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.....

 

Guatemala the beginning of Central America

And memories of an old friend

Well I survived the night in front of the suspiciously large mirror on the wall, the room with locks on the outside of the doors, and the proprietor carrying around a shot gun as he checked his "guests" in. He was there to greet me as I left, and check the room to make sure I didn't take anything. As I left he just stood their staring, I wasn't going to ask him if there was anything else.....

I was on the road by 6:00 am. I had finally gotten up at 5 and packed and was ready at first light. Little did I know I might as well have slept in. I was not more then a half hour down the road in the morning rush hour (there are some disadvantages to getting on the road early) when I came upon a traffic jam. I had to stop along with everyone else and wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. After about an hour and a half I decided to go see if I could find a bank since I was low on Quetzales (Guatemalan money). I was told it it would only take 4 or 5 hours to cross the country so I didn't change much over, unfortunately both gas and the room were more then I had expected and as it looked I was not going to have much to spare to get across.

An old abandoned VW at the side of the traffic jam

So taking advantage of this traffic jam I went to get something to eat and also look for a bank. For me without speaking Spanish very well, banks have always been hard to locate down here. And really there just isn't that many to begin with and the ones there are are usually buried inside of a town or village with very narrow nameless streets and only hand gestures to guide you from people you ask.

Well I did go into a village, I soon found myself on narrow uneven bricked streets that were crowded. I went a ways, but soon realized I probably wasn't going to find it and I was having a hard time trying to turn around and even come back the way I had come. I did ask one guy but he just pointed back the way I had come and I decided to try to find one later.

I stopped at a family diner (it was a tent tarp over a kitchen with a big fire pit going to cook food with two tables set up for customers) where two young girls were the waitresses. It looked like the dad, mom, and grandmother all worked there as well. The girls giggled that I didn't speak Spanish, and the way my morning was going I really didn't feel like being laughed at as well. You can tell I'm a little sensitive about now.

The father intervened and I pointed to what I wanted, roasted chicken, beans, rice and tortillas, with a bottle of very cold water. I was suddenly in heaven, or at least satisfied. I can eat roasted chicken, rice and beans with tortillas every day. Its a great protein meal, without much fat and just very simple. I used to eat it all the time when I drove a cab in Alaska years ago and worked for a Mexican who owned a restaurant called El Pollo Rollo, or Red Chicken. For five dollars you could have a huge plate of chicken, beans and tortillas, with a coke it was just what I wanted. Here I sat down and had the same thing except with water and was totally happy. The grandmother came over and looked at my bike and smiled. I ate it all and felt good, and of being cooked food I didn't have to worry about any side effects.

For me the big chores of travel on this trip have been finding food that I not only know what it is off of a menu, but is safe and I like. And also as mentioned finding banks to exchange money, sometimes finding gas (not very often), drinkable water, and a decent hotel room. These are like all part of the daily routine that has to be done, and how hard it is to find these things often determines how a big part of my day is going to go.

Well I didn't find the bank but I did find something to eat, and it was really good. And the family was really nice and the whole meal came to about $4. And you know as I'm learning down here. if I had wanted more they would have been glad to give it to me and not charge any extra for it.

Road is still closed, this bus ends up turning around and leaving.

Ok so its been a little over an hour and I go back to my place in the traffic jam and sit again. It has been about three hours now, and there is nothing to do but just sit and wait, and watch the legendary Guatemala buses and vans fly by packed to the brim with people. Mostly young men standing where the open sliding door is on the van because the rest of the van is so full. Then you have the brightly painted old school buses as well. They all go flying up to the head of the line, where ever that is, and then come flying back down blowing their horns the whole way. In Mexico it was the big buses and trucks who drive crazy, here its the smaller local buses. It doesn't matter the situation, how many cars are coming at them, or anything else, they go just as fast as they can and rely on their horn to clear the way. It is crazy, but I came to realize the chances they take, and the way people ride on them and all, its amazing their aren't more accidents then there are. In fact its really a testament to how good of drivers they really are that there aren't more accidents. Its not that their bad drivers, its that their crazy drivers. I really haven't ran into too many bad drivers since I've been down here.

