Honduras, crossing into Guatemala(part 13)

Part 13-Crossing the border into Guatemala

The next a.m. I met up with the two other students, Sharon and Kathy, in the central park in Copan for what seemed would be a pretty simple trip to Jocotan, Guatemala. I had done a little research and found out there were some mini buses in town that carried passengers every hour to the border 8 miles away. The cost was about $1.

When we arrived at the corner from where the mini-buses departed, I realized I had left my original passport in the house where I was staying, but I had a copy of it with me. The van driver told me not to worry because as long as I had a copy, I would be ok. MISTAKE #1.   At this point, I should have listened to my “inner travel voice” and returned to get the original.

 The driver was yelling “frontera, frontera” (translation, “the border”). He crammed 18 of us into a 10 passenger van. We took off for Guatemala, driving fast, and dodging cows in the highway.

 When we arrived at the border, it was a very relaxed setting. We simply walked across. There was a small immigration office, but no one seemed to be checking much.

As seen in the photo above, on the Guatemala side of the border there was another bus waiting to take the new arrivals the last 40 minutes to Jocotan. The bus driver encouraged us to get on and not to worry about anything. MISTAKE #2.

 It was an interesting ride to Jocotan. The people on the bus were very friendly to us. We were the only tourists on the bus.

The lady sitting in front of me carried a pet sparrow in her purse. She took it out to show to me.

The plan was to spend the day in the markets of Jocotan before returning to Honduras.

Next- The markets of Jocotan, Guatemala

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

To read more about my travels click here

Thank you for joining our conversation on The Wanderer. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.