Guatemala – El Salvador Border (La Hachadura)
The borders had all gone too easily up to now and we’d been beginning to think that the issues with borders might be all hype. Well this border proved us wrong. It took us 4.5 hours to get across both borders and into El Salvador and that was using Tramitadores (these are border crossing facilitators with a reputation for trying to rip you off) for help.
On arrival at the Guatemalan side of the border the first thing you encounter is an enormous line of trucks completely blocking your side of the highway. We already knew that you shouldn’t line up with the trucks so we started playing chicken down the wrong side of the highway. Everytime a truck came the other way we managed to tuck in somewhere and then make another 100m dash up the line before the next vehicle came our way.
Eventually we managed to enter the line about 5 trucks back from the border buildings. While playing this hopscotch we had a tramitador jump on the side of the truck and tell us that his help was necessary to survive the border process. We initially told him we didn’t need any help but fortunately he ignored us and proceeded to help us anyway. We agreed a fee of USD5 for his help at the Guatemalan border.
One of the key things if you employ a tramitador is don’t let them run off with your original paperwork and also make all the payments (and get a receipt) yourself.
The first thing that happens at the border is that you get your Vehicle import document stamped by an official at the side of the road. You then need to find somewhere to park that isn’t too in the way to do the rest of the processes.
The first of these is to take your passports to the immigration office. It only needs one person to do both passports. This is where our Tramitador started earning his money. There was a long queue at the exit side of immigration so he took me to the entry side and got our passports stamped there.
The next thing after this is to visit one of the photocopy places that are across the road from the border post. The photocopies are all about the vehicle export. You need 2 copies of your passport photo page plus the entry and exit stamps from Guatemala. Also you need 2 driving licence copies and a copy of the Temporary Import document with the stamp that you got at the start of the process. You also need 2 copies of your vehicle registration.
These copies are then put into two packs one with the original Import document and one with the copy.
Next stop is to go to Aduana. This is an unmarked office (well the door has a sign above it saying “Ingreso”) on the incoming side of the border. I’m not sure I would have found this without help. There is a security guard inside the door and you register your details with him and he will give you a piece of card with a number. You are now in a queue waiting for a customs agent – along with a whole load of truckers! Now I’m sure that someone somewhere was communicating numbers and that the queue was moving but I didn’t hear anything! After waiting for about 40 minutes it was our turn.
The customs guy took our paperwork and then we had to run around to the truck so he could check the VIN number against the plate in the door frame of the truck. Then we were back inside where he tapped away at a computer and then we were done.
You then have to drive forward – hand a guard the original of the Import document and then there is a 2km long queue of traffic to negotiate between the Guatemalan side of the border and the El Salvadorian. This is nose to tail trucks and there was no room for us to skirt up the sides. Keep alert though because cars can weave in and out and if you let the gap with the truck in front get big enough someone will pounce!
When you finally reach the El Salvador side of the border you will reach a fork in the road – one way is light traffic and the other heavy – take the light traffic route. You arrive at a large building on your right and there should be space to park right outside.
Our tramitador had accompanied us to this side for another USD5. While we needed him on the Guatemala side he was not so necessary on this side. Although for USD5 he did make life easier.
First stop is the immigration window which is a small hut at the near end of the building. It was a matter of minutes to have both our passports stamped. Then I had to take my passport, Vehicle registration document and stamped copy of the Guatemalan import document to the Aduana office. I then proceeded to wait at the window for a clerk to process my import for over an hour. There were people in the office and no-one was inclined to help. Your tramitador cannot help at this point as he isn’t allowed in the building. When someone finally came over he very irritatedly motioned for my documents and then went back to his desk. After a few minutes he swept out of the office without a word. Fortunately a trucker in the building told me that I had to go with him!
Outside he checked the VIN number of the truck and noted down a few things like how many doors it has and that it is diesel. Then handed me a form to go and get photocopied. There is a Photocopy place opposite customs in the same building but no one was there. My tramitador jogged off with me in tow down the road to a small shack with a photocopier in it. The copies were done and no money changed hands.
After this it was back to customs. I was feeling more pushy this time so I waited until the door to the office opened and then stuck my head through and handed the guy who had been dealing with me the docs. He did some processing then handed everything to a second guy who beckoned me to his window.
