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?

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.

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....

Ok, I'll just ask... (since I can't send a PM yet)

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 .

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.

Thats all good until you try to enter Mex. again with a vehicle. Mex. will not let you enter with another vehicle until you cancell the paperwork on the last one. I supose if you plan on never adventuring there again, it's not a problem.

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.

...Claro! Good point, i just asumed i guess. You know, the last time i entered Mexico, i had to bribe the bastards $20 to accept my Registration because the Aircare Expiry was left blank! F**kers!

So uh, what are these other cool off the grid crossings???:funmeteryes:

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!

What are riding/driving and why do you want obscure crossings?

I will be on a lightly loaded XR650L. For example.. I did like 80 miles of ATV trails in rocky sandy muddy terrain yesterday...

I am trying to avoid the Pan American HWY as much as I can.... just taking the off the beaten path approach.... and I'm a bit of an adventure junky.

Not drug running or anything... lol.

Mex/GT

Mexico:
La Palma, water
El Ceibo, muddy track
Frontera Corozal, water
Benemerito de las Americas, water
Flor de Cacao, water
Orizaba, road

GT:
Las Playitas, water
Gracias a Dios, road

I'm sure there are others.

Cool. I found Frontera Corozal on Google Earth.

http://static3.bareka.com/photos/med...-departure.jpg
Looks like a winner

IIRC, rooms are about $25.
The town/co-operative is dry (no booze allowed), but a taxi driver there sells Modelo. Just ask.
A lancha will cost about $40 for you and your moto. Then you can pay something for help loading and unloading. It's about 40 min upriver to Bethel. IIRC, Mike had them just take him across the river for less money, then riding the trail.
Now you're back at the begining of this thread: Bethel and onward.

obscure border crossings Mexico to GT
 

Expanding a bit on the list provided by Lone Rider . : the Orizaba he indicates is village of Nuevo Orizaba on Mex 307,km 265 marker, about 10km west of where that highway makes its sharp bend from the north to the west parallel to the GT border. , gravel roads connect to Coban, no customs facility at border village of Ingenieros,GT
Add another crossing at the south end of village of Tziscau on the lake of same name in the Lagos de Montebello zone of Mex 307. No customs , just a policeman sometime. Dirt road connects to road system which connects to Nenton ,GT and thence to Huehuetenango.
Add crossing that has access to Mex 307 just west of Chinkultic, Chiapas . This crossing has minor customs attendant sometimes, gravel connect to same road system a s from Tziscau which is only about 30 km away.
In Frontera Corosal this past March'07 the nice Hospedaje Tsolkin rented out a nice clean room, fan, mosquito netted bed , shared sanitary facilities for only $8, nice restaurant.
Room with private bath $17 at Tsolkin.At fancier tourist Hotel Escudo Jaguar rooms start at $38.
For the "mud road from hell" check out my post of 14 Feb 2006 ( /hubb/route-planning/mexican-border-crossings-guatemala-near-2271 ) and (/hubb/south-and-central-america-mexico/mexico-guatemala-via-rio-san )
This past March '07 I did a similar bit of research on the road into GT fro m the end of mex 221 south of Candelaria, Campeche. From end of Mex 221 it is another 15km pavement to hamlet of El Ramonal and a dirt crossing into GT, then into the Peten mud and water lands of the lLaguna del TigreNational Park and the Maya Biosphere Reserve .The area is not at all well appointed with roads or tracks, you would have a really hard slog to get anywhere

Is this by Finca Quetzal just inside GT?

GT-MEX border
 

Sorry Lone , I didn't take a note of the name of the GT village, I just rode in for a number of km . The road was a recently completed buldozered thing and after a while I turned back to Mexico. T

The road crosses the border at the south end of Lago Tziscau a km south of the village center .Take either the road south straight down thru town off Mex 307 or the road loop by the town hall hill and soccer field which goes past Hotel Tziscau and Campground, and then along the lakeside to its south end.

Very cool.
Was there a sign like at Orizaba on the Mex side? I didn't see one on 307, but could've missed it. Did you find it by just bumping around? When was this?

I love this kinda stuff...:)

Note: The Orizaba/Ingeniero road takes you to Playa Grande, and from there you can go in several directions.

Mex-GT crossings
 

From Mex 307 there is just a gravel road south in the village center and a small sign pointing to "Frontera ". I knew the border was nearby so I just had to explore. This was done on 29 March 2007. I wa s in no hurry having spent the night in vilage of San Juan Chamula at the only hospedaje there, basic room $5 , bike parked inside downstairs, taco restaurant on the highway for supper. Next morning rode down 307 with nary a worry , found breakfast at 11 am