Crossing from Belize to Guatemala

We had been planning on taking the Chicken bus from San Ignacio to Benque (Viejo del Carmen), and then taking a taxi to the border, but the man who brought us our lunches for the ATM trip had told us to get a collectivo from San Ignacio all the way to the border. These collectivos look just like normal San Ignacio town taxis, which will charge you $35BZD to go to the border. The way to distinguish them is to look at the number plate of the car, which will have "BVO" at the left hand side of the registration plate. These only charged us $5BZD each, which was cheaper than getting the Chicken bus plus a taxi from Benque.

Belizean border

So, getting to the border was easy. It amazed us how many people just hang around at the border on the Belizean side, in no man's land and then at the Guatemalan border. Everyone is trying to change your money or sell you a ride to Flores. We ignored them and paid our $37.50BZD exit fee (legit) before queuing for our exit stamp. Even as we queued we saw people just walking through, ignoring the immigration lady tapping on her window at them to stop.

Belizean part all done, we then walked the 300 yards to the Guatemalan border. It's free to enter Guatemala but we'd read online about people trying to scam you for an entry fee, so we were on our guard and walked straight past an information desk that looked like a tourist trap. We walked on and before we knew it, we were in the Guatemalan border town of Melchor de Mencos - we had actually walked straight past immigration and into Guatemala without anyone blinking an eye. We would have carried on walking but didn't want any problems when leaving Guatemala. Also, the visa/stamp you obtain here also gives you entry to Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, so we definitely wanted to get it.

We trudged back to the dodgy looking information desk and I asked for my ninety day stamp with baited breath: would they try and charge me for it? The supervisor said something to the man serving me and he muttered "20 quetzales". I asked him why and he replied "entry fee" and when I said "entry is free" he said "exit is free". I then gave him a massive glare and said "no! Entry is free" at which point he gave up and stamped my passport. He didn't even try and take the money from Ciaran or Greg after that. Q20 is only about £3 but it's the principle! And after we were tricked at the Mexican border, we really didn't want to be duped again.

Then it was time for our first proper collectivo experience. Our friend had told us to walk into Melchor, where we would be able to find plenty of collectivos heading towards Flores. There was actually only one minibus there, so we jumped in and soon we were off. The thing about collectivos is that like the Chicken buses, they will stop wherever anyone signals. They will also try and fit as many people in as possible. This collectivo stopped for everyone so that at one point there were 22 of us in a 15 seater minibus. It was a squash but definitely an experience! Also, £3.50 for a 2 hour journey is a bit of a bargain!

Collectivo Crush!

First ride in a tuktuk, from Santa Elena to Flores

Now we're in Flores, Guatemala. It's super humid here too - the humidity is following us everywhere! We can't stay here to do Tikal this time as we're booked in a hostel in Antigua for Easter. Just a 9 hour overnight bus ride before we'll be in Antigua for the world's greatest Semana Santa celebrations!