So finally five and a half hours after the jam started, the road opens and we start moving again. This takes half the people by surprise, except me I'm ready to go. Many of them are still way off the road sleeping in their cars or trucks.

The whole time this is happening I'm wondering what could possibly close a road for over 5 hours, it must have been a horrible accident, or perhaps a mudslide, maybe I'll be delayed for days, etc. Well we get up to where it was closed, it looks like there have been fires made across the road in two different places about a hundred yards a part, now there is just ashes left, I drive over them, and thru a bunch of people standing around, and that is it, nothing else. It looks like maybe they had a festival, or celebration or something. I don't know but I am so glad to be moving again. The lines of trucks coming from the other way are miles long.

On the road again in Guatemala

The day turns long and hot, with some bad roads, those never ending speed bumps, and pretty heavy traffic. The drivers here continue to be as aggressive as or even worse then in Mexico. The buses passing, even on corners, coming from the other way are unnerving to say the least. One of them barely misses me going the other way, I had to slow down to let them complete their pass. Another one comes and I have to completely get to the side of the road or get hit. Luckily the shoulder is paved and smooth. If I had not had two hands on the handlebars I think some sort of obscene gesture would have been in order. At this point I think again of Guardian Angels and passed friends who must be looking out for me.

I get to the last big city before the border with El Salvador, Escuintla, and use all my Guatemalan money to fill up my gas tank. It looks like I will have enough gas to get to the border. While getting gas a fellow walks up speaking English and wants to know about my trip. He's from California and spends winters in Guatemala. It is nice to speak some English, and he reassures me that most gas stations do take visa if I need it. I've been trying not to use credit cards because I'm afraid of international charges, but its nice to know.

I make the El Salvador border in an hour or so, the roads are great the traffic light. As usual the conditions change at a moments notice, and what's strange too is the roads are often best, newest and best maintained right by the borders, where most of the countries population doesn't get to use them. I found this true in several countries.

Some local Guatemalans at the river, I waved to them, and they waved back, but I wasn't sure what they were doing.

Ok so I've been without water for awhile now, having been out of Guatemalan money, not wanting to change American. And I know the dollar in El Salvador is one of their currencies, and I'm at the border. Its been a long, hot, dusty and dry day, I've covered all of about a hundred and fifty miles, and I've been up and on the road since 6 a.m. not a blistering pace. All I want is to get thru the border fairly fast and get some water and a place to stay.

A high bluff just before the Guatemalan and El Salvador Border

I get to the border and pay a handler maybe $20 in all to get me thru, another guy a $1, and then ended up waiting nearly two hours to get in. I am so hot and tired, I'm just sitting there sweating and an armed guard is watching me like I might just explode, I'm sort of disgusted at the moment. Finally the guy behind the desk gives me my paper, and I'm done. I pay the handler and I'm off. This was the cheapest and easiest border of them all. They even had a sign on the wall saying not to feel obligated to have someone handle your papers for you. They are more then happy to help tourists. They also gave a number to call if you have problems. I wanted to take a picture of those signs, but wasn't sure how that would be viewed by the guard. I was ready to leave.

As I was driving out into what was now the El Salvadorian night and the last check point into the country, there was a tree, right by the side of the check point and a street light, and there must have been a hundred very large bats, with two feet wing spans flying all over and around this tree, I had to drive right thru them almost they were so low to the ground. It was like they were hunting in a pack or something and were everywhere around us. It didn't seem to be out of the ordinary to any of the border people, just this gringo.

The bike was holding up better then me at times.

I drove about an hour into the night to Acajutla, the nearest place with a hotel and water to the border, and settled down for the night. If there was a day on this trip where I thought about drinking some beers, this was it. But I haven't drank for awhile, and wasn't going to start now. What a day, but I was in El Salvador, one country closer to Costa Rica....

