Border Crossings Archives

Crossing the Border into Bogota Colombia Via Avianca Air Cargo

This was an unusual border crossing into Colombia as my motorcycle was entering via Avianca Air Cargo. I know I said in my last post that I was using Girag Air Cargo, and I did, but they in turn contract Avianca Air Cargo to fly my motorcycle to Bogota Colombia. It had me thinking though, why couldn’t I just use Avianca? I’m not sure. I haven’t read anyone using Avianca before, just Girag. Anyways, what is done is done.

My Entry into Colombia

My entry into Colombia was pretty basic. I flew from Panama City to Bogota Colombia via Avianca Air, passed through Immigration and I was in.

From there I took a “taxi” to the Hotel Golden near the airport so I could walk to get my motorcycle out of Avianca Air Cargo.

Now I put taxi in quotation marks because I made a rookie mistake. I thought I had made arrangements for the hotel to pick me up. When I got off of the plane they weren’t there. I ended up standing in the airport thinking about what I should do next. All I had was US money and I had passed the exchange booth on the other side of Customs and couldn’t see another one around me. As I was standing there a man approached me and said, “taxi.” Without thinking I said “yes.” I have never done that before as I know what that means. But before I got my thoughts together I was being escorted into a parking lot and an unmarked car. Oh well. I figured I would just go with it. The driver took me to my hotel and I ended up paying him $20 US. I am guessing way more than I should have. It was late now and I just wanted to go to bed.

Avianca Air Cargo

The next day I walked from the Hotel Golden to where Avianca Air Cargo was. Except there was a fence around it and the entry point was guarded. The guard told me to go into the building and register. I have marked this number 1 on the map.

At the counter they wanted my passport and checked me in. I then went back to the gate at #2 and the guard carded me through.

From there I walked to Avianca Air Cargo. The first entrance I went to was the wrong one for me and a staff member directed me around the corner up to the third floor of the building that I marked as #3.

No one was at the desk in the lobby but I noticed that the door into the offices was not locking properly, so I walked in ha ha.

Language became a problem as no one spoke English. We had to rely on my Spanish! Eventually we got it sorted out and they found someone that spoke English. He gave me a bunch of papers and said to go to Customs at #4 on the third floor and they would sign the documents. When I was done, come back and get my motorcycle.

Customs

Off I walked to Customs.

The same guard had to card me through to the elevators to get to the third floor.

When I got up there, this is what I saw.

Not knowing where to go I asked the security guard. He pointed me to one desk. When I got there he directed me to the desk you can see in the middle of the picture with the white haired man and woman sitting at it.

The woman at the desk asked for my papers and then told me to leave ha ha. I just walked to where the picture was taken and just stood there looking at her ha ha.

Eventually, she waved me over and went through my documents. The officer didn’t speak English but luckily the woman you see in the picture jumped in and interpreted for me. What the officer wanted was a scraping of my VIN number off of my motorcycle. Ahhhhh …. my Spanish just doesn’t extend to things like that ha ha.

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Soooooo back downstairs I went. The guard had to card me out of the building and back into the fenced compound where I went up to the 3rd floor of Avianca barged my way through the door that was suppose to be locked and went over to the woman who had been helping me. She got the English speaking guy and I explained what Customs wanted. He explained it to who appeared to be a warehouse supervisor. He was not happy.

Down we went to the warehouse where I had to check in, leave all my belongings at the desk, be searched, and wear these metal covers over my runners. Soon a tractor wheeled in my motorcycle all wrapped up in plastic and netting.

The workers uncovered part of it, took a felt pen to my VIN and then put a piece of tape over it and scratched an impression of the VIN onto the tape and put the tape onto a piece of paper.

Back to Customs

With my VIN impression in hand I was back to the gate where the guard carded me out and carded me to the the elevators and back to the third floor where I went back to the officer. She looked at the impression and then passed me onto a woman you can see at the far end of the photo along the same row of desks.

She took forever to fill in paperwork both manually and in the computer.

Meanwhile, who walked in but Carlos who I met at Girag. It was like an old homecoming ha ha. His English is poor but still better than my Spanish. We just talked while the officer was filling out the paperwork. Once in awhile he had to interpret for me.

Eventually my paperwork was done.

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Back to Avianca Air Cargo and the same routine with the Guard and the woman on the 3rd floor. The English speaker was there and he said to go downstairs and wait for my motorcycle. Down I went.

Eventually it was my turn to pick up.

Finally. Four hours later.

Hotel Golden

With my motorcycle and I finally into Colombia and reunited, I went back to the Hotel Golden. Now this hotel isn’t the nicest, but it is within walking distance to Avianca Air Cargo. And it is inexpensive. The area isn’t that great either. But is seemed safe. It reminded me a bit of an old run down English village. I had booked 2 days there just in case it took that long to get my motorcycle out. So I had a day to kill before heading into downtown Bogota to explore.

