Viva La Moto in Guatemala

At each of the borders through Central America, there are tramitadores, otherwise known as unofficial "helpers".  But it's more a case of helping themselves (by ripping tourists off) than actually assisting the traveller.  I had my first experience of this at the border between Mexico and Guatemala, at Tecun Uman.  Suffice to say, the crossing took FAR longer than it would have, had I done everything myself, and I would also not have been ripped off a fairly decent amount of money.

But at least I learnt a few lessons here, the main one being:  do the border crossing paper shuffles MYSELF.  At least that way, I know what's happening, and with my mangled Spanish and gestures, I can usually ascertain what is required.

	So it was late afternoon before I left the border, and night was falling quickly, so I rode only about 25 kms, till I found a hotel for the night. The gardens surrounding the hotel were beautiful, and I couldn't resist taking some photos of the lovely flowering tree.
	But things improved, although I didn't have a paper map of Guat, just my computer mapping program, which didn't help much while I was riding. I had a slight fear of the unknown regarding riding through Guatemala City, just a vague voice in my head telling me not to go through the city.  I've no idea why this idea came to me, actually, nor from where it came.  I was headed to Quetzelnenango, up in the mountains, a pretty major detour around the city. At a servo, I asked about buying a map, and was pointed to a bookstore further up the road.  The very nice lady here, speaking no English, drew me a map, including the names of various points, of how to get to the Tourism Office in the middle of Quetz.  On arrival, the tourism officer shook her head when asked if she had any maps, gave me a map of the city, and noted a bookshop a few blocks away who would have maps.

Off I went on foot, and was greatly relieved to find the owner spoke English, after I'd asked for a map in Spanish.  So I now had a wonderful map of Guat, and could see where I was going.  I also bought a good English/Spanish/English dictionary, as I was finding the Lonely Planet phrasebook inadequate, and confusing.  There were so many words on signs and hoardings by the roads which I wanted to know the meaning of, so now I could check these out.  Finally took some photos, of the church near the Park (right), and the Park(left) itself.

Perusing the map, there was an inset map of Guat City, which showed the "autopiste" (freeway) going straight across one side of the city. Ahhhh, that looks easy, I thought, and on a Sunday morning, it should be a piece of cake.  Well, it was, sort of, altho I did unintentionally veer off the freeway at one stage, but managed to get back on again. The main problem  I have is that there are few, if any, street signs, so I never know where I actually am, without asking someone to look at the map.

I had discovered the previous evening, when looking for a hotel that you can't find, that it is easiest to just ask someone.  When in doubt - ask a man with a gun!  There are armed militia and police everywhere, in service stations, shopping centres, near ATMs, and in all sorts of places. I found the gun-toting guys to be really nice, and very helpful.  They are there to keep and maintain the peace, not to harrass foreign tourists.  A smile goes a long way here, especially combined with mangled Spanish.  But the people seem to appreciate that an attempt is being made to speak in their language and go out of their way to help. Sometimes, if I can't think of the whole sentence, I'll just say the major words, and people soon work out what I want to know.  One gunbearer ended up opening the door of the service station for me about 8 times, as I went in and out from the cafe table to the bike to get things, and always with a big cheery smile on his face.

The Pan American highway stretches from Prudhoe Bay, in Alaska, through Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America and South America, to Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of Argentina.  It's known by various names along the way, and is about (I could be wrong here) 27,000km long, and traverses most of the Central American countries.  It's generally in fairly decent condition through CA, but there are patches that are, well, not so good!  From just outside Quetz heading to Guat City, for a distance of about 95-100km there was construction (roadworks) going on.  Now, this is through mountainous country, and it is the major north-south international transport route in a heavily populated country.  Are you getting the picture yet??  LOADS AND LOADS of traffic of all kinds! Combine this traffic load with the construction, and delays build up really easily.

But ... Viva la Moto in Guatemala!!  As I came up to the end of each long, long line of stationary traffic, I'd just pull out and overtake them all, slowly and carefully, of course, giving way to anything coming the other way by squeezing back into the queue, until I reached the front of the line.  Here, the "guardian of the board" would pull the exposed nail studded "STOP" board aside, and signal me forward.  Apparently, all motos get this treatment, altho there were not many motos out away from the cities.  It's great, pottering (sometimes a bit quicker than a potter!  Hahaha!) through the mountains, dodging the construction vehicles, waving to the workers, yelling "Gracias" left, right, and centre as they let me pass assorted earthmoving equipment and all the frustrated traffic behind me.  In all, it probably saved me a few hours of waiting time over the course of the day, being able to pass like this.

I really enjoyed seeing the women and girls of all ages in the towns around Quetzelnenango wearing their traditional clothing, as the majority throughout CA wear "western" clothing.  The clothes were practical, bright and colourful, and really suited these shorter, stouter people.  And their posture is superb, carrying their shopping or whatever in bundles on their heads, walking regally.  (No photos yet, but I will definitely return through Quetz and take lots of pics.)

Being a mountainous country, the vegetation was lush and rampant, with an amazing number of different species of creepers, climbers, ferns, shrubs, trees and colourful flowers all along the way. Glimpses of stunning vistas were everywhere, but again, nowhere to stop and take photos.

Again, in Guatemala, I was pulled over for a couple of military checks, but no problems.  I'm sure they just wanted to look at the bike, most of the time.

I had survived 2 CA countries, and was heading for my 3rd, Honduras.  After studying the HorizonsUnlimited website forums, I'd decided to utilise the most highly recommended (read: easiest!) crossing, this being at Copan, on the eastern side of Guat and Honduras.

Yes, it has to be the easiest!  It was just 33 minutes from when I switched off the bike to when I switched it back on.  Wonderful! No helpers hanging around pestering me, just polite, friendly officials directing me to the correct counters as required.  What a breeze this crossing is!  And at lunchtime, too, which is normally one of the worst times.

So, I was into Honduras.