As I got to and passed thru Guatemala, I could not help but think of my old friend Debbie Cole, later to change her name to Debbie Cole Epstein after she married Mike and had Jake and Elijah her two sons. For her friends and family Debbie passed on way too soon, and left a hole in many of our lives when she did.

I met Debbie in Alaska back in 1978 and I always remember her talking about the time she spent in Guatemala, and how much it had affected her. To Debbie I think Guatemala represented so many things she cared deeply about, and gave her passion. Whether it was women's or civil rights, the poor being victimized by the rich, or just the depth and the vibrant colors of a country so different then our own. I think, in a way Guatemala was as much a part of her as Alaska was, where she lived for so long, or maybe even Massachusetts where she spent most of her life.

There's that Indian saying I love so much, it says "there are no goodbye's", and also one that says ,"there's no endings only beginnings". I wonder as that bus came around that corner today and almost ran me off the road if Debbie or even my mother weren't there to lend a helping hand. I don't doubt it, perhaps now they spend their time painting rainbows......

Organized Crime at the Border and its,

Better to be an honest drunk, then a dishonest holy man......Yogi Bajhan

River close to the Guatemalan Mexican border

I felt like I made it! This was a big step, getting into the Central American Countries themselves. This feels like the second leg can now start. Just getting thru customs itself was a huge hurdle. A first step to this part of the journey.
The place I staid last night was ok, at least it felt safe. Now in Guatemala everything feels a little different, maybe some early judgements on my part, but my experience at the border left me very skeptical, tired, and feeling like I just got taken to the cleaners, and this by what I thought was a sanctioned government official......
Anyway the trip this morning was probably the best of the whole time south of the border. The roads were very good, few speed bumps or construction. In fact most of the trip from Tapanatapei ( as usual the towns don't have signs telling you what they are, and the map is so small I can barely read it, even with glasses, so I hope this is right ) was 4 lanes. The whole feeling sort of changed too. A little more modern, cleaner brighter clothes,(of course it was Sunday) and the Sierra Madre Chiapas are well worth the view. Of any place I've seen so far in Mexico this area with it huge mountains, almost like the Rockies, and its fast flowing rivers thru granite boulders, reminded me of Banff in Alberta Canada as well. And while I'm unsure of the access to a lot of this range, or the hiking or camping options, of all the places in Mexico it seemed the most capable of recreational activities. I even saw some cyclist's with modern riding gear who gave me a thumbs up.
I continue to see more VW Bugs. The older models before they discontinued them, 60's and 70's models. Also three wheeled bicycles with the two wheels in front and a place to sit. Apparently taxis, peddled ones. Later at the Guatemala border there were many motorized ones running as taxis.
I also saw lizards on the road as I wizzed by at 60 mph's. One which I think I hit, came running out into the road on his hind legs! The other scurried off on all fours, both were about a foot long. Another animal on the road looked like a cross between a rat, a skunk, and a possum. It had a rats tail, a white and black spotted fur like a skunk, and the head of a possum. It was the size of a large rat. So many new creatures down here, I can't wait to see my first tarantula!

There have been buzzards the whole way since Texas. Their really the most populous bird I continue see. They circle up high and join what may be bald eagles hunting along the highway, probably for road kill. With locals also coming out and walking the highways ane searching the medians and ditches for what I'm not sure, there isn't any returnable bottle law that I'm aware of down here.
It was also very hot, I put on skin protection about 3 times with my face shield and sun glasses which seemed to help. I was getting baked yesterday and today on my face, even with SP30. Temperatures had to be in the mid 90's with heavy humidity. I wear a sweat shirt, pants, and gloves to help protect me from the tropical sun while I'm riding. My face is mainly what's exposed. All the clothes aren't bad when I'm moving, but as soon as I get in traffic or have to stop, I become drenched in sweat. Its worth it for the protection from the sun.
I saw a prison today too, it looked like an old concrete, barbed wired, dirty almost crumbling structure. There was a Police station and check point out by it on the highway. Otherwise I would have taken a picture, perhaps another time.

