How was the Belize:Mexico Border you ask?
Exit Belize was a doddle - of course it was - British Passports - they virtually rolled out the red carpet!
Entry Mexico a different story!!
No signs, no helpful guides, "No Espanol!"
Back to bored Border Officials behind glass screens, busy on their Mobile Phones not caring two hoots about excited travellers impatient to get into their sunshine country with fistfulls of tourist dollars to spend!
Queue at the first Migracion Counter. 20 minutes passes - wrong Counter - Gringos over there! Queue at second Migracion Counter - it's a long one - and getting longer. David queues at separate Payment Counter and asks if we pay the Entry Fee of 533 Pesos here? "No!" he's told.
After an hour we reach the single Migracion Counter glass screen open at this busy Border Post and an Official stamps our Tourist Entry Cards '7 Dias' (7 Days). "180 Dias por favor" we tell him. "Pagar 533 Pesos Entry Fee" he says. "No Aqi" he says pointing back at the Payment Counter at the other end of the one hour Queue!
Our fellow queuers are sympathetic and after returning to the Payment Counter to pay the Entry Fee allow us back to the front of the exceedingly long queue to have our Tourist Cards reissued with 180 Dias. And we're in! Or are we? David checks his Passport and can't see a Mexico Entrada Stamp. Back to the front of the queue and a minor disagreement with Mr Bored - who slowly flicks through every Passport page before reluctantly accepting he didn't stamp it - kerrr-stamp goes the plunger and we're in!! Or are we? Pablo's TIP (Car Passport) and Seguros (Car Insurance) takes another hour making three hours total to make the crossing (15 minutes Belize: 2 hours 45 minutes Mexico).
Hang on though - that's not the end of it! As we climb aboard our trusty steed a random bloke approaches and flashes his Ministry of Agriculture (of Mexican equivalent) badge asking to search the car. No Food, No Beer, No Wine to cross the Border! Really!!? Confiscates a sealed pack of dry rice and another of dried black beans, no other food on board - or beer - or wine!
And we're in! Or are we? As we drive towards the Bienvenido a Mexico sign yet another random bloke flags us down and tells us we have to pay 100 Pesos to be Fumigated! Most other vehicles crossing the border are waved through, but as Gringos we have to be fumigated!
Correction - four hours total to make the crossing (15 minutes Belize: 3 hours 45 minutes Mexico!) "Hola Mexico - Gracias por la calurosa bienvenida!"
Luckily we're only driving 14 Km up the road to the Fiesta Inn at Chetumal, Quintana Roo!