This guy checked everything the first guy had done while chatting to me in quite good English – although he wanted to talk about “my prime minister – Margaret Thatcher”! When he was done he handed me the Temporary import form for El Salvador.
When this guy was done we were nearly there. Just needed one copy of Temporary Import Permit and then we were good to go. This is when our tramitador tried to stiff us by offering to bribe the guard at the border gate to let us through in front of the trucks – he wanted USD20 for the privilege. We declined and drove to the gate where there were no trucks in the way. We handed the copy of our import form to the guard there and we were finally good to go. However we did have to pay USD5 for a contribution to the upkeep of the roads in El Salvador – we got a receipt though so I think it was legit. There was no requirement for fumigation.
All of this was in 40c heat and we were feeling fairly frazzled. We drove only a few miles before finding a petrol station where we could park for the night and relax !
One of the other crossings (Las Chinasmas) may be a better bet as commercial vehicles are banned from this crossing. We went to this one though because it meant less mileage for us.
Antigua
Antigua has the reputation of being a fantastic old colonial town. This has the impact of bringing lots of tourists which in turn has meant that the town has lost some of its character as coffee shops and trendy bars and restaurants move in. We have found lots more tourists in Guatemala than in Mexico – must be a result of the bad press that Mexico gets.
Our first challenge in Antigua was getting to a secure parking lot that we knew we could stay in overnight. The centre of Antigua is restricted for big vehicles and there is a heavy vehicles route around the outside of the centre. We took the best option which was to follow a chicken bus as we knew there was a parking place next to the bus terminal. As it turned out the secure parking was quite nice with a big lawn in the middle and we parked there for a couple of nights (for Q125 per night).
Throughout Antigua there are many ruined buildings, a result of numerous earthquakes over the years. When we reached the main square in the town there was a big band mostly composed of Xylophone players and a number of old women dancing round the square with each other.
We did take advantage of the nice restaurants and went out for a good dinner at a place called Cafe Bourbon. However our parking lot was locked at 8pm so we had to be back early which did limit our ability to enjoy the nightlife somewhat.
One interesting thing about Antigua was that it is home to perhaps the nicest McDonalds I have ever seen with a big flower filled courtyard and some outside sofa seating.
While in Antigua we booked a trip to climb the Pacaya volcano. This is a volcano that is intermittently active. We were pretty disappointed by the trek though. After walking uphill for just over an hour we reached the lava zone at the top which was devoid of all life. There were no views on the way up as everything was covered in cloud.
At the top the destination was a small crack in the rock which was hot inside and the party trick of the guide was toasting marshmallows. Pretty underwhelming ! Sat next to the crack was a guy who had set up a little shop selling jewellery that was made out of lava – he claimed to be the highest shop in central america ! On the way back down there was a break in the cloud and we had a view of some neighbouring volcanos.
Lago de Atitlán
We started off from Coban hoping to take the 7W as the most direct route through the mountains to Lake Atitlan. It only took a couple of kilometres of bad road to convince us that this was going to be too painful. We decided that the long way round on the main highway would be much quicker. This meant that we had a really good road until the last 20km.
We had taken the road via Patzun into the mountains round Lake Atitlan. This was a really beautiful road but it was up and down through the mountains through areas with washouts and even a collapsed bridge which meant we had to go through the river.
We finally arrived at Panajachel on the shores of the lake and were negotiating our way through the town when we ran into a policeman directing traffic and preventing us turning the way we needed to. So we ended up heading back out of town. This time when we tried to come back in we stopped just outside town to see if we could find a better route. No sooner had we stopped though than a motorbike traffic cop pulled up next to us and offered to lead us through town to our destination.
We tore through town behind the cop with his lights flashing as he guided us down the narrow streets of the town to the hotel we were planning to stay in. When we arrived he declined any payment when we thanked him.
We had decided to stay at the Hotel Tzanjuyu which has camping right in front of the lake. The view from the camper was pretty stunning across the lake and with three volcanoes visible. The climate here is lovely with highs of late 20’s in the days and dropping to 18c or so at night. This is a result of the altitude of around 1500m. In the surrounding mountains we had topped 2300m on the way to the lake. We were the only people staying at the hotel and had the gorgeous pool and grounds all to ourselves.