My middle finger was so swollen last night I could barely sleep for awhile. Its from all the clutch work on those roads and speed bumps. Its just constant, hundreds of times a day. Today wasn't too bad, but Guatemala looks like its going to be more of the same. I want to get on the road as early as possible tomorrow.

This hotel about 40 miles from the Mexican border doesn't feel very good, like the worst I've staid at yet. The guy who apparently runs the place was in the court yard with a shot gun. He's was walking all over earlier with it, even by my window, this place seems weird., but the reality is many places do have armed guards in Central America, houses are guarded with barbwire fences, locked gates, and all kinds of security. When I pulled in it was about to get dark and rain, so I didn't have a lot of choice. How many times would you rent from a proprietor that has a shot gun at his side, in fact holding it while you give him the money, 150 Quetzales, or about $30. For other customers it may make them feel safer. It just makes me feel uneasy.

I probably paid too much, I have to get better at haggling, or at least start trying it. Like when I was in Costa Rica earlier this year, and not knowing the language, the culture, anything, I would leave my hotel room each day with the idea of how much money I can save by being prudent, and not just paying the first price that comes along. And then at the end of the day reflect on what could have been done differently and what actually saved me money. This is really how a lot of international travel needs to be approached, and of course its how most people in the world have to approach their day every day.
After I get all my gear up in my room I am dying for some water, and I was going to go down to the gas station and buy some a hundred yards down the road but it sounds like there's people partying outside my room and I'm sure the one guy still has his gun.
The guy who took my money originally didn't speak much English, ( probably because my Spanish was so bad!) then he did seem to understand, and now I just noticed there is a lock on the outside of the door coming into my hotel room, but not going out! Yes this place is a little weird. Hopefully that's as far as it goes, however the wall size mirror sitting across from the bed makes one think differently. I would have went out for water, but not being able to lock anything up I just don't want to risk it.

Organized Crime at the Border

Ok my great border experience. I'm not even into Tapachula yet, the last big town before the border and there is a guy with a badge waiving me down. He says he works with the Guatemalan border and will help me go thru all the necessary paperwork. Fortunately I read in Dr. Frazier's "Riding South" book how he handled it some 10 years ago. This was sort of the only guide I had to go by.
So I have a good idea its a good idea to pay a small handling fee to someone to expedite the process. And for some reason Sunday is suppose to be a very bad day to cross. More expensive and it takes longer. Though what Dr. Frazier paid and what I paid seem quite far apart. Except today I'm paying for five countries at once, which I'm told is because now there is an international permit. And to verify this to myself I had read on the State Dept.'s site that in 2004 or so, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua became G-4 countries so that you only needed to buy one permit and get stamped in once to travel thru all countries. I am planning on this information to be accurate. Instead of back then when you had to pay for each one as you went thru, causing a lot more time, and put together, probably almost as much money, though I can't wait to get some feed back from others who have gone thru, because if it turns out to be too much I will probably send a letter to the embassy or whoever about it with the receipts.
In retrospect I don't know how anyone could get thru all the procedures and paper work without knowing Spanish. On exiting one country the vehicle permit must be canceled, passport stamped for leaving one country,apparently stamped for entering the next. A new permit for oneself and the bike for the next country, as well as the bike being sprayed around the tires with a pesticide for mosquitos. This I was later told was probably just water! Every procedure comes with some cost, everything, even the smallest of things, like a dollar to get a passport stamped...There's handlers fees which include bribes and finally paying someone to watch my bike.

