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Mexico to Guatemala crossings
Two (or three) of us are doing some ruins in January '08. We want to see Palenque in Mex and then on to Tikal in Guatemala. There apears to be a road along the border on the Mexico side to Frontera Corosal and a "trail" on the Guatemala side. Can anyone elaborate on the details of the crossing and comment on the reasonableness of crossing there?
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Did that one
Yep, thats the one I took coming the other way. I had to pay a guy $20 to take my bike over the river crossing (no road/bridge). I got my passport stamped in/out on each side ok but there is no Aduana for the motos, you should try the Immigration office in Palenque (even though they weren't interested in giving me any paperwork for the bike).
After the river crossing, you go south following the river I think for about 10kms till you eventually hit the Guatemalan passport control, then its a 1 hour dirt road to the main road going north that'll take you to Flores. I noticed that some backpackers were using this crossing too. Argentina-Alaska: May 2007 I did a write up about it- Scroll down to the blog post entitled 'Viva Mexico' near the bottom of the page. If you need any more info, just ask. |
The town in Guatemala is Bethel.
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As noted by others the problem is not getting the import permit for the bike. A real problem when you are trying to leave. You might try getting a copy of the title or registration stamped by the border folks. It may help. Some have indicated that you can go to the Belize border and get the proper paper work.
Just came back from Palenque and Tikal, well worth the trip. Good luck with the crossing, somewhere you are going to get to spend some quality time with the customs folks. :cool4: |
The Melchor crossing at Belice will do the vehicle paperwork, as mentioned. El Narranjo may also be able to, but I don't know this as a fact.
If you ask customs at Bethel, they will hand-write moto entry into your passport on the stamp. Now you have an excuse, or at least in my mind you do. :) If you don't want to mess with moto paperwork, you can leave via La Mesilla and just not show your bike...getting your pasport stamped out....then just ride across into Mexico. There are also other crossings between Mex/GT without any customs at all which you could use if the open passport stamp doesn't bother you. IIRC, the penalty/fine for not canceling the passport stamp is about $25, and it' wasn't a big deal when I had that done. If you're going further south into Honduras, I'd get the moto paperwork. If you're going back into Mexico within the 180 days, or whatever time you're good for, do not cancel the permit and tourist card before entering GT. Why pay twice? You're gonna have fun.... |
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I am planning the trip for this coming May/June to the Darien Gap and back. I'd like to do interesting crossings. What's the best way of going about getting the paper work after the crossing mentioned here? |
GT entry points
For terraXpeditions ; I think, but am not certain , that you may be able to do more entry formailties in Sayaxche at an SAT office. Sayaxche is east of your Bethel crossing on the paved highway north of Coban into the Peten and on the Rio de la Passion. There is a lot of boat traffic down to and from the R.Ucumacinta and upstream into the Peten and I seem to recall that travellers from these boats can get processed here. Also check out the site www.portal.sat.gob.gt/portal/index which has a lot of info on rules, location of offices and even on line forms that one may be able to complete .
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Yes, both Sayaxche and El Naranjo (Rio San Pedro) handle small ferry traffic to and from Mexico. When I entered on last year's trip from El Ceibo and thru the mud road from Hell, I eventually did formal papers at the Belice border, Mechor de Mencos - an easy ride (if not wet) and not far. If you enter into the Peten, that's where I would recommend going for processing a vehicle, if only because they know what they're doing. Two years ago I came in thru Bethel and never did do paperwork for the bike. Hence, I paid a small fine last year (for no passport cancelation) when getting things right at that Belice border station. No worries, really. Also...I never did check out last year by exiting at Orizabo where there's zero customs on either end. Guess I'll be paying another fine or two in a month or so when returning.... Whether or not to do these small and unusual crossings is mostly an attitude thing. It can be a little more hassle...if you want to be totally legal....but also fun. If you're really into obscure crosssings between Mex and GT, there are also some others. And also between BZ and GT.... |
Can't really say as I never had any bike paperwork in Mexico. I thought the Immigration office in Palenque would sort it all out but they couldn't be arsed and said it didn't matter.
That said, it was a breeze leaving Mexico and going into the US- I had no import paperwork to cancel for the bike. Quote:
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Unless I read this wrong - a common thing on my part - he never got entry papers for the bike. So there shouldn't be a problem returning. |
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So uh, what are these other cool off the grid crossings???:funmeteryes:
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Si, Claro!
No paperwork so my bike was never actually in Mexico- honest... and no bribes were required to erm, NOT get my bike in to the country!
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