My Location for October 18 and 19, 2017

Border Run to Panama at Paso Canoas

With my time at Puerto Viejo finished 🙁 it was time to make the border run to Panama at the Paso Canoas border.

San Jose

Of course all roads in Costa Rica lead through San Jose. Since I was just staying a night there, I picked a cheap, but really nice, hotel on the outskirts of San Jose – Hotel Posada Canal Grande.

The people hear were really nice and they actually had a nice restaurant in the hotel.

Jaco

My next stop on the way to the Panama border was Jaco. I had heard about Jaco, the beaches, and night-life. Unfortunately, it rained or threatened rain most of my time there.

The beaches were a bit disappointing to me. But still not too bad 🙂

There were a couple people with motorized kites flying about. I am sure there is an official name for them that I’m not aware of.

I stayed at a cool hostel in Jaco called Hotel Buddha House. Like all hostels it seems, the people there were very friendly and informal.

I ended up with a private room in the corner. So relaxing just sitting outside.

Coming back from a walk at night. My motorcycle was sleeping 🙂

Neily

My last stop before hitting the Panama border was the town of Neily.

It was a bit of a long ride to the town but with some nice views.

At one point I was looking for a coffee place to rest a bit. There was nothing until out of the blue I saw a coffee shop called Sibu. It was strange in that this was a extremely nice coffee place in the middle of nowhere and I didn’t see anything like it on my ride.

Of course I had to stop.

My hotel in Neily, Hotel Fortuna Verde, was basic for sure. And there was anything around within an easy walking distance. However, the people got some beer for me ha ha ha to add to some snacks I had stached …. and there was a place to park my motorcycle under a shelter. I guess those are the 2 most important things ha ha ha.

Panama Border at Paso Canoas

The day was finally here. Another border crossing. I actually don’t mind them too much, except for the fixers and heat. Otherwise, it is fun for me being able to talk to people and solve the problem of getting through it. It is a stretching exercise for me as I have to push myself through all the steps to finally find the answers and get through them. The Panama Border was no different.

Here is the border and steps that I will explain.

I had done some studying beforehand. It turned out a lot of what I studied was dated. So I was confused at first as I attempted to exit Costa Rica.

#1 on the map was paying the Costa Rica Exit fee at the bank located across the street from Immigration.

Next at #2 was going through immigration on the right in the photo.

The last step to exit Costa Rica was Customs at #3. It is located just past Immigration around the corner and through the glass doors.

The whole process of exiting Costa Rica was really simple and quick! It was now time to ride a short distance to the Panama Border to enter Panama.

Under the canopy at the Panama border I parked my motorcycle in a line of other vehicles.

I first went to immigration that you can see just ahead of my motorcycle. There I was approached by an older gentleman wearing an official looking name badge. He told me I had to get insurance first. Oh great … thanks. I thought that would be the end of it … but no. Turned out he was a fixer who now hung onto me. I wasn’t in the mood to fight him so I just let him drag me around through the process.

#4 was getting insurance. The insurance booth on my side of the road was closed so we went to the one on the other side of the complex.

After purchasing one month worth of insurance, it was to immigration.

This was the usual basic stuff, except that they took fingerprints.

Next was Customs at #5 just down from Immigration.

There I handed in all my motorcycle documentation while they took their time adding it on a computer and printing out another form.

#6 was the difficult part of the crossing. The Customs agent at the window said to find another Customs agent out there somewhere to inspect my bike and sign the document. So off my fixer and I went to find this guy.

After searching for a while, we found him but he was busy on a bus. To save some time we went to the Fumigation booth and paid for fumigation. Then it was back to finding the Customs Agent again.

We finally corralled the agent and guided him to my motorcycle. The agent made me open my panniers and top case. It touched a few of the contents but that was it. Then signed my temporary import permit for my motorcycle.

It was onto my last stop, #8, to get my motorcycle fumigated.

After that was done I paid my fixer $10 US. He didn’t look too happy with the amount, but I didn’t care at this stage. I was through the border and now about to explore Panama!

My Route on September 21, 2017

My Route on September 22, 2017

My Location on September 23, 2017

My Route on September 24, 2017

My Route on September 25, 2017 into Panama

There Is No Place Like Home

From San Jose I rode a short distance to Alajuela, Costa Rica, so I could catch a flight home from the nearby San Jose airport. It turned out that the flight back home to Vancouver, Canada, and the flight back, were not as routine as I thought they would be.

Alajuela Airbnb

In Alajuela I rented an Airbnb for a month, including the 2 weeks I would be at home. The cost was under my accommodation budget and had a secure place to store my motorcycle. Perhaps I could have found secure parking at a cheaper cost, but this was a place I could stay for a few days before leaving and a known place to come back to without have to move everything a couple of times.

