So, half an hour into Guatemala, the road is blocked by big trucks. As per custom, we ride around them to the front of the line, about 2km. We get to the front and find a road block in place by the local village people protesting electricity rates. It is high noon and hot! We talk to people and the road has been blocked for 3 hours already and who knows how much longer. So now we are at the front of the line and it is getting really crowded. Tempers are starting to flare as some people are let through and others not. Suddenly I got the feeling of what it could be like to be in the wrong at the wrong time. If things turned bad, we were up front and centre in the middle of it with nowhere to go...... Thankfully it ended 1 hour later and we were at the front of a very long line of cars and trucks jostling for position. Sometimes you can end up in the middle of something, even when it was not your intention. My sweating was not due only to the heat!
Fixers and crossing the border....
I know lots of motorcyclers use fixers or helpers to assist them with the myriad of details in crossing borders. Usually the 10dollars or so you give them is a good deal for you and for them. So it was when we crossed from Guatemala to El Salvador. Great guy helped us through and all went smoothly. We were accosted by a fixer at our next border....El Salvador to Honduras...actually, many people wanting to help us, so we went along. Should have known, this guy was really pushy. We ended up paying $45 for each moto at the Aduana which I am sure we did not need to. No receipt, but I watched the fixer give the official the money and she took it so I assumed it was valid, but then after doing more photocopying, the fixers needed another $25 per bike to have all the details entered into the computer and another 12$ per bike for the fumigation fee. This was just a bit too over the top and I said no and collected up all the paperwork and headed back to the bikes cursing away at him because by this time, I realized that we had probably been taken with the original 45 I gave him. Him and his buddy were protesting the whole time that we would get arrested at the next checkpoint for not having all the paperwork in order and when I paid him $10 for his help he insisted that it wasn't enough.....why I paid him anything at all is beyond me...We left and crossed the border no problem so at least I had wisened up and saved us another 75$ in ripoff fees. Bad experience, but learned early in the trip...Next border Hondurous to Nicaragua we said a resounding NO to all the fixers and did it ourselves no problem. So my advice to those of you using fixers, sure the 10$ you might pay them is worth it if they are honest, but not all of them are....these guys even had an official looking id card. They try to make it appear more confusing than it is....if you do it yourself, it is much more tranquillo and the officials will tell you what you need to do. Besides, aren't border crossings just part of the adventure????
