Well if you want to avoid helpers a simple 'no, gracias' should work fine! 'Me puede dar una factura por favor' would be a good one, anything you buy should have a receipt, if it doesn't then they are probably charging you for something you don't need.

Although I have never been to the Honduras here in South America they give receipts with absolutely everything.

Much good solid advice here already. Just know what is required and stand your ground.
All central American borders run by the same set of steps which you should follow for a relatively smooth crossing without helpers . The Four Steps are 1MIGRACION - tourist card issue and passport stamps and inspection 2 TRANSITO inspection of your bike papers and issuing of a TVIP ,stamped into passport.
3 SEPA aka OIRSA or Fumigacion where they spray some malathion solution on your bike to kill bugs, not at every crossing. 4 ADUANA- final check of all your papers and passport stamps and then you are free to go if all is stamped and signed in the right spots.
Follow these steps in this order and you need no helpers.Pay only the fee that the official asks for and demand and keep a receipt for each payment.Retain all papers and receipts in the same folder or envelope so that you can retrieve them easily at the next border crossing when leaving the country.
, As you finish one step just ask the official to point you to the wicket where the following step is done.

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

I just came through Honduras last week. ABSOLUTELY no problems what so ever. Whenever I was stopped by Police (which was only a few times) they either saluted me or shook my hand. All they wanted was to see that I had the correct papers. NO hint of bribery at all.

WHY? Well I crossed from Guatemala at Copan and left Honduras at El Pariso. In other words NOT ON THE PAN AMERICANA.

It seems that lots of people have trouble with Honduras and do there best to avoid it and thus take the shortest route. BUT this leads to problems as this is exactly where the trouble is. Take your time to explore Honduras. Go to Copan and you will find Honduras to be much like any other central America place. The corrupt police/ border guards are ONLY on the pan americana.

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Well, NONE of them were on the Pan America 2 days ago :-)

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

Many thanks to all for your input/opinions/stories - much appreciated.

I've realised all along that the Honduras crossing were likely to be the most hassle (a reminder of Turkey-Syria earlier in my trip) but Doug's experience seemed excessive and led me to wonder if they (Honduran police/border officials) were having a purge or whether it was Doug's circumstances - 1. American 2. In a hurry (Mexico to Costa Rica in 6 days) 3. Speaks not a word of Spanish.

2 & 3 have certainly been mentioned by many of you.

I'm glad to hear there is no purge as I'm particulary looking forward to Honduras/El Salvador/Nicaragua.

Cheers

Adam - Spending Christmas on the beach 25km south of Playa del Carmen; if anyone's passing!

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ShortWayRound - OTR RTW since 2006

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ShortWayRound/Facebook

I passed through Honduras on the short stretch about a week ago. I got taken for an extra $35.00 for "File Digitization". I got a receipt and everything. My bad for not knowing in advance what the fees should have been. Had no trouble with the cops in Honduras, we were waved through all check points. I did have the worst cup of coffee in my entire life there though!

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Mike: Mexico and Central America 2010
http://questionasanswers.blogspot.com/

While I did meet some very nice people in Honduras, they were the exceptions. Contrary to *every other country* in Central America, overall I found the people to be bureaucratic, officious, and petty. It's like the entire country is run by the DMV.

Honduras is generally expensive and the food sucks. I realize this is a mean thing to say about a country and its people, but I had a lot of time to compare it against its neighbors. And it's not like I had a bad time - although dealing with customs trying to fly in a new rear sprocket is a horrorshow that makes El Amatillo look orderly, despite my functional Spanish. But compared to the warmth and generally accommodating atitudes of Nicaraguans, Guatematecos, Salvadoreños, Ticos, Panamanians... I don't understand why anyone would choose to spend time and money there.

Especially motorcyclists. Honduras is almost overtly hostile to motorcycles. Try parking in a totally vacant lot - some bureaucratic asshat will run up to you and tell you that you need to go park in the back, or at the bottom level in some barely lit corner of the garage. My expensive motorcycle with half of what I own in the world hanging off it? Not a chance. In CIVILIZED countries, special motorcycle parking is right up in front.

Jeff

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SF to Panama and back
How I Nearly Killed My Friends In Baja

It's quite unfortunate that you had that experience in Honduras, Stickfigure. I experienced pleasant, friendly and chatty hotel clerks; friendly people in Tegucigalpa who led me out of the city by having me follow them on their bike; I stopped in the mountains and had a lovely chat with people waiting for a bus.

I parked wherever I wanted and no one said boo to me; they made sure that the bike was kept safe; etc, etc. It's always interesting to see how two people can go through the same country and have completely different experiences.

Honduras was indeed somewhat more expensive than some of the other countries but I found it to be very similar in cost to Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador, and cheaper than Belize.


...Michelle
www.scrabblebiker.com

We found the food to be excellent, the accommodation cheap and clean and the people helpful.

It is strange the way some people get a bad trip there.

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