Crossing the Border into Guatemala

The plains of Mexico gave way to steep mountainsides right at the Guatemalan border, the geography reflecting the move from North to Central America. I have exited Mexico before on the US side, and it was nothing like this! Imagine a tight, steep, two lane alleyway filled with travellers, money exchangers, three-wheeled taxis, shuttlebuses, and fruit and craft stalls - this was my first taste of Guatemala. In all the commotion, me and my fellow travellers needed to find our way out of Mexican immigration, across the border, through the hallway that was Guatemala Immigration, and onto a second shuttle awaiting on the other side. Despite the inconsistent guidance and general commotion, it was a great experience; there is a satisfaction in crossing borders on foot.

So this is my first time off the continent since my Students Abroad tour over twenty years ago. Granted, I like my continent, and it's big, and there are plenty of places I haven't seen yet (like all of Québec, save Hull). Still, I wouldn't trade the experience of entering and driving into Quetzaltenango (or Xela) for anything. I sat up front with the driver of the Toyota shuttle van, working on my Spanish and taking in the scenery. I have been forcing myself to strike up conversation with the locals, and this has been invaluable. This experience really helped when the busload of other travellers - all destined for Spanish language schools in Guatemala - turned to me to get them all through the border!

All but two of the passengers were bound for Xela, a dusty city about the size of Kelowna, renowned for its cheap but effective Spanish schools. $125USD gets you twenty hours of one-on-one conversation coaching as well as one week of homestay. I hooked up with two of them - Laura (UK) and Shaun (NZ) to find a place to crash after the long day. It took some doing (Xela is currently overrun by Dutch people looking to learn Spanish), but we found a basic room for about $6CDN each, and then headed for an authentic Mayan dinner. Naturally, beers at the very cool, very European Salón Tecún followed.