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  #1  
Old 25 Feb 2013
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Mexico-Guatemala crossing on Hwy 307

A few days ago, I crossed at the little-used border crossing on hwy 307 north of la trineteria in mexico, crossing into the border town west of chisec guatemala, i am not sure what the town

nobody stamped my passport, i couldn-t finda any gov offices anywhere, i was worried about not having anything in my passport so a fellow biker advised me to go to the belize border and pretend i had just come from belize, i did this and was able to get my passport stamped as well as get a temporary import visa for my bike

it worked out for me but it was a hassle; i wouldn:t do that again and advise travellers not to use this border crossing

paul
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  #2  
Old 25 Feb 2013
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specifics please

Chisec is smack in the middle of Alta Verapaz. hundreds of kms from any border crossing.
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  #3  
Old 26 Feb 2013
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Good info, we are crossing from Mexico into Belize or Guatemala (not sure which yet) and we need to get our TVIP money back so will have to pick the appropriate border.

I think we will go thru Belize so we can see the place too.
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Old 26 Feb 2013
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Good on ya bubbalouiex, glad you took my advice in Flores. We saw
your BMW standing on a street in Antigua four days later and wondered
how you made out. The Guatemalan town you reached after crossing the border
more than likely was Playa Grande , the Mexican villi age you left had a name
like Nuevo Orizaba , right? The road from Playa Grande does indeed run east to connect
with the highway from Coban and Chisec north to Flores and Tikal

Motokiwis , if you go to Belize there is only one possible crossing from Mexico
at Subte. Lopez west of Chetumal.
You need to buy Belize liability insurance ( in addition to whatever insurance
you may already have!) There are two companies selling it at same regulated price so pick either. The Atlantic Bank Insurance booth is only meters across the
border bridge, the Belize Insurance Corporation office is past the customs terminal.
Near the Atlantic office a guy will come to you to offer his help in buying insurance and avoiding the Fumigacion. IGNORE HIM ! He will charge $5 US
but fumigation costs only half that. ..... $5 Belizean
At either office the insurance costs $13 Belizean per day or
$29BZ for a WEEK . Get the week and enjoy Belize.Be sure to take a tour of the Shipyard Mennonite colony near Orange Walk and run down to Punta Gorda, then tour Spanish Lookout colony
When getting the passport formality done tell them that you are going
to tour all of Belize before going to GT. If you say you are going to Guatemala
you will be given only a pass- through and you must hustle to the
other border in 24 hours.
You will also have to fill out aTVIP form for Belize , do not lose it ,you must hand it in when leaving BZ and get it
cancelled . There are no payments involved upon ENTERING BZ but there IS A FEE-WHEN LEAVING!
So , before you forget , as soon as you get your BZ DOLLARS put aside
$30 BZ per person for the tourist tax and $7.50 BZ for another tax . Payment is
Required in BELIZEAN CURRENCY.Change leftover BZ MONEY
to that of GT only after these fees are paid.

There is but ONLY ONE OFFICIAL EXIT TO GUATEMALA FROM BELIZE.
That is from Benque Viejo to Melchor deMencos via the Western Highway
Enjoy Belize , it may be small but it has good variety. And it does not
experience snow ������
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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Last edited by Sjoerd Bakker; 26 Feb 2013 at 04:37.
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  #5  
Old 26 Feb 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sjoerd Bakker View Post
Good on ya bubbalouiex, glad you took my advice in Flores. We saw
your BMW standing on a street in Antigua four days later and wondered
how you made out. The Guatemalan town you reached after crossing the border
more than likely was Playa Grande , the Mexican villi age you left had a name
like Nuevo Orizaba , right? The road from Playa Grande does indeed run east to connect
with the highway from Coban and Chisec north to Flores and Tikal

Motokiwis , if you go to Belize there is only one possible crossing from Mexico
at Subte. Lopez west of Chetumal.
You need to buy Belize liability insurance ( in addition to whatever insurance
you may already have!) There are two companies selling it at same regulated price so pick either. The Atlantic Bank Insurance booth is only meters across the
border bridge, the Belize Insurance Corporation office is past the customs terminal.
Near the Atlantic office a guy will come to you to offer his help in buying insurance and avoiding the Fumigacion. IGNORE HIM ! He will charge $5 US
but fumigation costs only half that. ..... $5 Belizean
At either office the insurance costs $13 Belizean per day or
$29BZ for a WEEK . Get the week and enjoy Belize.Be sure to take a tour of the Shipyard Mennonite colony near Orange Walk and run down to Punta Gorda, then tour Spanish Lookout colony
When getting the passport formality done tell them that you are going
to tour all of Belize before going to GT. If you say you are going to Guatemala
you will be given only a pass- through and you must hustle to the
other border in 24 hours.
You will also have to fill out aTVIP form for Belize , do not lose it ,you must hand it in when leaving BZ and get it
cancelled . There are no payments involved upon ENTERING BZ but there IS A FEE-WHEN LEAVING!
So , before you forget , as soon as you get your BZ DOLLARS put aside
$30 BZ per person for the tourist tax and $7.50 BZ for another tax . Payment is
Required in BELIZEAN CURRENCY.Change leftover BZ MONEY
to that of GT only after these fees are paid.

There is but ONLY ONE OFFICIAL EXIT TO GUATEMALA FROM BELIZE.
That is from Benque Viejo to Melchor deMencos via the Western Highway
Enjoy Belize , it may be small but it has good variety. And it does not
experience snow ������
Mate you are a wealth of information so thank you for that as it pretty well answers all my queries I had rumbling around in my head.

I did some research as well but your first hand info is well received.
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  #6  
Old 27 Feb 2013
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Sjoerd, I'm really thankful for the advice you gave me. It allowed me to be in Guatemala legally and I was able to cross into Honduras without any hassle.

Can I ask you for one more piece of advice?

As you may remember, I didn't turn my tourist card in at the Mexican border and am wondering if this will be a problem on my reentry home?
Do you think I should just retain that card and try to use it to re-enter or should I go to the 'exit' window first, get stamped out, then try to enter again a few minutes later? Do you think I may need to bribe someone to get my paperwork in order? I'm a little concerned about all of this as I need to be allowed back in Mexico so I can get back home to my job.

Thanks so much.
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  #7  
Old 27 Feb 2013
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Location: La Penita, Mexico
Posts: 23
Richsuz,
Sjoerd described that crossing perfectly: Nuevo orizaba and playa grande; the border is nothing more than a rutted, red-orange mudded lane that is really messy; I saw 3 Mexican soldiers, nobody from Guatemala; there is construction for a new bridge (no active construction when I went thru) so it may be a legit border crossing at some point .
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  #8  
Old 27 Feb 2013
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Location: Norwich,Ontario,Canada
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You should be okay .
The tourist card retention is not a big issue. Ride through the customs
terminal into Mexico with your documents at the ready. Then when the
inspector asks to see your papers show him the TVIP . That
will tell him you already have a tourist card.If he asks for the Tourist
Card show him the one you have and most likely he will send you
through.If he raises questions about the TC then you can explain what
happened, not a biggie.
Whatever you do DO NOT go in and try canceling and renewing theTC
on your own as you proposed, that would really be suspicious .
At worst the inspector will tell you to go inside to do that .If he lets you go
you are set and you saved yourself the 295 peso cost of a new TC
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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93
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  #9  
Old 27 Feb 2013
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: La Penita, Mexico
Posts: 23
Thank you so much sjoerd, maybe tonight I won't have to toss and turn in bed and punch my pillow at my stupidity. Heh.
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