Mexico to Guatemala - Three Countries in One Day

Oh hi! Our bus out of Mexico set off at 6am from the bus station. We set our alarm for 4:30am and nipped off to the 24hour cafe. Wiji was in charge of putting this plan into action, and was totally motivated by the prospect of one last 'Huevo Mexicana'. I couldn't really eat at 5 in the morning, but we knew the journey would take nine or ten hours with the possibility of a few random stop for the baños (I hoped)!

It didn't take any time at all to reach the border between Mexico and Belize, we hopped off the bus to show our passports at sleepy and indifferent immigration, and hoofed our backpacks through the building to meet the bus out the other side and continued on our way. Quite quickly the landscape looked very different, much more green, flat and lush. We made our way through the empty morning roads of Belize, stopping unofficially for one of the two drivers to hop out, check over and return to the bus with a bucket that he then sat on for the entire journey, next to the other driver!

Our first official stop in Belize was at Orange Walk, where our drivers had their first big meal of the day, and we looked at the market setting up from the bus windows.

A big convoy of lorries waiting to set off with a harvest load of sugar cane.


Everyone had grass lawns in Belize!


We passed through rural Crooked Tree and Ladyville on the northern highway. It was odd to see all the signs in English (Belize used to be a disputed British colony known as British Honduras).

The port at Belize City was super busy and packed with delapidated beautiful wooden buildings right on the waterfront. We saw someone nearly get run over here. The streets were narrow and crowded in a chaotic manner.






A massive cemetary split by the busy highway, not the most peaceful resting place!


Quite representative of the buildings we saw in Belize, two storeys, wooden and nearly derelict.




A shop, restaurant and a nightclub!


'All eyes on me' graffiti.


Some of the landscape made us think of Britain, except for the giant palm trees, that is.


We picked up more passengers on the way through Belize as the day progressed, the driver even stopped to help people with a broken down car. Later, after much day dreaming and looking out the window, we all hopped off at the Belize Guatemala border, on the Western highway past San Ignacio, to walk through the heavily armed and much more alert immigration office.

We had to pay $30 Belize dollars each on the Belize side and then 10 Guatemalan quetzels each on the Guatemalan side. Lucky then, that as soon as we got off the bus at the Belize border we were met with very enthusiastic men who offered to buy our Mexican pesos for Belize dollars and Guatemalan Quetzels. Oh go on then, if we've got to give all this cash away! They even wanted our Euro's...defo have them!

Then we got on the bus again, waited for the drivers to have another meal and set off into dusty Guatemala, it seemed to get hotter and hotter as we went on, no air con now, we hung our heads out the windows.

The Belize Guatemala border was right by the Belize river. We saw lots of sights like this in Guatemala, with children playing in the rivers and the women washing mounds of clothes.


'The Three Amigos'. The actual bus driver on the left. Personal phone calls didn't put him off dodging the massive pot holes at speed. In the middle a passenger who decided it was his turn to sit on the bucket and have a very passionate debate with the driver (when he wasn't on the phone.) On the right the 'spare' driver, who lost his place on the bucket, and had to sit on the step. Don't slow down for the rickety wooden bridge!


After making it into Guatemala, much lighter of cash, we both fell asleep, slumped over our hand luggage, despite the intense heat, massive pot holes and mental driving, we actually awoke at the drivers call for Flores, our destination in Guatemala. It was quite an epic journey!