Well we thought it would be a bit of an adventure to get from Lake Aitilan to the Guatemalan border in the south, and we were right!I have no photos because the ones I did try and take are so blurred it would be silly to post them!!! So words will have to do.
The chicken bus from the lake to a town called Quetseltanango was quite exciting, we were on very small roads where oncoming vehicles swerved out of the way with great rapidity. We went round corners, the driver blowing the horn with great gusto every few minutes. The bends were extremely steep and doubled back on themselves. At one point the bus stopped half way round the corner, backed down and then with great acceleration and much black exhaust smoke the driver swung the bus round the corner. This went on for a couple of hours, until we joined the main road, we then relaxed and we sped along a road we had traveled twice before!
Quetseltanango was a big smelly city, with little going for it, but we had to stay the night here, which we did in a not very pretty hotel, but the beds were comfortable and there was masses of hot water.
It was an early start - we had been told at least three different ways to get to Tapachula in Mexico. We had to go there as we had a flight booked to Mexico City. We arrived at the bus station at 7.00am where yes the bus we had booked on was going on time! Someone was sitting in our seats, but that was soon sorted out and off we roared.. For three hours the bus went downhill! We had been told with great certainty that the bus would drop us at town where we could catch a bus to the border. We were dropped very fast, surrounded by people wanting to help and pushed onto a very crowded bus, where most of the passengers looked at us as though we came from Mars! Especially the children - they stared and stared. It reminded me of a notice we saw in Chile - it is rude to stare - so I smiled back and played eye games - they thought I was very odd!
We had tried to avoid going to a town which was out of the way -but somehow the bus took us there!!! We were bundled onto another bus again being assured we were going to the border town. By this time it was very hot and we were beginning to feel frazzled!! We were not used to the heat - the highlands of Guatemala are cool at night and an ideal temperature during the day.
We eventually arrived at the bonder town of Tecun Uman. The bus station was very nice and clean and modern, but about 3 kms from the border! We caught rickshaw taxi - no problems on the Guatemalan border, but another 1km to Mexico!!! So, another rickshaw taxi to the Mexican Customs and through huge wire gates into Mexico! Made it, but we still have to get to Tapachula 50kms away. Glancing around we noticed things had changed - no rubbish, wide roads, it s clean!!!! Then a minibus pulled up. It was going to Tapachula. We got on and heaved a sigh of relief, but there was no air conditioning and I fried all the way. But, joy of joys, no bumps and no bends! We were booked into the Holiday Inn, as it was near to the airport. Once gain we were dumped in the middle of the city, which was pretty grubby, so we found a taxi. It must have been the most beaten up taxi in Tapachula. We roared, shook and rattled out to the Holiday Inn. what a sight we must have looked, but we had overcome all the obstacles and made it. Dirty, hot and tired we reveled in the shower, the AC and the king size bed! Next door was an upmarket fast food chain, where we had our first Mexican beer and enjoyed the cleanliness. The only snag was - the flight was at 6.30am, which meant getting up at 4.45am!!!
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