The border from Mexico to Guatemala was organized chaos. Starting a kilometer away we were approached by people trying to flag us down and help, children came out of nowhere asking for money, the older ones directing us to the next step. There were women walking around selling fruit and various items, young guys with large wads of cash exchanging money on the streets, guards with large guns and official looking people here and there standing close to the relatively organized sign posts. It was hard to pick out who to talk to and who to trust, but we eventually found a good place to park the bikes and get our bikes and our selves officially stamped out of Mexico. At each border, first you have to exit the country you're currently in, then you have to enter the new one, and although that sounds relatively easy and obvious, it does get complicated and time consuming with all the different steps in the process and considering we each have a motorcycle to clear as well. Long story short, after about two and a half hours we were all cleared and riding into Guatemala with the afternoon sun shinning through the think foliage. Guatemala! A new country! It's always a great feeling riding away from the border, knowing you're riding into a new place, full of unknown. Guatemala is quite small and after a few hours we were already half way through the country. It was time to find a good hotel and call it a day of riding. We were feeling good about our position in the country, since we wanted to get close enough to the El Salvador border to cross in the morning. We checked out a couple hotels on the main road and decided on a nice one for our one night in the country. Having secure parking (walled in and gated/guarded) is always high on our list for hotels when we do stay in them since our bikes are obviously very important, and we found a good hotel that had everything we were looking for. The decor was quite exotic as well, complete with a large print of a jaguar, air conditioner cord hanging in front, two bedside lamps only one of which had a bulb and built in tv/dresser unit that took up half the room space. It provided a safe and relaxing place to crash for the night and our walk through the market before our pizza dinner proved to be very entertaining. As we looked for a place to eat we stumbled upon an amazing market, packed with vendors selling everything from Popsicles to chickens to things I didn't even know existed. It was bustling with people however Nate and I still had a great view since most every one only came up to our chest height. Everywhere I looked I saw something for sale, most of it looking delicious but every once in a while something looking like it had been sitting out in the sun for way too many hours. In the end we settled for some Little Caesar's Pizza. It was our first comfort food meal since we'd left the states and it hit the spot quite well. The food in Mexico was amazing but sometimes a good ole slice is all you want. The morning came quickly and we woke up with the sun to get an early start on the day and make it to the El Salvador border before noon. I thought people in Mexico drove crazy but it was nothing compared to Guatemala! There were large trucks every where, packed high with sugar cane, bananas and various other items. They would fly down the road, ripping around corners and spewing black diesel smoke into the air as cars would pass them on blind corners, sometimes two cars wide. Motorcycles were everywhere zipping in and our of traffic and speed limits didn't seem to exists anywhere. Needless to say, we were always on high alert, especially after Nate's accident (read his story on his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWorldViaMotorcycle) After a long morning of driving on winding roads, through thick jungle foliage and trees, open pastures and small towns we made it to the border of El Salvador with plenty of day light in the sky. I can now say that I've traveled through a whole country on a motorcycle in less than 24 hours. Amazing.
I wish I had my camera with me while walking through the market but I can tell you I saw a woman walking down the street with a basket of live chickens on her head. It was pretty spectacular!
Hotel Decor!
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