Dont do it !!!! - Bethel Guatemala to Mexico Crossing to Palenque

[alexlefur]

Back door to Mexico - I headed for the border crossing at Bethel Guatemala... this is an unmaintained track for much of the way which leads to the river where I have to load the KLR650 on the canoe for a ride to mexico down river. Off loading on the mexico river bank was fun as the captain insisted i drive the bike over a plank on the bow of the boat, once balanced on the plank he turned it sideways so i could drive down off the boat and onto the beach. This was followed by a super muddy hill climb to the immigration office where i fish tailed like a mad man to reach the summit.

The bad part is the next day when i look for customs and there is none! Nothing at the Palanque airport, downtown or the city in the Playas De Catzaja north of Palanque. I had to waste a whole day driving 2.5 hours one way to the customs at the border of Guatemala in La Ceibo.

Although it was an adventure .... Lesson learned here is always cross at a fully equipped border. There are many legal river crossings from Guat to Mex but none of them have customs which really sucks.