Flight Home

For the first time, I used the Uber app to get an Uber ride to the airport. Unlike most things in Costa Rica, it was cheap! Although the driver was preoccupied with sex. I guess when he found out I was traveling alone he thought that was what I would be interested in talking about.

I got to the airport and my gate on time. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same thing about my flight 🙁 It was late. I was taking a flight from San Jose to Houston and then Houston to Vancouver.

Soon I heard my name called on the intercom. Yup … My flight was so late I would miss my flight to Houston. I had two choices, catch a flight tomorrow from San Jose, or go to Houston and catch a flight home tomorrow from there. I decided just to start all over again tomorrow.

Copa Airlines was pretty good in their response. They escorted me past immigration to get my luggage, then past Customs. I then met with a ticket agent to reserve my flights for tomorrow. The best deal was a 4 am flight to Panama City, then to Houston and finally Vancouver. The first 2 flights were in First Class.

With that settled they got me a taxi to a nearby Best Western where they gave me a $12 meal voucher.

By 6 pm I closed my blinds, set the alarm for 1 a.m., and went to sleep.

1 a.m. came early 🙁

The first 2 flights were good. But by the time I got to Houston I just didn’t want to go any further.

I arrived in Vancouver at 10:30 and was so glad to be met by my daughter. A long day!

Kids and Grandkids

The main reason for going home now was to be with my kids and grandkids while it was still summer in Vancouver. By far the hardest part of my adventure is being away from them for extended periods of time.

So I REALLY enjoyed spending time with them. Going to English Bay, Ambleside Park, White Rock, Langley, Stanley Park, bowling, picnics, patios … Of course there was a lot of swinging, see-sawing and digging in the sand with the grandkids. So much fun.

Here we were watching kids jump off of the pier at White Rock along with watching crabbers bring up their catch.

White Rock

I went once with my grandkids to White Rock, but I also managed to sneak off to enjoy it on my own. It is definitely one of my favorite places in the world.

Surreal Experience

One thing I made time for was to see friends who I hadn’t seen since high school over 40 years ago! A very surreal experience. My high school experiences are a bit of a blur now. I don’t remember a lot. But seeing Ralph, Colette and Eileen brought back memories, as did looking through old school yearbooks. I haven’t been in touch with many from high school since those days, but they had been. It was fun hearing about people from years ago and where they are now. Amazing how far we have all come and the experiences we have had. Hard to believe. I think time and experiences tend to mellow us from those crazy high school days. There seemed to be all these group statuses back then. At least that was my perception. But not anymore.

Anyways … thanks Ralph, Colette and Eileen for the good time and for your support. The nicest people ever.

Flying Home

My 2 weeks at home went by fast. Thanks Mike, Amy, Mia, Ben, Car, Ian and Nick for such an enjoyable time and your hospitality.

My flight back to Costa Rica was Vancouver to Los Angeles to Panama City to San Jose. As I checked into my Air Canada flight to LA there was a problem already. Their screen said I needed to show a ticket onward out of Costa Rica. I explained to them that my motorcycle was in Costa Rica and I would be riding it out of the country. I was just away for 2 weeks to visit my kids. They were good about it and let me through, but warned I could be sent back to Panama by Costa Rican immigration.

As a precaution I booked a hotel in Panama to show immigration that I was planning to leave the country.

In LA I had to walk to a different terminal to catch my Copa Airlines flight to Panama City. LA is my least favorite airport in the world. The walk seemed to take forever as I went through tunnels, and up and down escalators. But I finally made it to the gate.

As they started to board the plane I heard my name called on the intercom. I went to the desk. The clerk said I needed to show a ticket out of Costa Rica before I could board the plane. Once again I explained my circumstances. Unlike Air Canada, they didn’t care. I HAD to show a ticket out of the country or I couldn’t board the plane. A hotel reservation was not good enough. It had to be a ticket proving I was going to be leaving the country! I continued to argue that they never cared about this when I entered the country on my motorbike. The clerk said I was just wasting time and advised me that even a bus ticket out of the country would work.

The pressure was now on. The plane was boarding as I scrambled on line to purchase any bus ticket out of Costa Rica.

I heard them directing people to take my luggage off of the plane!

I found a bus ticket on line! They would send me an invoice and I would have to pay it and then they would send me a ticket via email. That all takes time. I begged them to hurry. The invoice came, however, when I tried to pay it I couldn’t. It wanted a Paypal account, even though I was paying by credit card, and for some reason I couldn’t access my account.

By this time everyone had boarded the plane. The last call was made. It looked like I would miss my flight and be stuck in LA. I let out a huge sigh cuasing everyone to look at me. The clerk came over to me and said, “show me what you have.” I showed her my invoice.

September 10, to Nicaragua, that’s all she needed to see. She didn’t need to see how I paid for it. Of course I hadn’t and never would. So all I needed was an invoice of a ticket leaving the country that I never plan on using to PROVE I was leaving the country. It all made no sense. But at that point I didn’t care. I rushed onto the plane.