For me my goal was to get across the border today, Sunday, and get it over with. Joel the guy who's helping me says no vehicle permits will be issued for 2 days after today because of holidays. All saints day or something. The day of the dead....maybe the day of the naive!
I feel lucky because after all this, and as long as its going to take, if the roads were anywhere near as bad as they had been yesterday I probably would have got here too late, and not been able to cross until Wednesday! According to Joel.. Again my feeling is, this is such a big step of the trip, no matter what it costs, I just want in, one step closer to Costa Rica......An attitude that will cost me more then I think.
First Joel takes me across the street after I park my bike, to an office where the guy is going to cancel my vehicle permit for Mexico so I don't get charged the import fee after 30 days. OK, so he does that and then tells me he collects U.S. change and shows me some quarters. Ok I think he's going to buy some from me, but just takes two quarters and Joel says lets go. I'm thinking of Dr. Greg's story again that you just have to expect bribes all along the way here. Well 50 cents doesn't seem too bad..............I'm dumbly thinking this is cool I'm in on all the things you hear about, living the alternative life, whatever, its hard not to sort of get high or as Grant Johnson who with his wife lived on the road on their motorcycles for ten years said, " get addicted to this motorcycle travel life". So I need to keep this in perspective I keep telling myself. I am also not 19 anymore and the thrill of a whole new experience is not there the same way it might have been in my youth. Here I feel I have a lot of time and money invested in this trip with some sort of schedule to stay with, and I'm hoping just to get thru what ever way I can and make the whole trip work. A characteristic of my youth was certainly not worrying about tomorrow, getting high on today, or at times maybe whatever that might find its way my way!

As Danaan Perry said in one of his spiritual way tapes as we moved away from the psychedelics, the extreme highs and the extreme lows of the 60's and 70's. Those methods of getting high just weren't doing it for us anymore, and for him at least they were replaced by a sense of expanding from where we were at, instead of all the ups and downs, that came with trying to get high, and then having to deal with the lows. I can only say too, that some of the motivation of doing drugs back then was a desire to feel, and be different then what we saw around us. A lot of it was just hippie stuff, some made it out of it ok, others didn't. Some of us are still working thru it all.

While I was more of a child of the 70's, not the 60's, a lot of what teachers from that time talk about have resonance with me, also part of it is growing older. Things change, what we use to like to do no longer holds our interest, and that's ok.This trip is not a wild ride back into youth, in fact in many ways its a way of trying to accomplish things I couldn't do in youth. Things like planning ahead, measuring the risks and the rewards, knowing to a large degree what I want out of this trip, and doing it. I know in ways I am not any happier doing it this way then how I use to travel as a "care free youth". The younger self, and the older self, in a sense want the same thing, "freedom", they just go about it in different ways.

Many different quotes come to mind from various teachers thru the years, I'm not going to mention all the sources here, but they all hold the truth that the true source to happiness does not lie in our own efforts, or even our own dreams. Something I think most of us sense as we're wrapped in all our plans for the future, and even me with the apparent exoticness of this new, old situation for me.

"Let go and let God"........"Love yourself first"......, "No resistance"....., God is the answer to every problem, and the problem to every answer"......, "The purpose to life is knowing yourself and treading the lower path in a liberating way". Its been a long time since there was anything new under the sun, but, at the same time every moment is brand new and will never come back. As I remember Ram Dass saying once in one of his books, "you have all the time in the world, but don't waste a minute".

On some level I'm thinking of all this as I give Joel a ride on the back of my motorcycle the 10 miles or so to the Guatemalan border. On my bike that has absolutely no room for a rider, suddenly takes one. With me almost riding on the tank, and Joel riding behind me, we navigate the rough roads to the border, and the ensuing den of organized crime!

