs and migration building. This was the one for people leaving Guatemala. And again it was totally different then the one I used when I entered the country the first time. Why the same entrance point should have two separate buildings and roads to them that do the same thing is beyond me. I didn't recognize any of it and I'm not sure I could have without help.

So after winding thru crowded streets we finally come to the immigration and customs building. His bike was so slow if I had known where I was going I would have left him a long time I go, but I didn't know where I was going and we finally get there. Immediately two other handlers join us to take me to the window to get my passport stamped out, and then we go to another window I think to get my vehicle paperwork stamped out and we're done. I tell the handlers I'm not paying anyone else any money and they get the idea and split. I also find a money exchanger at this point and change over $300 to Pesos at 12 Pesos per dollar. I was thinking I would have a hard time finding a bank in Mexico to do this so I would do it here. The exchange rate at banks is about 13.7 Pesos to the dollar. So on $300 I was taking a big hit. Like 30 to 40 dollars worth.  That's where the money exchangers make their money, and we lose ours. Its that one or two percentage points on the exchange rate. As it was there were a lot of banks open in the border town Tapachula and I could have done it there where they were relatively easy to find. Unlike interior towns where you often had to get off the highway and go looking for them. But of course I didn't know this at the time, and by me not wanting to do any more work in Mexico then I had to it would cost me some money. The thing is on the reverse side, in Texas the banks told me to go to the border exchange places since they offered a better rate of exchange then the banks. So go figure, its hard to know what to do half the time.

Of course the guy who brought me over, my new found handler who never even discussed a fee with me sees all this money get exchanged, so now he knows that I can afford to pay him some money as well. After we're done getting my vehicle permit canceled and he points me onto the Mexican side of the border crossing he wants to get paid. $50 is what he asks for, surprisingly enough. I tell him we never talked about any fee at all. I start out at $10 or $5 or something. Again I'm too soft. I know he borrowed a bike to drive this whole way hoping to get some money, and I'm trying to justify giving him more and avoiding conflict. We're sort of at a stand off now while some lady sitting on a bench is following this whole conversation, I don't know if she could understood English or not, but I'm sure she got the gist of our conversation. At any rate I finally tell him $20 and that's it. He seems to agree, I mean in the end what are they going to do? He's lucky to get anything really considering how they go about their business, hoping they get what they ask for. We shake hands and are done. Like all deals they do tend to end in handshakes. So if you want your handshake to mean something, make sure you feel like you got the bargain!

The other thing that really bothered me and I saw many times in Central America were homeless starving dogs. Many of them with broken legs and were just skin and bones. They have no animal shelters or humane society's down here. Though I did see a statue later in Mexico City of a dog with a broken leg. I wanted to take a picture but I was in heavy traffic. But I thought what a humane statue to have to remind people the plight of these animals, it really is horrible.

As I was leaving Guatemala and was between handlers, the money exchangers and the high heat, I saw a puppy come walking up, probably no more then 3 months old. It had a broken leg and was all skin and bones, it could hardly walk. I wish I had offered it water at the time or something, but like everyone else there I was under as much stress in ways. To think this dog will probably just starve to death on the side of the road is sort of hard to think of. Like how many children will die of the same thing today on this planet. And how separated are we from all this suffering that occurs all around us and remain oblivious to it. Its kind of hard to imagine. Later after I got back to Texas and I saw people hanging out in McDonalds, it was hard to relate in ways. The United States is so different in so many ways. For good and bad I guess, but the differences for anyone having spent time away from this country are striking. That dog and the total lack of help of any kind was just one example.

These two borders were the most confusing of the whole trip for some reason. Nothing was set up as the other ones were, and no one spoke English. The Mexican side was almost as confusing. The lady did stamp my passport out, but wanted to know how long I would be in the country, how long it would take to drive thru, and also couldn't take any money for anything. If there wasn't another lady from the states in line there that spoke Spanish I would not have known that I needed to find a bank to pay for my permit before I left the country  and also stop at immigration in Tapachula to get my vehicle permit. This is not what I wanted at all. To miss the immigration station somehow would mean I could lose my bike. And to find it meant driving around an unfamiliar town until I did find it. Just one more to me unnecessary hassle, everything could have been take care of at the border itself, instead giving me two more things to have to do after entering the country. I really just wanted to get thru and then drive into the night, as far away from the border as possible.