In Panama City no one asked me the same question.

In Costa Rica as approached customs I felt like I was a criminal and could be sent to jail ha ha. I got up to the booth and the agent only wanted to know how long I would be there. That was it. He gave me 90 days and I was off!

The whole thing was stupid. The world is not made for long term motorcycle travellers. It is only made for vacationers or immigrants.

Now the big question was whether or not my luggage would arrive since I heard them taking it off. It did! When I saw it I was so relieved. I made it back.

My Route on August 13 2017

My Location from August 14 to 16, 2017

My Location August 17 to 31, 2017

Crossing the Border at Penas Blancas into Costa Rica

Little did I know as I packed up to leave San Juan del Sur that crossing the border at Penas Blancas into Costa Rica was the most frustrating border crossing to date.

It turned out my studying was of minimal help and even Google Maps was, and is, out of date.

Leaving Nicaragua

I arrived at the Nicaraguan side of the Penas Blancas border crossing and was confused right away. The building I was looking for wasn’t there. Well … it was … but I guess they must have redone it because it looked nothing like the picture I had studied. Now it had all glass walls on the outside. To make matters worse, there were no signs on where to go.

So, of course, I ended up going into immigration to enter Nicaragua! And I had to pay $1 US to do it ha ha. I was soon directed to the back of the building labeled #2 in the picture below. There is a door for immigration and one for customs that are not signed. Of course I did things backwards and went to customs first.

Once at the back, the customs officer wanted a form. What form???!!! I was told to go outside and look for a police officer to get the form. The police officer could be anywhere outside!

I walked around aimlessly looking for a police officer. Finally I found one at a shack at the far end. It is labelled #1 on my picture below. However, don’t count on a police officer being there again.

He gave me a form to fill out. I was being badgered by fixers outside, and it was hot, so I went back inside the air conditioned customs/immigration building to fill out the form.

Now you would think a completed form was enough. But oh no … I had to go back outside and find the police officer again to have him sign it. Then I also had to find a customs officer outside to sign it as well. Once again, they could be anywhere outside.

I headed back to where I saw the police officer last. He wasn’t there. I walked around the parking lot and across the street looking for a police officer.

Following me was a fixer who wasn’t saying much. No badgering like most of them. He told me to follow him and he located a police officer in the parking lot.

This police officer was not the friendliest and didn’t speak English. He asked me a couple things in Spanish which I didn’t understand. The fixer translated for me and the officer signed my form. I now had to find an immigration officer. At this point I was hot and frustrated and agreed to hire the quiet fixer.

The fixer, with me in tow, looked around for a customs officer. We finally saw one getting off of a bus parked in the lot. He walked with us to my bike where he looked at my VIN and looked in one of my paniers before signing the form. Back to Customs I went.

Finally, after providing them with copies of my documents, Customs approved the form and stamped my motorcycle permit to exit Nicaragua.

Since I ended up doing things backwards, I now needed to go through immigration in the same building at the back.

I handed the immigration officer all my documents and she wanted $2 US and didn’t have change! Back out I went again looking for a money changer. They are everywhere so that wasn’t difficult.

The fixer wanted $10 US for his trouble. Pretty pricey, but at this point I didn’t care. I just wanted out of there. Off I went to tackle the Costa Rica side of the border.

Entering Costa Rica

As I approached the Costa Rican side of the border I was sure hoping things would go smoother.

The first thing I needed to do was go through fumigation at the fork in the road labelled #3 in the picture below. However, when I turned down the road I was told by the “fumigator” to turn around and go down the other road. When I did that, an immigration officer said to go back to fumigation! Here we go again. With hand expressions I told the immigration officer that fumigation had sent me this way. Finally he smiled and waved me through. Phew. Onto the next hurdle.

The immigration building was as I had studied. Finally!

I waited in line inside the building labeled #4 in the picture below, only to be told when I reached the immigration officer that I needed to fill out a form. At least she gave me the form and didn’t send me outside searching for a police officer.

With the form filled out, immigration stamped my passport and it was on to the first customs.

Yes I said the “first” customs. It was right across the street.

I have labelled it #5 in the picture below.

Here I handed in copies of all my documents along with the originals. THe customs officer gave me 2 forms to fill out and said I also needed a copy of the passport page where immigration stamped it. Next door a woman said she would copy it for me.

After filling out the forms the customs officer gave me a document and I was onto the second customs building labelled #6 below.

Once again my studying DID NOT pay off. I went to the building where others before me had went but it was now vacant! I had no idea where to go. I did see a new building down a path towards the main road and walked down there. At the first entrance I was told to go to the next entrance.

