Over the Border - Guatamala

We'll it all started as a day off of fishing from the El Pescador. We along with our guide/taxi driver Pedro were going to go out and see the sights. We began the day at the market, went to some ancient ruins, did the water falls and all the typical tourist stuff. At the last stop we asked Pedro where the road went and how far. the conversation continued like this
Pedro "it (the road) goes to the end."
Me "ok, to the end of where?"
Pedro "the country"
Me "and then what"
Pedro "well the road ends at the last town and picks up again across the border in Guatemala."
Me"Guatemala, well how far is that from the end of the road."
Pedro "about a half hour walk through the woods."
Us "We'll lets go, it is not like we have anything else to do today. We have never been to Guatemala."
Pedro "Oh No, we cant just go to Guatemala. It is too dangerous."
Me "like how dangerous can it be? We'll lets just go and see what is going on up there." So as we advanced towards the border Pedro began to sweat more and more. The little village at the end of the road was just a tiny little town. With the speculation of border guards we opted to cross the border the illegal way through the corn field. This is commonly done by women taking beans to the market and avoiding the border guards. I was not sure if this was because of taxes, bribes or just to not deal with the guards themselves. This is a picture of dad crossing the actual border. The barbed wire fence is the border and as you can see it is not that well fortified.

As we came into

the town, Santa Cruz, we found there was not that much to do. I also believe we must have been some of the only white people to visit this town in some time. We were definitely getting the looks you would expect from far away strangers. This sign shows that the town just recently got drinkable water. As you can see in the next photo women went to the village well every day to get the water for all their daily needs. They also don't like to have their picture taken.

We also realized there was not that much to do. The village was tiny. Naturally it did have a bar which was attached to a guys house. After a hot border crossing there is nothing finer than a cool Gallo beer. After the first one Pedro bought the second round and we could not leave without trying all 3 types of Guatemalan beers for the bar owner (with his shirt off) bought us the last round. The next two pictures are of his daughters who have never been photographed before. The younger one had a crush on me and kept bringing me fruit from the main house.

When we left the bar and began heading back we realized we were passing the market. In this picture you can see the beans drying on the sidewalk (also the bar is in the background on the right.) Once the beans were dried they would walk them across the street and weigh them, bag them and put them on the truck headed for the bigger market. These next few pictures are of that process.

the market with a few extra bag sitting under the scales (which you cant see.)

kids at the market playing in the bean sacks

The bean truck heading to the next market

Also on the way out of town was the general store. We decided to stop in and buy something as indication of our good will. So we are now the proud owners of a Guatemalan t-shirt. As you can see in these pictures they sell mostly hammocks (hanging) and water pitchers (the colorful bowls hanging from the ceiling)

here is a better picture from the inside of the store

It was also the only shoe store in town, and now proud to say the only Columbia dealer in town.

Well all good thing have to come to an end and Pedro had to get back home to his 7 kids. Here we are on the main road back. We discovered the border guards had taken the day off so we took the main road back. Notice the men are riding the donkeys back and the women are walking

A farmer heading to market

Kibby, Guatemalan Cows!

another farmer heading to market

since the road has been closed to cars the upkeep has been lacking and becomes a trail at some points.

this is the only border guard we saw.

this is the actual border, this is the new stone bridge. It works fine unless it is raining There were people bathing and washing cloths here also. Each family has there own rock for washing. As you can see these women washing the cloths while the guys take a nice swim. All in all it was a great adventure.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.