Ahauchapan, El Salvador to Amatitlan, Guatemala
December 17, 2009

Traffic try to get thru this
Buying bread
Roads
More traffic

Well today was one of those driving days one would rather forget ever happened. We started off fine from in El Salvador and made our way to Las Chinamas and the border to Guatemala. Turned in the papers for El Salvador without too much of a problem we just had to wait for the official to return from breakfast to sign off the vehicles. You see he does not come back until 9:00 AM. Then onto the border and get emigration stamps in the passports from El Salvador, that was really fast. Next turn in the vehicle papers that were signed one Km back and you cross over the bridge into Guatemala.
Now find the Aduana (vehicle permit place) and immigration for Guatemala which is about 2 Km down the road. Find a parking space where they tell you to park. Now change parking places because it is the wrong place and park where you were going to park in the first place. Next move the vehicle again because it is too dangerous to park there with the traffic going right beside you.
Now find the vehicle permit place, the person is on a break and will be back ???. Person comes back and looks at you and says you must go to immigration first. So off you trot and get you passport stamped. Back to the vehicle window and wait for the line which has now blossomed. Get to the front of the line and find out you must go back to another window and get your visa sticker before you get the vehicle permit.
Go to the window for the visas and they fill out a form from your passport. Now go to another window for the bank and pay for the visas. Visas are now paid for so go back to the immigration window and collect the visas.
Now go outside again and go to the vehicle permit window (grateful that there is no line). Stand and wait for the official to finish their telephone conversation and then hand them the papers. Wait for the forms to be entered into the computer for the vehicles. Next wait for the forms to be stamped and stamped and signed and signed by the official.
Now get into your vehicle and approach the guard at the stop with the boom hanging down over the road. Give him your vehicle papers and passports and visas. A cursory check and you are now admitted to Guatemala. This is now 11:30 AM and just another routine border crossing without problems or hassles and you are glad because it did not involve border helpers who are usually there to rip you off, and no mordidas to pay.
Then you are driving in Guatemala where the roads are not as good as El Salvador and let me tell you if I did not mention this on the way down. Guatemala is ONE BIG MOUNTAIN!!! It goes up (possibly 40 Km (15-20 miles)) and then it goes down. Never of course in a straight line. I do not think that there is one square mile of flat in this whole country. You are going 30 mph and think this may be too fast.
I had tried to escape going thru Ciudad de Guatemala but no such luck. As I may for directions we went ¾ ths of the way around that city which is your worst nightmare in an RV. Traffic that makes LA look really good and it is as if you were going towards San Francisco from San Diego but had to go down to Santa Monica first and then up to Thousand Oaks before you went over the Grapevine three times to get to Bakersfield. Now there are no real freeways to do this on and the trucks and busses and taxis will cut right in front of you and stop.
At one stop for directions a very nice man told us to follow him and he did take us in the right direction and after that we were on our way out of the city.
Tonight we are again at a water park which has spaces for RV’s but the electricity is off and the water does not come on very strong. But we are safe in an enclosed compound with a guard and a shotgun looking after us. Bev is very thankful.
Tomorrow we will go towards Esquintia (west) and then north towards Tapachula where we will cross our last difficult border into Mexico. If that one goes well we are home free.