I knew motorcycle insurance was required in Costa Rica and the booth for that was on the right as I entered the building. $30 US later I had insurance. The main booth in the building was the second customs office. I have no idea why there are two customs. Perhaps I could have done everything at this office. I don’t know. Anyways, I handed the customs officer my passport, insurance, registration, the first customs document and everything else I could think of. After a lot of data entry onto his computer he handed me a temporary import permit for my motorcycle. I was finally done and riding to the beach at Tamarindo!!!!

My Route for August 8, 2017

Crossing the Border from Honduras to Nicaragua at El Guasaule

After spending the night at Choluteca, Honduras, I tackled the border from Honduras to Nicaragua at El Guasaule.

Choleteca

Having crossed the border into Honduras, I rode to Choletuca. There was A LOT of construction on the road. I could see why when I road the parts where there was no construction. The road in these spots was littered with crater like potholes that could do serious damage if you hit one. So my eyes were peeled on the road.

I reached the hotel I booked and was pleasantly surprised. It looked new and was very clean. As I checked in the clerk, who was about mid 20s, she spoke perfect English! I asked her where she learned and she said she was educated in a bilingual school and then her mother sent her to Naples Florida for more school.

Anyways, I enjoyed the hotel and a beer on the patio.

It was then time to study for the El Guasaule border. I heard from many that this was the worst border they had encountered on there ride to Argentina. I got mentally prepared for it.

Honduras Border at El Guasaule

Ok …. here is a map of the entire border. My first step was #1 at the Honduran border.

As I rode close to the border people started yelling at me and waving their arms. At one point I encountered a gang of them. One even tried jumping in front of my motorcycle. I didn’t slow and rode straight through them as they jumped back. As I rode past I noticed out of the side of my eye the customs building I had been looking for. I was almost past it.

I quickly made a left turn turning into the exit. The fixers must have been gathering at the entrance driveway to the building. It turned out to be a good plan to enter through the exit ha ha. As I turned I almost ran over a fixer who had been chasing me on his bicycle.

When I parked the bicycle fixer approached me along with a couple others. They said the usual that this was the hardest border to cross and I couldn’t do it on my own. I politely said I didn’t need their help. I didn’t want to be too rude for fear that they may do something to my bike while I was inside.

First, I went to immigration on the far side counter to have them stamp my passport out of Honduras. Easy. While I was there one of the fixers who was following me asked if I had been to Central America before. I lied and said yes. He immediately disappeared.

Next was Customs. Here I presented my passport, drivers license, motorcycle registration and entry form into Honduras. One thing that is strange is that here, like at a lot of the borders, they asked me if the one page motorcycle registration form was all I had. I guess there is a lot more paper to register a motorcycle in theses countries. It wasn’t long and the import permit for my motorcycle was cancelled.

Onto the Nicaragua border.

Nicaragua Border

This is where things took a turn from what I studied the night before.

Step #3 was fumigation. I pulled up and spoke to an immigration official who wanted to see my papers. He then handed me a medical form to fill out. It was then I was approached by another immigration officer who spoke English. I was now singled out for “special” treatment. He took my passport and told me to meet him at Immigration across the round about. I hated seeing him disappear with my passport but I didn’t have much choice.

After he left I paid $3 US, pulled ahead and had my motorcycle fumigated at point #4. I have no idea what was in the liquid but it made me cough.

I then rounded the roundabout and pulled into the Customs building at #5. The English speaking Immigration Officer wasn’t there. Turned out he was waiting for me across the street and came over to talk to me. He escorted me to the Immigration building across the street and interviewed me.

Some of the interview questions were: where was I going? where did I come from? where did I live? how much money did I have on me? how much money did I have in the bank? and what did I do for a living? The money questions concerned me. But nothing came from them.

After the interview he escorted me into the building across the street where I parked my motorcycle. He told me to sit down while he talked to another Immigration officer wearing a white shirt. I gathered that this was his boss. After the short conversation I was then escorted to an immigration booth where I signed a few forms, had my passport stamped and paid $12 US.

As would be normal, I figured my next step was Customs to get a permit for my motorcycle. So I went to the Customs booth. This is where the confusion started. I handed the usual to the Customs officer and as he went through the paper he got this confused look on his face. He spoke to me in Spanish but I didn’t understand what he was saying. The English speaking Immigration officer came over and said no …. everything had been taken care of at immigration. What?! He directed me outside the building where I needed to have some clerk sign the back of the medical form I also needed to fill out.

I quickly filled out the medical form and had one of the people wearing baby blue shirts sign the back of it.

The English speaking officer then directed me to the very back of the building at #6 where there was an xray machine and a tourist booth. There I handed the clerk all my paperwork and the medical form. Eventually, she handed me a completed form and requested $12 US. OK. With that it was on to the the last step, mandatory insurance for my motorcycle.

I exited the building looking for an insurance agent who was suppose to be outside somewhere. Finally, a woman selling drinks came to me and said I’ll show you. She walked me across the street to a courtyard behind the building.