Before we left the Mexican border we had to make copies of everything at one of the stores. My passport, registration, drivers license and title. And yes they always asked me if it was the original title, and I always said yes...Just like Greg said to do in his book. If you take out the original, by the end of the trip it will be in shreds.
They also tell me if I hadn't used my credit card I could have gotten the $30 back that I paid for for my vehicle permit. But they won't reimburse me with a credit card! Something the guy at the Mexican Border purposively asked for.
The thing is during this whole experience its hotter then hell, I'm trying to carry my tank bag, helmet and gloves with me, and continue to fumble thru and find what they keep asking me for. Basically its all in the tank bag, but every move make I'm surrounded by four or five guys looking at my every move ( after we get to the border), waiting to exchange money, or give me advice or lord knows what. It was really hard to concentrate on exactly what was happening, getting the title, drivers license, copies out, vehicle permit from Mexico, my passport, etc. All multiple times, at different windows, usually on the street, surrounded by guys, in terrible heat and crowds.
Well ok so we get to the Guatemalan Border, I'm sweating like crazy Joel has already told me if anyone asks to exchange money don't do it, we'll take care of that later. In fact don't stop for anyone. Ok so I guess I decided to go the whole way with Joel. No other choice really that I knew would be better. So we drive by the hordes trying to get us to stop and I don't which makes them very mad.
So the first thing I have to do is park the bike and a guy tells me I need to go into a building with my passport, and he tells Joel to leave, or go across the border or something. I get the idea then that Joel has a place, but he is down there in rank.... Maybe way down there. I go in find a line and the lady stamps my passport. I ask about my bike and she points up the street, I have to go farther I guess to the border. I think she's stamping me into Guatemala, but in reality she stamping me out of Mexico! I thought you did that when you came in, not when you left. I guess she did check my permit for me in Mexico too, but that was it. So I find out later I need a stamp for Guatemala, 10 Quetzales, about $1.50 I think, just for the stamp.
Ok that's done, we had parked the bike down an alley where I was surrounded by 4 or 5 guys, and I thought well this is it, I'm in an alley they can do whatever they want to me. However the first place we checked was closing in a half hour, I guess they did permits. They were set up in the end of this alley in front of a fenced in parking area . Can you imagine our customs doing business in the back alley with private street guys running the in between for them. That's the thing we were just a hundred yards away from the entrance gate and all that. Even Mexico didn't run their border this way.
So ok Joel's going to find someone else to do it. He says wait here. A few minutes later he comes back, tells me to take the key, but leave the bike, these 3 guys are going to watch it. I take my tank bag that has all my important stuff in it. Before we leave though what appears to be a customs guy comes down the alley to check my bike. He, or thru Joel asks me to tell him what is in the bags, any weapons, or drugs I assume he asks Joel, I tell him no, and he asks me if there's any computers. I tell him I have a laptop and Joel just says no to the guy, and he walks off.
This alleys about 6 ft wide, and it seems strange, but when you see how narrow the street is that runs thru the gates, I guess they need every spare space they can get and it makes sense why the procedures are done here and there, and everywhere they can find a space. Or really where the handlers can all run their business!
Ok so now we're on our way to see the guy who is going to clear my paper work and get my permits. He is not on an alley, but is down in sort of subway entrance and there is little offices with one computer and a desk . All in these open little spaces. The guy kind of reminds of Skinner in the X-Files. Looks real business and professional like. He looks at everything gives me a price, between him and Joel who's interpreting for me they tell me it will be $243, U.S., to get my bike in. I like go over it several times, making sure they did it right. 10 years ago I'm thinking Greg did it for $40, plus a $10 fee to the handler and a couple dollars to the guy who watched the bike. At least at one border this is what he paid. Supposedly this will be good for all six countries. We'll see I guess, but at that rate, while expensive it would be about what Greg paid. But he felt he was really getting ripped off...Another guy had paid $10 to get in at that time. I didn't have much choice, I didn't have anything to compare it too, had never been here before so I just paid it. All I had was 50's so I game him five of them. He said he owed me $7 and would be back. He also said he was doing it for 42 days, I asked for ninety, and I think he gave it to me. I don't see anywhere on the receipt how long its good for.
So he leaves, and its me and Joel and another guy who we picked up somewhere after Mexico stamped me out. We're all just sitting there waiting for Skinner to get back. Then another in between guy comes in, its his day off and he drunk. He decides to sit down and say and ask the same questions over and over. I think about asking him if he's ever heard of AA, but I think better of it.
So an hour goes by and we're all still there. Those guys get up to leave, get some food, check on the bike, whatever. Before they go I ask Joel how much for everything? Trying to nail down how much more this is going to be, and how much money I should exchange to Guatemalan currency. Finally he says if I give him $50 that will take care of the permit for me, the spraying of the bike, his fee, and that's it. So I give him another $50 plus $50 more to exchange for me into Guatemalan currency. He says that's it, don't pay anyone any more. Somewhere here, I offered more money then I should have, I know it. But I'm trying to get it all squared away so I know exactly what its all going to cost. He tells me we're square, I ask him about the guy watching my bike for what turns out to be 3 hours. He says just throw him $5. I'm thinking he should pay him out of his money, but all these guys want their money.
So they leave to exchange money, and the drunk guy comes back with a beer for each of us. I tell him no I don't drink. He sort of thinks I don't want to drive and drink, and is ok with that, that seems smart. However he won't stop talking, and I'm ok with this for about an hour and a half, but in this case he's just talking at me, not with me.
