02/01/2010 The border Crossing

So last Saturday morning I took off from Mexico City. After fighting (almost literally) my way out of the city, I passed by Puebla and the Volkswagen plant, then Oaxaca. Even though Oaxaca is a beautiful town, I decided not to stop since it RAINED (and most of you know how I love rain). So I continued on driving through the Oaxaca mountains - very pleasant in parts, see below:

I headed down to some town called "Arriage" - expecting some form of nightlife since they had signs for the town 120 km away. Complete disappointment. Instead I saw an accident happen right in front of me in some remote little village when I got lost for a bit. One of those little Tuc-Tuc's suddenly swurved on the road right in front of me and flipped on it's side. I stopped and went over there. There were actually four people in there. After heaving the driver and two girls out of there, I wanted to help the last guy out. Turns out his leg was stuck underneath the thing. A group of guys came buy just then, and with combined forces we lifted the thing back up. Not sure if his leg was hurt or not, but there were at least no open fractures or obvious broken bones. So I headed on my way. Sorry - took a pic, but didn't turn out.
After sleeping in the car at a gas station, I headed into Chiapas the next morning. Very nice drive. I have amazing moutains, partly covered in clouds on top, to my far left. The immediate landscape around me starts to look a lot more jungle-like. Small, primitive settlements and individual "ranchos" appear continuously on both sides on the road. I'm a little sad I don't get to see any of the ocean.
About an hour before the border, at one of these semi-checkpoints, a young guys waves me down. He wears a "Aduana" (Customs) shirt and an "Aduana" ID. He appears to explain to me that if I want to cross the border, he needs to come with me to help me w/ all the paper work. I'm not sure if he's official or not. So I take him along, but tell him clearly that I won't pay for anything but what I have to pay the officials. Even though I'm feeling a little strange about this, he turns out to be a good guide: pointing out the endless banana plantations that start appearing to our left and right, as well as Mango-tree plantations. At the border it turns out he is not an official, and is trying to help out for a tip (I was warned about this).

First thing as you enter Guatemala by car, the fumigate the car. This cost 18 Queztales, which my buddy pays for me since I didn't change any money yet. After reimbursing him with pesos, and giving him a small tip, I tell him I don't need him anymore. The rest of the crossing goes fairly smooth, even though I had to run into town to get copies made to get the car imported. People appear really nice so far.
The drive through Guatemala turns out to be great. For a large part of the way, it looks like someone built a road into the jungle, and while going through the mountains towards Queztaltenango, I have some fantastic views to my left:

I've gotten a room (shared bath) in a hostel for $7 a night - might not live up to everyone's standards, but I really like it. I've meet lots of other (mostly) long-term travelers. Decided to spend a week here - and hopefully won't get shocked in the shower - they have a little different idea of hot-water heating over here:

So far for now. Time to get get some food. And some beer. Buena noche ....