At this point I was somewhat confused. This building, where I was interviewed too, appeared also to be a Customs and Immigration building. There were two?! And it was this building that I had studied about.

Anyways, in the courtyard were some women behind tables. I purchased insurance for …. you guessed it …$12 US.

I followed the woman back to her drinks and bought one and left a tip for her help. I was finally done!

The whole process was somewhat confusing due to my “special” treatment. I have no idea why there were two custom buildings. In some ways having the English speaking Immigration officer escorting me made things a lot easier. In other ways it made it more confusing. But in the end, as usual, it all worked out fine.

Nicaragua!

The first thing I noticed about Nicaragua were the roads. They were unreal good. The best roads I’ve seen since the US. No potholes and so smooth. Some sections were even done in cement.

Besides the roads the landscape was beautiful.

What a great ride to Managua where I would be staying for a couple of days.

My Route for July 18, 2017

Crossing the Border at Las Chinamas from Guatemala to El Salvador

I was feeling a bit better now, still a sore throat, but after 2 weeks in Antigua it was time to cross the border at Las Chinamas into El Salvador.

As I was getting ready to leave, I could feel some anxiety. After 2 weeks I had gotten comfortable in Antigua. My daughter said that for most it takes 2 years to get comfortable in a place. But I guess when you have been traveling for a year, hopping from place to place, 2 weeks is a long time. However, as I started to ride, the anxiety disappeared.

It was a long ride to the border at Las Chinamas from Antigua. I had thought about staying a bit closer but didn’t find anyplace I liked.

Las Chinamas Border Crossing

I spent the night before I left studying the border as I normally do. This relieves any anxiety I may have and helps me recognize where I need to go.

There were 7 steps to cross the border. The first 2 were on the Guatemalan side of hte border.

Guatemala Las Chinamas Border

I rode up to the border and went under the canopy to the middle of the building. I was immediately approached by money changers who I just ignored for the time being. At the middle of the building there are glass doors. Right inside to the right is immigration. They stamped my passport and gave me a small piece of paper that I tucked away so I didn’t lose it.

The 2nd step was to go to Customs to check my motorcycle out. I continued through the glass doors to the other side of the building. The Customs office is to the right at the end of the building. There the customs woman took my passport, drivers license, motorcycle registration and my motorcycle entry permit. After a few minutes she walked with me to my motorcycle, removed the sticker from mGy windshield, and headed back to her office. A few minutes later she handed me the cancelled entry permit and I was done!

All along a money changer had been lurking around me. When I got back to my motorcycle I pulled out the few Guatemalan money I had left and he gave me $10 US in exchange. The currency for El Salvador is US dollars.

El Salvador Las Chinamas Border

The el Salvador side of the border wasn’t quite as easy.

I crossed the bridge and on the other side was flagged down at a small building on the right.

Here I would do steps 3 and 6.

After waiting for a bit a man came out and handed me a form to fill out. It was all in Spanish. I figured out most of the stuff but left a lot blank. I then handed the form back to him with my Passport, Drivers License, and motorcycle registration with a copy of each.

After a long time, he came back with everything and checked my VIN. He had completed a new form with all the information I had given him. He kept asking “electronico” but I had no idea what he meant by it. Eventually he just stopped asking ha ha.

Another man came out and I followed him across the street to complete step 4. I didn’t have to do much for that. He sat at his computer and was entering data from my documentation. He asked if I had a copy of my cancelled Guatemalan entry form to which I said no. He made a copy for me. Like the guy before he asked “electronico.” I had no idea what he was asking for. Finally a gentleman showed up and said “e-mail.” AHHHHHHH ok … now I get it. I printed my email on a form, signed a couple of things and I was done with Customs.

Step 5 was Immigration which was pretty easy. It was just down from the Customs office.

Another Motorcyclist

As I was heading back to my motorcycle at the small building by the bridge, A young guy with a big smile came up to me and put out his hand. I was a bit taken aback until he spoke in English and said he was riding too. Turned out he was from Argentina and riding a Chinese bike to Mexico from Argentina.

We exchanged some info about my upcoming borders and road conditions. He suggeted I do the 2 borders in Honduras on the same day as they were a pain. He said it would make a long day but worth it.

It was pretty cool meeting another biker. I haven’t met as many as I thought I would. When I got back to my bike, sure enough, there was his.

Last Steps

I was almost done crossing the border. I handed the guy at the small building my stamped passport and the form completed at the Customs building. He checked it and said that was it!

I got on my bike and about 25 metres up the road I was stopped. It was hardly worth putting my helmet on. The immigration officer there looked at my passport and took that small piece of paper I received from the Guatemalan Immigration. NOW I was free to go!

Ahuachapan

I planned on stopping at Ahuachapan for the night where I had booked La Casa de Mamapan hotel. It wasn’t too far from the border.

When I booked it I said I needed secure parking for my motorcycle. The secure parking was the lobby of the hotel!