We stayed in Lake Atitlan for three days but we were pretty busy. Panajachel itself has a real laid back vibe and has a lot of tourists. This means that there a lot of small cafes, restaurants and little travel agents catering to the backpacker market.
Firstly we took a trip to a town called Chichicastenango which is renowned for its market. On Market day the town is clogged with traffic and there is nowhere to park so we decided it was best to take a minibus rather than drive ourselves.
The market was a bit disappointing as it is very touristy. However the colour of the locals dressed in their traditional clothing was wild and the church which is the centrepiece of the plaza was interesting with its mix of mayan and Christian beliefs. The local cloth and handicrafts being sold were beautiful though and if we had the space we would probably have bought some things.
A 20 minute walk from the centre at the top of a small hill is a Mayan altar where people still worship today. This is called Pascual Abaj. We were lucky enough to see a ceremony when we arrived with incense being burnt and alcohol being poured on the altar. To one side there were piles of feathers from sacrificed chickens !
Our second trip from Lake Atitlan was to take a boat trip to three of the lakeside villages. We visited San Juan La Laguna, San Pedro La Laguna and Santiago Atitlan. Each of the villages had a different character with different goods for sale. Its clear that the lake has risen quite considerably in recent times because on the shore in each of the towns we saw a number of flooded buildings.
San Juan was the smallest of the villages and specialist in weaving using material which had been dyed with natural dyes. We saw a woman boiling up a bunch of plants to make the dye. Throughout the town were a number of murals some of which were quite bloody !
San Pedro was a bigger town which had one of the prettiest churches we have seen in Guatemala.The churches in Guatamala are much less grand than those in Mexico. In the square outside the church there was a fountain which had turtles in it !
Santiago Atitlan is a much bigger town than the other two. Its distinguishing feature was a shrine to Maximon – an evil saint. The shrine moves to a different house each year and is associated with sins such as drinking or smoking. We had to pay a guide to take us to the shrine as it was down a tiny back alley – a bit nervy being led there because we didn’t know if we were being led to a back alley to be robbed !
We thoroughly enjoyed Lake Atitlan but moved on slightly sooner than we might have because of a big party scheduled at the hotel with music until 3am.
While in Lake Atitlan we did our laundry again and this time it came back all tied up with ribbons. You could really get used to this !
Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey has a reputation as the most beautiful place in Guatemala. It also must be one of the most difficult to get to. From Coban which is the biggest town in the Northern highlands you must drive 40km along a winding mountain road to the turnoff for a small town called Lanquin. Lanquin is 12km down a steep and narrow road from the main highway (unpaved). This road is quite tricky but driveable in all but the worst conditions although it is susceptible to washouts.
On reaching Lanquin after taking 1.5 hours for the previous 12km we were in two minds about continuing on the further 10km to Semuc Champey. We knew of a hostel here who allowed camping and could arrange a tour so we went to check it out. Unfortunately they didn’t have space for us so we decided to press on.
Unless you are driving a 4×4 there is no way you should attempt the road from Lanquin to Semuc Champey. If we had known what it was like we would not have driven it. The road is very narrow, muddy – with a slippery clay base, and exceptionally steep. The journey down was not too bad but we did make a wrong turn and have to reverse about 200m up a narrow mud road. However just before we reached Semuc Champey we reached a bridge which is at 90 degrees to the main road. This is held up by cables reaching across the road and we were too high to make the turn because of the cables so we were stuck.
We had meant to stay the night at Semuc Champey (in the parking lot which actually was ideal) however as we couldn’t get there we knew we would have to drive back to Lanquin that night. Fortunately there was just room to turn around in the area before the bridge
The entrance to Semuc Champey itself was only a five minute walk from where we were parked and we paid the Q50 per person entrance fee and went in. The site itself is unique in that a big river disappears into an underground tunnel and then on top of the tunnel there are spring fed pools which flow into the main river when it reappears from the tunnel. The pools are beautiful.
There is a pretty strenuous hike up to a mirador (viewpoint) above the pools which takes about ¾ hour round trip. The trail is really slippery and the descent was quite difficult. The view is amazing though.
We didn’t spend as long as we wanted to at Semuc Champey as we knew we needed to drive out and the condition of the road was hanging over us. On top of this there was a heavy rain shower while we were there which had us a bit worried.
