Border Buddies Part II

Caught the early morning water taxi to Belize City. Being from the States I was totally unaware that Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) was an observed holiday in most countries in the World and Belize was not an exception. I found out that everything, even the grocery store, was closed. I had to be pretty resourceful to find a market where I could buy lunch food and enough goods to throw together a meal that evening. The border crossing from Belize to Mexico was not nearly as time consuming as the one 3 days prior. There is a lot of hustle and bustle at the borders. The van that I drive is very recognizable and as soon as I pull up I am approached by several “border buddies” of other Trek leaders that are eager to help me change money and process my paperwork. None of them charge for their services but a “tip” is definitely expected. At this border it was a young guy named Nere who was actually quite helpful and friendly. After maybe an hour of border hassle it was into Guatemala for the first time for everyone, including me. The first 10 miles of road was the shittiest that I have ever driven on and that’s pretty telling since I have driven more than 100, 000 miles in the US, Canada, Mexico and Belize in the past 2 years. It felt like the van was going to shake itself to pieces and we were all bouncing around like kernels in a popcorn maker. The potholed path finally smoothed out and we reached our campground at the entrance to Tikal before dark. Had a nice meal and spent most of the night locked into the wireless internet that the nearby restaurant was broadcasting.

I heard this evening about the horrible tragedy in South East Asia. What a horrible catastrophe! I can’t even begin to imagine the horrible impact that this one event will have on that part of the world. My heart goes out to all those who have lost someone and to those still waiting for news of traveling family and friends.