The good and bad news were both ahead of me, the good news was I had only one more border to cross and that would not be for 4 or 5 days. The bad news is I had a long ways to go to get to that border. Driving across Mexico is some of the most challenging driving I've done anywhere, and I know it was not going to be any easier going back then it was coming across the first time.

After I left the border still frustrated that I had to go find the immigration place somewhere in a strange town and if I missed it perhaps lose my bike, I made my way to Tapuchula. It like most of the towns I entered was easy to get lost in and it didn't take long to do it. I kept asking for directions and assumed by heading out of town, I would eventually come to customs before I could head out into Mexico. Then I could get my vehicle permit. Fortunately I was right. I soon came upon a traffic jam that was indeed immigration checking traffic. After gently being pushed in line by a car changing lanes I decide to just go to the side of the road and head to the front of the line. When I got there I discovered the immigration office where I got my paperwork done for the bike, I was also able to pay for my permit for me so I didn't have to look for a bank later. This time they charged my credit card $26 for my vehicle permit (coming in they charged me $30) and for me it was $20 (again coming in the first time it was $23). So who knows why it would be different each time but it was. But all in all Mexico did seem a lot more organized in ways and professional then almost any other Central American country I had  been in. Somewhat of a contrast to many of our perceptions of Mexico to begin with. And they certainly didn't tolerate handlers either and this was refreshing.

So I had finally taken care of everything to get back into Mexico and this seemed like such a big step in my return home. Now all I had to do was drive for 4 or 5 days, no more borders! I ended up driving 400 miles total that day all the way from where I started in El Salvador that morning, well into the Mexican night. The last  200 miles of Mexican Highway going towards Tapachula are some of the best in Mexico. I had no fear of driving late into the night. I wanted to get well within the border my first night.

Eventually I found a hotel, one  of the nicest on my whole trip, and it was only 1800 Pesos, or about $15. It was very clean and also inspired me to start my practice of Tai Chi again. Gentle stretching exercises  that are actually a Chinese martial art that I have practiced on an off since I lived in Alaska. Done twice a day they are a great benefit both physically and mentally. In this atmosphere and being on the road alone and in a routine it seemed and easy time to start my practice again. It also made me think of living in New Mexico or the southwest for awhile and knowing the change could be quite good for me, physically and mentally. Plus being able to drive my bike year round another plus. Anyway all these thoughts came to me as I was starting my way back across Mexico, The feeling of making it on a very difficult trip came to me again, I appreciated a again just how difficult this trip has been in ways, and also sort of like easy rider and Peter Fonda, it felt kind of neat to be living a dream in a way. While I have a lot to learn to be able to travel comfortably south of the border, or at least get a lot more out of it, I still was doing it, and it was still sort of hard to imagine what I had done and was doing. By the grace of god and a lot of help in different ways, I was like an old cowboy making his way thru the wild west, or just a modern day traveler on a motorcycle who not at all unlike any other traveler thru out history or time,  just wanted to push and challenge himself, and see what was on the other side of that ridge, mountain or ocean.

As I contemplated navigating Mexico I realized too some of the personal changes in my life I needed to navigate as well after returning from this trip. None of them being easy, but all of them necessary to some degree for personal growth. I realized again how getting so far away from what most of us look at as normal on a daily basis gives us a different view of ourselves and our country and also helps us keep track of what is important to us all, which usually starts with our faith itself and our family. To find one's self thru the maize of relationships and distractions with work and life itself, to try to become whole and hopefully arrive at some sort of balanced perspective with life itself is no small task. To some degree that is one of the goals of this site, and in trying to do so hopefully will help enable myself and maybe you reading this to achieve some of that as well. For are we all not all on a constant journey, even when we think we're not?

So the name freedomthrumovement describes to some degree what physical movement can do for our mental and spiritual movement as well. And hopefully by changing our perspective thru movement we find some freedom from our believes and ways of seeing and relating to the world which hold many of us hostage on a daily basis. Thru diet, excercise, travel, or maybe a good roll in the hay! Anything that gets us outside of ourselves can be a positive thing......

Where the body goes, the mind follows, where the mind goes, the spirit follows..... old spiritual teaching

Life within the shadows of the volcano's

In my next log my return across Mexico begins.....