The drive back up initially went well – the beast was coping well with the steep inclines (albeit in 2 Low which has a top speed of around 9kph). There were some really slippery bits where we had to engage the diff lock to stop the wheels spinning but we kept forward momentum. One bit was particularly scary with a small washout and a steep drop to one side and the truck started slipping towards it – I managed to keep us going and breathed a big sigh of relief once we had traction and were past the washout.
All this was too good to last though and on a very steep incline we hit a deep patch of mud and dug in. We were stuck. After reversing and having a couple of attempts at different routes we kept slipping off the centre of the road into the deep mud on the left.
I leapt out of the cab and started to try to get rid of the rut and place stones in the worst bits to give us some traction. After only a few minutes though an ambulance arrived trying to get past us (a 4×4) and then a pickup truck full of locals also arrived. We were surrounded by people all giving advice in Spanish!
We managed to back up down the slope to a slightly wider section of the road where the ambulance could get past. It was quickly followed by the pickup truck which managed to scratch the side of the Beast. We didn’t notice at the time though.
When the road was clear I got our shovel and spent half an hour rebuilding the road. I dug out the big ruts and put tracks of stones in the main pathway. Then with the aid of our sand ladders to help maintain traction we tried another run at this section of the climb. We stormed on through. We were helped by a couple of locals in rebuilding the road – pretty ineffectually. One of them was really drunk and kept falling over and sliding down the road. When I was driving towards the sand ladders he kept moving one and Sarah kept moving it back – before they both had to jump out the way as I came storming through.
We now had a race against time to make it back to Lanquin before dark – I really didn’t want to drive this road in the dark. We just made it back to Lanquin as darkness was falling and pulled into the car park at the Grutas de Lanquin (a cave system with millions of bats). We were very relieved to get here but knew we still had the road up out of the valley from Lanquin in the morning.
It rained solidly all night – so this added to our anxiety about the drive out. In the end we made it and it only took an hour to drive the 10km out. I’ve never been so happy to see tarmac !
Finca Ixobel
From Tikal we drove South along the main road from the North to the famous traveller’s stop of Finca Ixobel. This is a big ranch which has camping, rooms and a big communal restaurant. When we arrived the camping area was completely waterlogged and we didn’t want to risk getting bogged in the mud so we parked up outside the main building.
We spent a couple of nights relaxing on the ranch including sitting by their big swimming lake. It was nice to recharge the batteries somewhat.
Tikal
Tikal has the reputation of being the greatest of all the Mayan sites. Tikal was founded around 900BC but it wasn’t until around 250BC that the first major ceremonial structures were erected. It wasn’t until 400AD that Tikal came to be a dominant superpower in the Mayan world and this was through an alliance with Teotihuacan in central Mexico.
We arrived at the entrance gate to Tikal, which is about 17km from the ruins, at around 1pm. This was too early to buy a ticket for the next day, which you can only buy after 4pm. We parked up at a small restaurant just before the entrance to have some lunch. They had a series of Ziplines here and we thought we should give it a go.
The ziplining was good fun. On the later ziplines I practiced turning upside down and Sarah did a tandem run where you go in a superman position.
Just before 4pm we purchased our tickets for Tikal and made the run in to the actual site. You are timed by the rangers for your journey and must stick to the limit of 40kph.
Once at Tikal there are two camping options and we went to the Jaguar Inn which we had heard was slightly cheaper. It wasn’t the greatest spot in but they had showers, toilets and power for us and it was only a 100 yards from the main park entrance.
As soon as we arrived we headed off to walk round some of the site before dark. Tikal itself is absolutely massive covering over a square km. This means that to give it a fair go you have to walk at least 6km and a lot of this Is either up or down some fairly steep tracks through the jungle. On top of this a few of the pyramids can be climbed up steep ladders attached to the sides and these top out at 70m.
On our first evening here we visited the central acropolis which has two large pyramids and then walked over to Temple IV which is the largest pyramid. From the top of this pyramid you can see a huge vista as you are above the treetops and the other large pyramids poking up above the trees.
We watched sunset from this pyramid and then had to make our way back quickly through the gloomy jungle to make it back to the truck before it was pitch black.