The problem was getting my motorcycle in there. There were several steps to get through the door.

The people at the hotel made a ramp, but part of the ramp was just a piece of wood the would give way every time I gave some gas to get over it.

Finally, a group a boys who were watching all this, came up and lifted the rear of my motorcycle over the piece of wood and onto the ramp made of a long piece of wood. A little gas and I was through the door and into the lobby.

For the rest of the evening people were coming by and looking at this huge motorcycle in the lobby of the hotel ha ha.

There wasn’t much to see in Achuachapan. I found a Bank of Nova Scotia to get money. And ran across a cool crepe place where I ordered a couple of strawberry smoothies. Then called it a day.

My Route for July 10, 2017

Crossing the Border into Guatemala

After a relaxing time in San Cristabol it was time to tackle the border into Guatemala. I first wanted to get a little closer to the border. But not too close as border towns are infamously chaotic places. I chose Comitán de Domínguez.

Comitán de Domínguez

I arrived early to Comitán. As usual the weather forecast was for rain everyday. But I am discovering the pattern. It is nice in the morning and afternoon. Then late afternoon and into the evening it rains or thunders. So the plan was to get to Comitán before the rain started.

Comitán surprised me! What a nice place. Hardly any foreign tourists and the town plaza was beautiful.

Of course there were the usual amazing churches.

Then the rain struck.

It didn’t last long though and I was back to the plaza to enjoy some wings and beer 🙂

Checking out of Mexico

The next day I tackled the border into Guatemala at La Messila. I had done some research but there wasn’t the detail I wanted to really understand where to go etc. So hopefully here I can provide a little bit more for those who may wish to follow.

First I needed to check out of Mexico. Where to go? Where to go? As I got close to the border I saw on the other side of the street some buildings that looked like an Aduana. I turned around and headed back.

No one was around. I walked into building #1 in the photo and was greeted by a security guard. He said to wait a minute. A little bit later an older man came to the desk. He looked at my passport, visa, and my 500 peso entrance fee paperwork. He handed my passport back and that was it. He didn’t say a word.

As I walked outside, another security guard asked me to pulled my motorcycle up to building #2. He then directed me to the Banjercito bank booth and told me to wait.

Eventually a gentleman came and took my paperwork for the $400 USD temporary import permit for my motorcycle. He then went outside and took a photo of my motorcycle VIN and came back inside. Moments later he handed me back $400 USD and that was it! Pretty simple. No hassle.

Crossing the Border in Guatemala at La Mesilla

Now for the hard part. Well …. it really wasn’t that hard. Just more chaotic.

So there is a long stretch of no man’s land between when you check out of Mexico, #3 in the photo and reach the Gautemalan border at #4 in the photo.

I reached an open gate at the border, #5 in the photos. I did stop before the gate as it looked like a government building there. But I was waved on by a money changer who said the fumingation and border was on the other side of the gate.

Just on the other side of the gate, at #6 in the photo, is where you have to get your motorcycle fumingated. It cost 11 Q or about $2 Canadian.

I then exchanged my Mexican pesos with the money changer that showed me where to go. He was the only one there. I didn’t have much so I really didn’t care about the exchange rate. Plus he had helped me. But the rate seemed reasonable.

Right next door at #7 in the photo is the immigration office. They were really friendly. I just filled out some paperwork, and he stamped my passport. That was it. I hope that is all that was required … huuummmm. I guess I will find out.

The Aduana for my motorcycle entry is just next door at #8 in the photo.

The people at the Aduana were equally as nice. I gave him my registration, passport and drivers license and he spent what seemed like an eternity filling out paperwork. I then had to go next door to pay a fee of 160 Q or about $30 Canadian. Then it was back to the Aduana where he had more paperwork to do ha ha. Poor guy. After all that he came out to my motorcycle and put a import sticker on my windshield.

I was now in Guatemala! I let out a cheer. The policeman next to me said welcome to Guatemala 🙂

Riding into Guatemala

As I left the Aduana it felt like I was riding into the abyss ha ha.

I didn’t want to stay too close to the border but still close enough because I had no idea how long it would take to cross. I decided on Huehuetenango.

Huehuetenango

The hotel I stayed at, La Chacra de Joel Hotel, was tucked in off the street in a quiet treed area.

As usual I decided to explore the town a bit. Boy, there wasn’t much there that I could find of interest.

Tripadvisor did recommend a coffee place nearby, Fuego Café. I headed there hoping it would be a bit a refuge in unknown territory. It was.

I had a victory coffee and sandwich for crossing another border 🙂

My Route from San Cristabol to Comitan on May 15, 2017

My Route from Comitan to Huehuetenango on May 16, 2017

Back to Mexico from Belize

Alas, it was finally time to go back to Mexico. This was not my original plan. Before my surgery the plan was to go to Belize and then onto Guatemala. My surgery changed things. Because I spent 2 months at home recovering from surgery, I needed to get my motorcycle out of the country fast. However, I hadn’t seen everything in Mexico I wanted to.

