A camping forum for VW bus and camper owners.

Lake Atitlan Delights & Amoeba Woes!!!

Comment by eduardo garci-aguirre on February 16, 2011 at 4:27pm: Hi Stephen, I'm planing a trip to Guate in my westy around April, I'll be going along baja to la paz,. take the ferry to the pacific main land, and then south. Which route did you take?....eduardo

Comment by Stephen Robbins on February 17, 2011 at 10:59am: We have driven the West Coast of Mexico previously, all the way from Nogales to Manzanillo. The toll roads (Cuota's) are good but of course you can miss things that you would see on the Free (Libre) roads. You'll have no trouble doing either and if you do the research then you can use either the cuota or the libre as you wish. Obregon, Los Mochis, Culiacan, Mazatlan, San Blas, Puerto Vallarta, Barra De Navidad, Manzanillo, Acapulco. Guadlahara would be a good side trip.

I would recommend coming off the coast when you get down to Oaxaca and go inland to see San Cristobal De Las Casa in Chiappas, and a small village nearby called Chamula. The church there will blow your mind!

If you then take the border crossing south of there, through Comitan and cross at Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, it's a market crossing so it looks like chaos but it was really an easy crossing with few visitors so you avoid lots of heavy trucks and visitors crossing near the coast. The road from there to Atitlan is very good. Stop into Quetzaltenango (Xeha) just an hour or so before Atitlan. Antigua should be your next stop after Atitlan. Hope you enjoy and please stay in touch and ask us for any other info.

Comment by eduardo garci-aguirre on February 17, 2011 at 11:41am: Awesome!!..I'm originally from Guate, my dad was born in Xela.... I have done this trip 3 times before, but never via Baja. In the way back I'm planing to come via Veracruz to Bronwsville tex, and then hway 10 west to Cali...How much was Gas in Mexico?.....if you are still in guate and need something-contact etcMy brother Carlos lives in the city. let me know and I will put you in contact with him.....Happy trails.

eduardo

Comment by Stephen Robbins on February 18, 2011 at 2:52pm: Thanks for the offer Eduardo. We are way past Guat and just 30 minutes from the Panama border, crossing tomorrow. We have a container lined up for Pumper to Colombia on March 4th.

Just a tip: we had police trouble around Tampico which is just north of Veracruz. Stopped 4 times looking for bribes. Didn't pay any but one cop took my licence for about 30 minutes. The easier crossing into Texas is a new bridge just West of McAllen, Andalusa. Opened just over a year ago but gets little traffic and few trucks. It is actually a better road North to McAllen area versus Brownsville. Straight and flat.

Have a good trip and stay in touch. If you register on our site you'll get an e-mail when we post something new.

Adios Amigo