So just after Skinner takes off Joel comes back and says they went to lunch, whoever they are and it shouldn't be too long.. We wait, and wait, and the guy keeps getting drunker, and Joel's waiting there with us, and the other guy. Then he goes to get something to eat, they order me something and deliver it, fried chicken and fries of all things. Hadn't seen either in my travels in Mexico. And a Pepsi, so at least I get to eat. The other two guys take off, but you know who stays, the drunk guy. I can't even eat and he's still talking to me. Now I'm starting to get annoyed. If anyone at my job showed up on their day off, drunk, and tried to run the whole show, they'd be fired, period. Or sent to rehab. What's worse is we've been waiting now for almost two hours for these guys to get back from lunch with my paper work. Boy they didn't need to go to lunch before they took my $250.
On top of that the drunk is telling me I shouldn't have paid more then forty dollars! I'm getting madder and madder waiting, thinking they have everything. My passport, my title, my $250, and when the border closes when ever that is for the night It will be closed for two days, and I'll have to wait.
So Joel finally comes back and tells me my bike is fine, gives me my exchange money which he actually did earlier, says they should be done with lunch soon. I ask him what time the border closes for the night, and he says four o'clock, and its three now!
Ok this is no longer a fun exercise in patience anymore. Joel can tell I'm getting a little stressed, meanwhile the drunk keeps asking me the same questions and calling me his bestest of Amigo's. Joel sits down and I tell him that the guy told me I had way over paid. I asked him did I? He really didn't give me an answer, perhaps because partly its out of his control, but I don't think he undercharged for his role in it.
So he gets up and leaves and comes back with Skinner, who promptly halls the drunk guy out to be admonished I think. I'm thinking good, maybe we are finally rid of him for awhile. After all its your office, do you always allow guys to sit at your desk and drink beer while you conduct business? Well he may have admonished him but he came right back in and left off where he was.
At this point I think Joel said an hour, and I said the border closes in an hour. He then said twenty minutes and left. Then Skinner came back and said one momento. Well that sounded better, after two hours we were finally getting some action. Right, so now its down to the wire. Joel wants to go pick up the bike and get it sprayed we have to get cracking. Of course the drunk guy is with me every step of the way, I really should have just told him to please leave me alone for awhile, I kept hoping he would leave, but he didn't.
We get to the bike and there's 3 guys watching it. Like everything Joel is saying hurry hurry, can't wait. I tell the one guy follow us and I'll pay you. So we get to the sprayer, the guy sprays the bottom of the bike. I give the guy $5 to watch the bike like Joel said, I also remember Greg had given his guy $2 10 years ago. It didn't sound fair at all, and the guy said he wanted twenty. I asked Joel thinking these guys work together, but I'm sure its everyone for themselves out here, which is too bad. I thought the guy looked honest, and he did what he was told. I was just feeling burned by it all. Mean while the drunk is still in my face talking about what who knows. The whole time he followed me, even to this point. I give the guy another five and he says he wants $20. I tell him I've just paid way too much as it is, and I point to Joel. That's it, and of course Joel is yelling at me to go to the next window, move the bike again. And of course the drunk is still right there next to me.
Skinner comes running up with my paper work, I forget to ask him about my $7 in change. He's too far away anyway and is gone right away.I go to the window and sign a paper and go back to bike to wait. Joel says I'll need my drivers license. I start looking for it and can't find it anywhere. In all the confusion I have no idea where it is. I have so much different paper work and money to keep track of I'm going thru everything right there on my bike, but I can't find it. Mean while the drunk guy who was also at the window wanting to take over and sign the papers for me, and then complain is at the bike still talking. I'm just about losing it now, and Joel asks if I'm alright. Its like I'm ok, but why can't you get this drunk away from me for five minutes! I can't lose my license, what a hassle that would be to get a new one, and have it sent to Costa Rica. And what if I got pulled over before then? No matter I can't find it anywhere, and now they say I don't need it.
At one point I give my 4 year AA coin to Joel and tell him to give it to that guy. I wasn't going to bring it up but I was so pissed at him at that moment, I thought well maybe when he sobers up he'll look at it. Joel wants to keep it and make a necklace out of it.
Ok so a guy comes out with my final paperwork and checks the vin# and everything and says I'm all set. The guard at the gate in a rather snazzy uniform opens the gate and lets me in. Almost like the gatekeeper in the Wizard of Oz now that I think about it.
My entourage of four is still with me, I take one last look at the guy who watched my bike and I feel bad for him, I tell him again I'm sorry. He reminds me of a migrant worker I worked with on a farm one time. Sort of gentle and honest, but at the moment pissed. Of course so am I and I feel the same way he does. About the only guys who came out well was Joel and Skinner. For Joel this is his only job, and probably his only way to make money, I wasn't too hard on him. He also told me he has a wife and kid. But for the paper processor, Skinner, it seemed like he was probably really calling the shots. And to just let all these guys bring in people like me, and get a cut yourself, while most of them, like the guy who watched my bike got almost nothing. I guess its just they way things are done, even Joel said it was too bad, and not right. But the government gets most of it, I'm not sure about that either. If it was in the U.S. I might agree.
So everybody walks me thru the gate and into Guatemala, I do have to say one thing they were there for the whole ride. Right up until we all shook hands and said farewell.
Joel asked me one more time if I wanted to exchange anymore money, I said I was pretty sure I had enough. Again hard to not question the motives. And then I again told him to give the AA coin to his coworker, and explained what AA is how it can help people to quit drinking, or maybe just find god....... Joel seemed to understand and gave it to him.The guy doesn't even understand English, but perhaps one day he'll learn what it says and is suppose to mean, who knows.