Just near the base of Temple IV we had seen a big group of coatimundi that were fairly unafraid of people – there must have been around 20 of them.
In the morning we set out for our exploration of the rest of Tikal and we walked round the whole perimeter of the site checking off all the major buildings. There are long stretches of path through the jungle where you don’t see another person or even any buildings.
When we reached the lost world which is a collection of buildings and smaller pyramids we came across an ocellated Turkey which was wandering around between the ruins. A lot more dramatic than the turkeys we are used to.
It took us around 4 hours to complete our tour of Tikal and just as we returned to the truck it started to rain quite heavily.
Yaxhá
Not too far from the Belize border there is a turnoff down a 15km dirt road which leads to the ruined city of Yaxhá. The track is in pretty good condition and the entry fee includes camping so this is an ideal destination for overlanders. Very few people come here so its pretty likely that you will have the site to yourself.
The city of Yaxha is situated on a plateau over a big lake (Laguna Yaxhá) and is a very big site. Apparently Survivor Guatemala was filmed here – if anyone has seen this ! Not much is actually known about this city because of the lack of intact inscriptions found.
Yaxha is deep in the jungle and from the top of the pyramids all you can see is jungle. It is actually only about 15km from Tikal as the crow flies but much further by road.
The jungle in Guatemala is different to that in Mexico in that it seems much more alive. We saw a pack of coatimundi ferreting around in the trees, monkeys in the trees and there were exotic birds everywhere.
The campsite at Yaxhá is right on the lake shore and was a very peaceful and quiet place to spend the night.
Belize – Guatemala Border
From San Ignacio it’s a 20 minute drive to the border. On the Belize side there is a big building across the road with a very large car park in front of it. There is plenty of room to pull in and park. You have to go into the Departures hall on the right hand side of the building. This is very straightforward, although before you can exit the country you have to pay a BZ$37.50 exit charge. This seems a bit steep to me but there you are. After paying the charge you have to visit customs which is a bit more interesting.
Customs is in the arrivals side of the building so you cross over via a door midway down the departures hall. You go to the customs desk which is for arrivals. Present these guys with your import permit and your passport and they will cancel the import.
Then its back into the Departures hall to go to immigration to get your passport stamped. Only the driver is allowed to be in the vehicle crossing the border so any passengers might as well carry on through. The driver has to reverse and walk back out of the building to get the vehicle.
Outside the building are a whole load of moneychangers. We were offered 7.5 Quetzales to the US Dollar – the actual rate was 7.8 – so not to bad and we changed up all our Belize Dollars at this point. You will need Quetzales as part of the process on the Guatemalan side.
After this you can drive through the border itself and they will look at your passport and let you through. Pick up your passenger and that’s the Belize side done.
Once through you should see what looks like a big car wash in front of you. This is an automatic sprayer which will spray your vehicle with insecticide. Quite why they do this at land borders where the insects can fly, crawl or walk across is anyone’s guess. Once through this there is a window on the right hand side where you should pay for the spraying – we paid 46 Quetzales. We tried to get out of this by ignoring the window but a man came and got us when we returned to the truck after the rest of the import process.
There is really limited parking on the Guatemalan side – its opposite the place you pay for the spraying but really only room for 5 or 6 cars. There was no room for us so we parked on the side of the road.
The immigration building is on your right and is a relatively new partly open building. There’s even a big flatscreen TV which was showing the Animal Planet Channel when we were there.
There is a big counter at the end of the building and immigration is on the right hand end. It should be a simple matter to get a stamp in your passport. We got 90 days without asking.
The other end of the counter is SAT or customs. You need to give them your passport, Registration Document and driving licence (and 1 copy of all three docs). The chap doing our import took about 30 minutes – and kept making mistakes – but we got there in the end and after signing a few documents had to go to the bank which is in the front right corner of the building to pay 160 Quetzals for the Temporary import permit. Then back to the SAT counter for the final permit to be finally issued. Fortunately the border was very quiet and there weren’t any queues anywhere.
After this you are done and get back in your truck and head to the place with the cones across the road. Someone will check the import permit and then you are free to enter Guatemala.
We have heard that there is a toll charge to drive through the town but we didn’t see anyone charging it so we just drove straight through. All in all it had taken us just over an hour.
Overall this was a pretty non-stressful border. I’m sure things will get more difficult !
Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM)
We stopped in San Ignacio on the Western side of Belize. There is a camping place called Inglewood Camping at which we were the only guests where we stayed. There was a fair bit of unseasonable rain while we were there.
We drove into the town when the rain stopped to arrange a tour for the next day to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave system (ATM cave) . The town itself was pretty small and uninspiring but the people there were very friendly as they seem to be throughout Belize – and of course English speaking which is great.
The ATM cave is a 1hr drive from San Ignacio – the bulk of it down a narrow bumpy track. You arrive at a small parking area with some pretty horrible toilets which is about a 45 minute walk through the jungle to the cave entrance.
The walk has its challenges including crossing the same river 3 times – it never gets more than waist deep though. More challenging is the mud that the path is made out of which makes it all very slippery.
We were pretty lucky in that there was only the two of us plus 1 other on the trip. Other groups had up to 8 people per guide.
On arrival at the cave entrance we were given head torches by the guide and put our cameras in dry bags. The entrance to the cave is deep water as a river flows out of the cave. You have to swim about 10 metres until you get into shallower water and can walk.
The cave itself is very big with the ceiling often 20m or more high. The river running through it varies in depth and in some places you have to swim short distances and in others the water is only ankle deep.
After walking about ½ a mile inside the cave we climbed out of the river into a dry tunnel which was 5m or so above the water. The rules say that you have to take off any shoes at this stage – put on a shirt if you haven’t been wearing one – and put socks on your feet. All rules to protect what is to come.
This dry cave was used by the Mayans as a burial chamber and as a site for some of their religious ceremonies. Inside the cave 13 skeletons have been found often in pairs where an older person is paired with a younger one who would be their helper in the afterlife. Also there are large quantities of Mayan pottery which would have been used to hold offerings to the gods.
Everything is remarkably well preserved and you can’t help but feel if this was in any other country there is absolutely no way tourists would be allowed in.
This part of the cave has some brilliant decorations as well.
On the way back out of the cave I saw another gallery above the river and asked our guide if there were any Mayan remains up there. He said he didn’t know and suggested we check it out. It turns out that this was a shortcut across the cave and we dropped down into the river after about 50m.
This was an excellent trip. Even without the Mayan remains the caving bit of the trip would have been cool but the Mayan artifacts make the trip amazing.
Through Belize
After leaving Bermudian Landing we headed to the Belize Zoo which is on the main highway about 50km from Belize City. The Belize Zoo has a reputation as being the best zoo South of the USA.
The entry fee is quite steep at BZ$30 each and they have a rule that you are not allowed a camera lens longer than 100mm. They actually check cameras for this. However if your camera is small enough they don’t care.
They Zoo has only animals that are native to Belize and the highlights are the Jaguars and the Harpy Eagles (which are extinct in Belize now but are being reintroduced by the zoo). The zoo isn’t that big but has very entertaining signs and lets you see a lot of animals that you probably won’t see in the wild.
After a couple of hours here we were thoroughly hot and determined to find a way to cool down. We headed for the coast and a campsite that we knew called the Cucumber Bay Marina. We could camp here for only BZ$15 with electricity, water but more important access to their beach resort which normally costs USD10 per head. What a bargain.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out by the big saltwater pool and playing on the waterslide. We were the only people there.
The next morning we headed off to see some of the southern end of Belize. This involved driving down an unpaved road (the Manatee Highway) towards the coast. About half way along the road we were flagged down by a guy who had managed to drive off the road and was now thoroughly stuck. We offered to pull him out which was fairly short work for the Beast. We then had to jump start him from a spare battery before he could get going. He seemed pretty unphased by the whole experience.
We hit the coast at a place called Gale’s Point and went for a walk along a spit into the lagoon here. But we weren’t so enamoured so decided to drive back inland along the Hummingbird Highway.
We had hoped to stop off at a lodge called Caves Branch which allowed camping in their parking lot. We wanted to do a cave tubing trip with them however when we arrived we were told we couldn’t camp. Seems pretty short sighted because we were offering them business for the next day and all we wanted was to park overnight in their empty car park which you can’t even see from the lodge ! So from here we drove onto the main highway and to San Ignacio where we stopped off at a camping site called Inglewood.
FromAtoB 