After one night in Leon, Shay and I crossed the border
to Honduras and spent the night in an overpriced hotel
in Choluteca. I'm afraid paranoia has set in. We've
had very difficult, hot, overpriced border crossings
everywhere. Honduras was the most expensive at over
$100. I think I got ripped off. I rarely felt this
way in South America but, in Central America, it seems
everybody takes a shot at you. You have to be careful
to count your change every time as it seems always to
be short. An internet cafe in Guatemala City tried to
charge Shay $7 for a half hour. He only had $5 on him
and told them to take it or leave it. He'd tried to
get the rate ahead of time but the attendant mumbled
something that he couldn't understand. He figured $5
should cover it since we have never paid more than $4
an hour. Never assume anything in Central America.
We left early from Choluteca and crossed both borders
of El Salvador in one day. Unfortunately, due to the
recent earthquake in San Salvador, the highway was
closed when we got there. I was told that they are
closing it from 1 pm until 6 pm every day to do
repairs. We actually got back on the road at about
5:30 but it was already dark when we got to the
border. This was the easiest border crossing. It
cost only a few bucks. (I insisted on paying for
everything personally.) After all was done, the
police tried to squeeze another $20 out of me. I said
I wanted an official receipt. The "guide" said they
don't give receipts here. I said, "Then I'll go the
cashier and pay so they can give me a receipt. He
said, basically, "Never mind." I was told the border
is open until 10 pm. Maybe crossing at night is
better (at least it wasn't so darned hot!) but it
means at least a little driving at night which is
scary. Since we didn't know where to go on the
Guatemalan side, we drove to the first well-lit, 24
hour service station and asked if we could park there
for the night. The attendant pointed to the jefe
nearby. He was packing an automatic rifle and said we
should camp close to where he stands guard all night.
We felt safe enough there but, really, the omnipresent
armed guards in Central America are a little
intimidating.
My advice to anyone going through Central America is
to insist that you go everywhere with your documents,
even though it may take a little longer. It also
helps to look stupid sometimes. Going into Honduras,
I let the "guide" take my stuff and when it was all
over he handed me "receipts" for $103. I really had
my doubts. Also, after searching the entire van (the
first time on the entire trip), the police started
hinting that we should give them something, like our
music CDs. I put a really blank look on my face.
Then they said it might take until 8 o'clock at night
to finish the search. I just acted a little outraged
and astonished. I would have stayed until 8 before
I'd give them anything. When we crossed into El
Salvador, the police went through the van with a dog.
I certainly prefer dogs to pulling out all our stuff
in 100 degree heat. It's also something of a comfort
to me to know that nobody has hidden anything anywhere
in or on the van. Good dog!
We spent last night in Guatemala City in Hotel Excel.
We made an attempt at exploring but both of us have
colds and we didn't last long. We're in Antigua
Guatemala, a short drive west. We intend to do some
exploring to the west and north of here. Then we'll
return to Guatemala City for a day on our way east to
Belen/Tikal.
Jeanne
