Mexico to Guatemala boarder crossing
 

We've been on the road 7 months now, 28000mls, with the last 5 weeks in Mexico.
The next challange is crossing into Guatemala.
Any advise on which crossing to use, and any general safety advise would be welcome.
Having a fantstic time, wish I had'nt waited till I was 50 to do it!!
www.pooleglobaltrek.com
Pooley.

Check the border crossing section. Everyone seems to say that the western crossing is the worst. The one south of San Cristobal de Casas (Mex) and La Democracia (Guat) has been recommended to me by several people

Where are you now. I plan to do the crossing in 2 weeks.

I crossed the border into Guatemala from Mexico in Sep 2006 with my V Strom. I'm pretty sure that I crossed at the crossing closest the the Pacific. It wasn't the worst border crossing i've done, but if I was going to do it again I would definitely choose a different border. I was there for several hours and that was with the help of a local that I hired. The road you will be on in Guatemala after that is full of traffic and big trucks. I have spent a lot of time in Guatemala and felt very safe there. Let me know if you have any more questions. Make sure you cancel your permit for your bike that you got in Mexico before leaving. Have fun!

Unless you're looking for a river cool crossing from Mexico or coming in from Belice, La Mesilla is the one you want.

crossing
 

I agree with LR: La Mesilla was one one of the easiest crossings in Central America- for me. Crossing from Guatemala into Honduras at El Florido/Copan was by FAR the easiest (less than 30 min including an ice cream)! Safe journey, H.

wot he said - Pan American Highway Border south of Chiapas is straight, straight-forward and relatively quick.

Suerte, Dan

What if he ( or myself , someday ) plan on going back thru mexico on the way back to get home in the states?? If you turn it in , wouldn't you have to get another one on the way back?? Or is this the reason for turning it in, just in case something goes wrong while in c/a ???????????. Aren't the permits good for 180 days ??

If you're going to re-enter Mex before the permits expire, keep them.

We entered through Chiapas through Cuahutemoc, the easiest boarder i ever crossed! Under an hour. Guat. to El Salvadore was simple...only about an hour. El Salvador to Honduras in El Poy was a miserable 3.5 hours of beuricratic boredome and paperwork, but still realatively easy.

thanks for the advise, we´re currently at Oaxaca.
Moving out on Sat 3rd to the Pacific coast.
I do´nt know if we´ll be ready to leave Mexico in 2 weeks.
If you ´e´mail me from our site I can give you more details.

did it 2 weeks ago
 

Hi, I crossed the border 2 weeks ago, but the other way round, Guate - Mexico
We took the border close to Tapachula, was not very complicated.

We made a trip from Panama to Arizona, but we had only 1 months...

Check out Atitlan Lake and Antigua!!! And Granada in Nicaragua!

Have fun!

Jens

I just met a group of Mexican riders and some truckers and it was unanimous that the best crossing is at La Mesilla, south of San Cristobal.