Tikal, but first, Another Border Crossing

In order to guarantee a hassle-free speedy trip from from St Ignacio, Belize to Tikal in Guatemala we eschewed public transport and paid for a private transfer. Speedy it was, hassle free, no.

In short, Sun-Ling bargained down the suggested "bribe" to enter Guatemala from 3 US$ each to 1 US$ each. Another Spanish language lesson. [Oficially, US citizens should pay no fee to enter Guatemala.]

Tikal is considered to be among the most impressive of the Mayan ruins. John was impressed. Sun-Ling was only so impressed. haha. [See the photos below.]

Impressed or not, we both enjoyed navigating around the site, climbing the ruins, viewing wildlife and watching the local and foreign visitors. Our visit to Tikal was on a Sunday when admission is free for Guatemalans, so at noon, the old Grand Plaza of the Mayans was the site of more than several modern picnics.

Tikal National Park is a vast jungle preserve (over 200 square miles) so we saw and heard vultures, hawks, 2 pale-billed woodpeckers, ocellated turkeys, hummingbird, many other birds, butterflies, spider and howler monkeys, a deer, a grey fox, an unknown large rodent, and the ubiquitous coatis.

We spent the night inside the National Park at the Tikal Inn which allowed us to spend more time in the ruins - leaving after dark with flashlights in hand - and to take short walk in the morning before leaving for Flores.

The two of us in front of Temple I.


Sun-Ling descending a Group R pyramid.


View from Temple IV to to Temple I and Temple II.


Temple I is at the eastern end of the Grand Plaza.


Temple I (right) and the Grand Plaza.


The Central Acropolis with Temple V sticking up in the back.


Sunset view of the Grand Plaza.

Belize in Transit

We are not beach people, so although many if not most travelers visit Belize for the tropical beaches, islands, and reefs, we were merely passing through on our way from Mexico to Guatemala.

We spent 3 nights in Belize, one in the northern coastal town of Corozal, the other two in the western border town of St Ignacio, referred to locally as Cayo.

The majority of our first full day was spent on the bus, riding 230 kms from Corozal on the northern border to St Ignacio (Cayo) on the western border, changing buses in Belize City, checking out the scenery, and observing the locals.

The majority of our second day was spent relaxing around St Ignacio, hitting the Saturday Market, excurting to the small riverside village of Cristo Rey, and then back to Cayo to watch people cross the swinging bridge at the confluence where the Macal and Mopan form the Belize River. We are easily entertained. ;-)

During our entire short transit, we have had pleasant interactions with the nice, gentle Belizean people.

Random observations:

1) We were surprised at the number of Chinese business in St Ignacio and Corozal. Seems that every corner store is owned by Chinese, not to mention the Chinese restaurants.

2) Belikin the national beer is pretty tasty.

Corozal, Belize - Our hotel was near that far lone palm tree.


On the bus - a former American school bus like most buses in Belize.


The very pleasant outdoor market in St Ignacio.


The Macal River in Cristo Rey.


The swinging bridge over the Mopan River, just before joining the Macal to form the Belize River.


Typical Street in St Ignacio, Belize.


For travelers only:

Travelers considering taking a local bus from St Ingacio (Cayo) to Cristo Rey or San Antonio will want to know that there are now - as of 01 Dec 2012 - 2 bus companies servicing the route: MESH and TZIB Brother's. On Dec 01, the buses left from the market near the taxi stand.

We paid 1.50 BZ$ to ride from St Ignacio to Cristo Rey. I believe it's 3 BZ$ to go all the way to San Antonio. It's about 30 minutes or less to Cristo Rey, and another 30 minutes to San Antonio depending on how many stops the bus makes.

On our ride to Cristo Rey on the 9:30 MESH bus, the conductor took our (3 BZ$ total) fare paid partly in BZ$ and part in US$, and was helpful pointing out where to get off as Cristo Rey is small village with a single covered bus stand.

Here are the schedules as copied from a poster inside the MESH bus and from a small flyer handed to us by a helpful TZIB driver.

Please leave a comment for any corrections, comments, additions and I'll add them to this post.

Depart from San Ignacio (Cayo)

9:30 AM - MESH
10:30 AM - TZIB
11:30 AM - TZIB

1:00 PM - MESH
3:00 PM - MESH
4:30 PM - TZIB
5:30 PM - TZIB
6:00 PM - MESH


Depart from San Antonio

5:00 AM - MESH
6:00 AM - TZIB
7:00 AM - MESH
8:30 AM - TZIB

12:30 PM - TZIB
1:00 PM  - TZIB
1:30 PM  - MESH
4:00 PM  - MESH

Dreaded Border Crossing Mexico-Belize in Chetumal

An easy three-hour ADO bus ride took us from Tulum to Chetumal; a quick six-block walk brought us to the Mercado Nuevo station where buses leave for Belize every 20 minutes; another 15 minutes on the bus and we were in line to exit Mexico.  Over the last month, we have been reading much about the border crossing "scam" at this particular border. Namely that the 295 peso Mexican tourist tax which is already collected in our airplane ticket is attempted to be doubly collected and pocketed by an evil immigration man.

So when we walked up to the booth with passport and FMM (tourist form) and were told to pay 295 pesos, my stomach lurched nevertheless.  Then, after some reasoned resistance on our part, the man said we do not pay him, that we pay at the bank. We still refused.  At this point our bus abandoned us, refunding 20% of our fare, no less!

We had read that other travelers simply leave the annoyed immigration man behind and move on.  We tried.  Twenty yards later, we were intercepted and were "invited" into the Immigration Office.  We restated our case.  They stressed that we were not asked to pay them directly, but to pay at the bank.  They explained that the airlines are no longer collecting and giving Mexico the tourist tax.  They tried to scare us by calling in the police.  Seeing that we were unfazed by the threat of police, the lady in charge seemed to realize that there is the possibility -- the airlines are collecting the tax but withholding it.

The lady jefe let us use her computer to try to pull up our electronic receipt, but delta.com
was blocked, so was mail.google.com.  She got someone in Mexico City on the phone and was told that code "UK" listed in the "taxes and fees" details of an airline ticket indicate that the airline has collected the tourist tax.  She had an employee write down our information to draft a complaint to the airlines.  After another phone call, she sent us to an internet cafe to get a printout of our ticket.  When we came back with our printout showing the "UK" fee, she asked us to write down our story to add to her case, then apologized for the hassle. 

Needless to say, we left Mexico without paying the 2 x 295 = 600 pesos (about 45 US dollars) at the border, but did invest two hours of our time and a few pesos at the internet cafe.  Other travelers have reported being scammed, coerced, and threatened, but I did not have that feeling at all with the particular people we dealt with.  I feel they were hardworking people trying to do their job in a confusing situation. 

So if the end result is 1) Mexico gets their tourist tax from the airlines and 2) other travelers can get out of double paying by showing their airline receipt, then our time was very well spent making the world a more just place and lessening ill feelings.

John admits he is baffled by the whole experience and can't decide if
1. It is all a very elaborate conspiracy and scam on the part of the Mexican border officials
2. Mexico has ineffective and/or poorly trained border control
3. We are simply "ugly Americans"

In any case, we have had our share of border crossings, this one tops them all.