Petén to Villahermosa, MX part 2

We left the border crossing of El Ceibo at 2pm. 5 minutes down the road is a military checkpoint. The military in Mexico is different from the Guatemalan military in that they are very rude. They also ask you the same questions over and over again while at the same time insulting your spanish. They ask to see lots of paperwork that I had but is not really necessary or under their jurisdiction. Luckily I took along every scrap of information including my water bill from my house in Petén... the fat guy in charge asked to see proof of everything. After about 15 minutes of verbal abuse and the military guys going through every bag you have (which the customs guys just did 5 minutes before) they wave you along.

Your first big town that has gas stations is called Tenosique. It is about an hour from the border. The road to here is paved, two lanes and traffic is almost non-existant. Before you enter the town there is a Police checkpoint. They will ask to see all of your documents and may want to search your vehicle. These guys didn't do that but luckily for us there was another checkpoint 5 meters from them that did want us to open the doors at least and write down the same information. As you leave Tenosique this exact same situation happened. The first guys wrote down my name, driver's license number and vehicle plate numbers. 5 meters from them I was waved over again and searched while the same information was written down. By this time I was really annoyed. This was apparently a special day for searches and in Mexico I guess a Gringo driving a Toyota minibus with Guatemalan plates seems suspicious enough to want to check out. At half of all of our checkpoints this day I was asked how much a Toyota like mine is worth in Guatemala.

From Tenosique we just followed the highway. You can tell that Mexico has been much more deforested than Guatemala, but many sights are similar. There are people selling things like strings of fish on the side of the road. Again, very little traffic heading north and very few gas stations. We arrived in Villahermosa around 6pm, because we were stopped by military and searched two more times before arriving in Villahermosa. Just before you get to the city there was a 33 peso toll both (probably less for a car). Unfortunately I found out that the hotel signs and directions are only posted for the people heading from the north into Villahermosa, so we didn't find the hotel until leaving town and turning around. Not much tourism from southern Mexico I guess. We made it all the way to Villahermosa from Libertad, Petén with one 16 gallon tank of diesel.

In Villahermosa we were slightly disappointed by what we found. We ate at some normal US chain restaurants, but they were the same ones you can find in Guatemala City. There was a Walmart, Sam's Club and Home Depot, but all three were Mexican versions with a US name. One big find was a large, tankless LP water heater which was the same price as in the States and larger than what I could find in Guate. Saved me having to find somebody to fly down with it and an oversize baggage fee. Also at Home Depot I found some accessories for my water pump, which saved me having to find them in Guate. We bought some bowls for our bathroom sinks, but this was at the Mexican store Madeco. Our purchases at Walmart were Cheerios and some white t-shirts. We didn't see anything at Sam's that warranted buying a membership.

I bought a TelCel phone chip at a kiosk outside Sam's. In Mexico the laws are harsher than in Guatemala, so it didn't automatically work. It actually never worked at all. I tried all of the registration steps from my hotel room while reading the help files in Spanish and even took the phone with chip to a TelCel office where they offered to register it for me in somebody else's name. A foreigner cannot get a Mexican chip in their name. No phone calls worked, but I did have access to 3G and used up all my prepaid minutes on that. I guess I could have sent an emergency email if I'd needed to. Anyways, bring a chip with international roaming, don't assume you'll be able to use your unlocked cell.

Starbucks, not something we have or need in Guatemala. Same as in the States.

The Home Depot was very small and filled with mostly US reject items.

While the Walmart was much like The Home Depot, the Sam's was probably the closest thing to what you'd expect to see in the States. Unfortunately I didn't need a trampoline or a giant tub of mayonnaise on this trip.

We left Villahermosa Friday morning at 10:30am from our hotel and were at the border around 1:30pm. It was much quicker heading south. We were charged 33 pesos again to leave the toll road and were not stopped until Tenosique. On the way into town the nice police officer took my information and asked if I would like to collaborate with some change to help him buy a chicken. He and the other guys wanted a snack. I told him not today and he waved me on with just a "next time then!" On the way out of town I was stopped again and this time they wanted to look inside the vehicle. The large man in charge took the opportunity to lecture me on Arizona's immigration laws, of which he showed he knew nothing. It wouldn't have helped my case to point that out to him so I nodded my head and drove south. 5 minutes from the border we were stopped again by the same Army checkpoint but this time a young guy asked me where I was going in Guatemala, he yelled my destination to a young woman sitting on a bench a few meters from the road and to her negative head shake he waved me by.

So, heading north will cost you about an hour in checkpoints if you are unlucky enough to travel the day that they care.

At the border the Mexicans were really straightforward. I took the sticker off of my windshield and went inside to get my money back. It was very straightforward and took about 10 minutes. The immigration guys stamped our passports and we crossed to Guatemala.

New 90 day visas for Guatemala cost us Q10/person. At the Belize border crossing they never charge us that fee however. Also, at Belize they rarely mention the 72 hour rule* whereas here it was their first question and they checked the dates in our passports. While the information I had before was that there was no Guatemalan Customs official at the border, this is no longer true. There is a trailer there and an official who is never inside. The same guys who will charge you Q39 to fumigate your vehicle will look at your stuff. If you tell them it is all for personal use there is no charge and you can be on your way.

The Guatemalan Customs office. The immigration office is up the hill behind this. The bank trailer (Banrural) does not exchange money and is only there for paying taxes if assessed.

The same money changers were there as before. Their exchange rate is Q7/$1 or .63 pesos/1 quetzal, so if you can wait until you get to a bank it is worth it for dollars. No Guatemalan bank here takes pesos, so spend them before you get to the border or just take a hit at the border. There is no gas station in Guatemala until you get to Libertad, except that there is a house about an hour into your trip back that has a wooden sign in front saying COMBUSTIBLE. They have some gas cans and I'm sure can help you out in a pinch.

For those of you making this trip, on the Mexican side there are at least 4 signs for different ruins and eco parks before you get to Tenosique.

*Official Guatemalan immigration law states that when your tourist visa expires you must leave the country for 72 hours before returning. While we did this by choice on this trip, most border officials do not care and we have always been able to leave in the morning and come back that same afternoon. This does not give us any confidence however and we always pack an overnight bag in case somebody does decide to enforce the law.