So I went to Belize to get my bike out of Mexico in time and to see the country. Instead of going into Guatemala today, I was heading back into Mexico. I would go to Guatemala from Mexico.

Ride to the Border

As I packed up to head back into Mexico I realized I was going to miss Belize. It had grown on me. The people were really nice. Often people said hi to me as I walked the city. And they didn’t even want anything. I was also going to miss Spoonaz and my server Jolene. And my morning coffee at La Petit Cafe. Oh well … leaving places and people is part of my life as a traveler.

Like every day here, it was hot in the mid 30 degrees C. However, once I started to ride it was OK.

I just hoped the newly updated Belize maps would be a lot better. They were. That is until I reached the border town. Once again I got twisted around. My GPS lead me down to a dirt road and to a waters edge. It was up to me to find the border on my own. It really wasn’t that difficult. I just followed the main road north.

Belize Border

It was now time to do the border dance again. First the Belize border.

I pulled into the parking lot at #1 and went into the building at #2 to go to immigration. However the first booth was to pay $40 US worth of tourism departure fees. Good thing I had US money as I didn’t have enough Belizean dollars left.

After that is was the immigration booth where I handed in my departure form. They directed to teh vehicle booth in the far building labeled #3 in the photo. This was the same booth I attended when I entered the country. There I handed in my Temporary Import Permit and passport for them to cancel the permit. It was pretty simple. They just stamped over the passport stamp where they documented the import of my motorcycle.

From there it was back on my motorcycle to leave. But as I rode down the road I encountered another booth. This one was to check my passport and to make sure I had completed everything I needed to leave. The officer was really nice and wanted to know all about my trip. Now off to the Mexico border.

Mexico Border

As I rode up to the border I parked in the parking lot at #2 where I had done all the documentation when I crossed into Belize. I went inside to go to immigration. People were lined up with their entry cards but I couldn’t find any in the building. Huuuummmmm. So I watched where people were coming from with their cards in hand. It turned out there was a building at #1 where a customs officer questions you and hands you an entry card.

Once I had the card I lined up in building #2 with my card in hand. The immigration officer just asked a couple of questions and stamped me in.

Now I had to get my Temporary Import Permit for Mexico. I attended Banjercito to get it. I handed the woman my passport, vehicle registration, my entry card, and $400 US as a deposit. The woman noticed right away that my vehicle registration was a copy. She said she needed the original. Back out into the parking lot I went to get the original registration from my panier.

Back inside i gave it to her and she completed lots of paperwork. This is where it got a bit confusing. First she asked for 500 pesos as a tourism fee. I gave her that. Then she asked for $50 US (in Spanish) for something that I didn’t quite get what it was for. I handed her $60 US and then she motioned something. In the end she didn’t give me $10 US in return and I forgot all about it until I was on my way to Chetamul. So I am not quite sure if I was taken there or what happened. Also confusing was the 500 pesos as I paid it before when I left Mexico and not when I entered. However, I understand it is suppose to be paid when you enter.

In the end though I got my Temporary Import Permit and my tourism card.

As I rode out I passed a final check by customs officers at #3, but they waved me through as they were already searching all the cars they could handle.

I was now back in Mexico

Chetamul

Since I was crossing a border I didn’t plan to ride many kilometers today. So I stayed in Chetamul for the night.

My Entry into Colombia

Avianca Air Cargo

Customs

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Back to Customs

Back to Avianca Air Cargo

Hotel Golden

My Location for October 18 and 19, 2017

San Jose

Jaco

Neily

Panama Border at Paso Canoas

My Route on September 21, 2017

My Route on September 22, 2017

My Location on September 23, 2017

My Route on September 24, 2017

My Route on September 25, 2017 into Panama

Alajuela Airbnb

Flight Home

Kids and Grandkids

White Rock

Surreal Experience

Flying Home

My Route on August 13 2017

My Location from August 14 to 16, 2017

My Location August 17 to 31, 2017

Leaving Nicaragua

Entering Costa Rica

My Route for August 8, 2017

Choleteca

Honduras Border at El Guasaule

Nicaragua Border

Nicaragua!

My Route for July 18, 2017

Las Chinamas Border Crossing

Guatemala Las Chinamas Border

El Salvador Las Chinamas Border

Another Motorcyclist

Last Steps

Ahuachapan

My Route for July 10, 2017

Comitán de Domínguez

Checking out of Mexico

Crossing the Border in Guatemala at La Mesilla

Riding into Guatemala

Huehuetenango

My Route from San Cristabol to Comitan on May 15, 2017

My Route from Comitan to Huehuetenango on May 16, 2017

Ride to the Border

Belize Border

Mexico Border

Chetamul

My Route for April 2, 2017