Day 37 (afternoon) - After a couple hours ride I finally made it to the Mexican/Guatemalen border. The emotions running through me were tremendous! The last bit of Mexico is mostly flat farmland, and a literal WALL of mountains in the distance, below dark storm clouds, marked GUATEMALA! See it here.

I got my passport punched out of Mexico, and headed into the country of my destination, Guatemala. I must confess something -- I had absolutely no knowledge of Guatemala before this trip -- whether it was flat or not, or even that it was the country bordering Mexico to the south (I had to check). To my supreme pleasure I have learned that it is a wildly mountainous country with active volcanoes (complete with flowing lava!), farming fields on extremely steep slopes high above the valley floor, where the farmers literally rappel down to tend their crops, very good roads (better than Mexico IMO), and all of this combined amounts to the finest riding I've done. Yes, much better than the ride from Tamazunchale to Jacala.

When entering Guatemala, if you have a vehicle the first stop is a mandatory fumigation, where a guy sprays a pesticide on your tires. You have to pay for this on the spot, and in the local currency of course, which is now Quetzales. And there is a guy there happy to change Pesos or USD for you. I had completely forgotten to check the exchange rate on the computer before leaving in the morning, but remembered a couple people online who wrote that the exchange rates they were offered were pretty good. So I exchanged about $100 with the old guy that was there (I didn't see anyone else). About 10 min later I walked out of the immigration office and saw another money changer guy, and out of curiousity asked him how many Quetzales he would offer for the amount of pesos I had just changed. I took a step back at the number he showed in the calculator -- about 20% more! I couldn't believe it. I had really been screwed by the old guy. I'm going to think of it as paying a $20 fee for the transaction, rather than a 25% exchange rate!

I'd read a story of this border crossing, describing Mexico as being calm and tranquil, and crossing into Guatemala where it was a madhouse with people grabbing at you and being very forceful about selling their wares to you. There was none of that though. It was nice and pleasant and after getting my passport stamped and the bike import papers filled out, I was on my way. Total admin fees to enter the country including the fumigation and bike import papers were around $8 USD.

Now for another confession. Ever since I got interested in the activity of adventure motorcycle touring last summer, I have had a single picture on my wall at work that I've stared at fondly month after month, longing for the day I could view the same sights with my own eyes. The picture was taken by a rider 2 years before me, of the road shortly after he entered Guatemala at the very border crossing I just used. After 20 minutes riding, I was standing in exactly the same spot! Viewing the scene I'd longed after hundreds of times, there before me! I was living the dream -- I'd made it!!!

My goal for the night was a town high in the mountains named Quetzaltenango -- or Xela, as everyone local calls it. For the next week I will be in "Spanish immersion", staying with a local family and attending 5 hours of classes per day.

I rode for hours through the mountains in Guatemala, with vast dropoffs and vistas, seeing waterfalls gorging out the sides of cliffs. It was phenomenal and breathtaking. I have a feeling I'm going to really like this country.