I headed southeast to Cuauhtemoc/La Mesilla border crossing. A fairly rainy day across the mountains along the frontera, but not too cold and not too much rain.
You will see Mexican Emigracion and Aduana (customs) on your left as you enter the border zone. The procedure to check out of Mexico was easy and took all of 15 minutes. The you have to drive through the border area for several miles before you get to the Guatemala offices. The problem is that you first have to navigate your way through a muddy market area complete with people clogging the streets to get to the Guatemala offices. Once you get through most of that, you will see a guy on your right waving you over for the bike to get fumigated. That costs 12 Quetzales, or about a buck and half. Conveniently, there are money changers right there that will exchange your Pesos for Quetzales. You will get a crappy rate, but its best to change your money here with the changers because I have not yet found a bank in Guatemala that will exchange Pesos.
My advice, leave San Cristobal with a minimum of Pesos. The following pic is just as you get through most of the market area in no mans land, and the Guatemala offices are just to the right of the Alto sign. Fumigation, immigration, and customs and the bank to pay your fees are all right next to each other. You wont get more than 10 steps away from your bike the whole time and besides that, there are armed guards right where you park your bike. Nobody is going to mess with it.
OK, so the quick and dirty: pull up to the Guatemala offices, change money without even getting off the bike, get fumigated for 12 Quetzales, get your tourist visa, get your vehicle permit, pay 40 Quetzales then you are on your way. for a total of $6.50 and at most a hour of your time, you are officially in Guatemala. No helpers are needed or even available. This is a very chill crossing and highly recommended, but as always YMMV.
Looking back into no mans land toward Mexico.
While I was checking the bike in country I ran into Bernadette. She is originally from Ghana but now lives in Holland. I met her several months ago while surfing in Rio Nexpa, Michoacan. She speaks five languages and is a genuine pleasure to be around. Small world when you’re traveling.
The first thing I noticed about Guatemala was the amount of trash lying around. Quite a bit more trash everywhere than in Mexico. However it is a beautiful country and the highlands remind me of places in the Rockies. Another thing that struck when climbing away from the border was just how high and how chilly it is. I rode across several 10,000 ft passes, and oftentimes I was above 9000 feet. So, if you go to Guatemala, make sure you bring a coat because you will be cold in the mountainous areas for sure. I never thought I would be freezing my butt off in Guatemala.
After the border crossing I rode a couple of hours to the city of Quetzaltenanago, or Xela (pronounced Shay-la) for short. Xela is a fairly large city of 300,000 people and sits at 8000 feet near the dormant volcano of Santa Maria, and the always active Santiaguito, which vents gas and ash about every hour or so.
The first few days I was in Xela I wondered why everything would get so dirty in a single day. Ash would fall from the sky, everyday. There is ash on the street………
And ash would be all over the bike after only a few hours sometimes……….
Another thing about Xela, its cold. 60’s during the day, low 30’s at night. Reminds me of spring and fall in the Colorado front range. I rented a decent apartment for the month and enrolled in some more Spanish lessons. We would have class on the roof of the school since its a bit warmer on the roof than it is inside the building. None of the buildings or apartments have heat. They sure need it though. If you plan to spend some time in Xela, bring your warm sleeping bag because the covers on the bed dont cut it when you can see your breath inside your room.
My teacher is Jose, 24 years old, working on a masters degree in Criminal Psychology. Smart kid, he remembers everything. The Spanish school has been frustrating for me this time. I dont feel like I’m making much progress and I seem to be forgetting my vocabulary in Spanish and in English. Sometimes, strange as it sounds, I cant remember the English word for something. So lets see. My Spanish is getting worse, and I am starting to forget English words. Pretty soon I wont be able to speak!
I took a couple of excursions around Xela. There is a very large cemetery in town that is quite interesting.
I also took a little excursion to the small indigenous town of San Andreas, just outside Xela. Here you ride a “pick-up taxi” into town. Just hop in the bed of the truck and ride.
Looks like they had some issues trying to get the road to go straight.
Its a sleepy, slightly depressing little town and not very remarkable, but its a small glimpse into the everyday lives of the people.
Here some folks are burning offerings in front of a cross. The Catholic faith gets mixed with figures and rituals from the old Mayan religion, so I dont really know exactly what is going on in this photo. Although one thing I have noticed about Guatemalans is that they like to burn things, sometimes for no apparent reason. There is usually the constant smell of smoke and the resulting blue/grey haze near any town.
The long weekends over Christmas and New Year’s Eve I spent at Lago Atitlan roughly a 2 hour ride from Xela. Its a much more pleasant climate than Xela as its 3000 feet lower. Lago Atitlan has the perfect climate in my opinion. 80’s during the day, high 50’s at night, and very little humidity. It reminds me of Lake Tahoe in the summer, only prettier, and surrounded by volcanoes.
Here are some views from the town of Panajachel on the north side of the lake. Pana, as its called for short, is the largest town on the lake and quite the tourist trap, but it lies in a stunning setting, so its easy to understand why it has become so popular.
Its a jaw dropping ride coming off of the high ridges to lake level…….
Pana is also where I will introduce you to the infamous Central American death heaters. I’ve seen them in warmer places in Mexico as well. They work pretty well at heating water, but dont touch anything while youre in the shower or you’ll get a nice jolt of juice. However a nice little electric shock during the morning shower generally negates the need to drink any coffee.
I finished up school, left Xela and headed to San Pedro, which sits on the western shore of the Lago Atitlan. In my opinion, San Pedro is a much better place than Panajachel to spend some time as its much smaller and way more mellow. There is quite a population of tourists and ex-pats from all over the world, but it still retains a small town feel and is in a beautiful location. So if you go to Lago Atitlan, my advice is to skip Panajachel and go directly to San Pedro or San Marcos, which is even smaller yet. That way you can enjoy the lake and avoid the tourist trap that is Panajachel.
However dont take the road that goes from Santiago around the south of the volcano into San Pedro, because it is a well known haunt for gun toting thieves. What happens is that when you ride through the filthy little town of Santiago, lookouts will spot you, then call ahead to their dirt bag buddies miles down the road, and get them in position to jump out of the bush and steal all your stuff. Several other motorcyclists have inquird to whether or not the thieves were still in action. I can tell you that they are still there and there is a good chance that you will get robbed on that road so take it at your own risk. Come to San Pedro using either the boats that leave from Pana, or via the bandido-free road that comes down from the Pan-American Highway.
The entrance to San Pedro from the lakeside docks…..
I guess this is one way to keep people from trying to climb over your wall…….
A couple views from the lake shore in town…….
The town is of course right next to Volcan San Pedro, 9900 ft. elevation.
I am on the move once again and will be heading out of San Pedro in a couple of days to do some more exploring around Guatemala. Once again, sorry for the long hiatus while I was in school, thanks for sticking with me!
Saludos, Vince