Its better to be an honest drunk, then a dishonest holy man...... Yogi Bajhan

In retrospect the most honest person I dealt with at the border was the guy who was drunk. He's the one who told me the truth, over and over and in a way tried to help, even when he was drunk and ended up just getting in the way. Thru my pre' judgements of him, the situation, the others who weren't drunk, the uncomfortable heat, and my desire to get thru regardless of the cost, I really missed an opportunity to listen to him and then try to do something about it. Its funny, its like in all that confusion, and organized crime, God sends an honest drunk to me to tell the truth. And its true, drunks really can be the most honest and caring people (its often why they drink so they can feel that way), especially when their drunk. And the professionals, the clergy men, the wolfs that hide in sheep's clothing are the ones to watch out for. As Yogi Bajhan said, " it really is better to be an honest drunk, then a dishonest holy man".There are lessons for us everyday, we just have to know where, and how to look.
So that was my experience at the border. (on one level no more real or less real then any other experience). I knew is was not going to be easy. It took almost 4 hours and $310. But I'm in Guatemala tonight, and that's what I wanted. And hopefully the other borders, like they say, won't be as hard....
Warm thoughts to Debbie, Guatemala has always made me think of you, or vice versa.

The road gets a little shaky for awhile

Puente is the Spanish word for bridge,

not river as I mentioned in an earlier post