# Border between San Cristobal de las Casas and Guatemala



## ForeverNomadic (Jul 21, 2013)

I need to cross into Guatemala on the 25th. My g/f and I are in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, and are going to be crossing toward Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Does anyone happen to know if the border is open on Monday's and if so the times? I've only heard about the crossing itself and not about the times and all of the fun nitty girtty. THank you so much!


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Will you be crossing at La Mesilla? The border is open daily, and according to this website it's open 24 hrs daily. I, for one, would only travel in the daytime, though.

Direccion General de Migracion de Guatemala - Delegaciones Migratorias


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes it is open and I agree I sure would not travel through there at night. There are several travel agency on real de Guadalupe tha can take you to Guatemala for 350 pesos. It is cheaper to take colectivos to Comitan and Comitan to the border and then a bus to wherever you are going but it is a lot more hasle.


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## ForeverNomadic (Jul 21, 2013)

citlali said:


> Yes it is open and I agree I sure would not travel through there at night. There are several travel agency on real de Guadalupe tha can take you to Guatemala for 350 pesos. It is cheaper to take colectivos to Comitan and Comitan to the border and then a bus to wherever you are going but it is a lot more hasle.


Thank you very much! I really appreciate it! Do you know of anywhere (other than the travel agencies on Real de Guadalupe that exchange pesos for Quetzales? I need to exchange quite a large amount for rent in Guatemala. Thank you very much!


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

When I went for the first time I exchange the minimum at the border to make it to Antigua and then I get the money rom ATM. I also change at banks in Guatemala but a minimum at the border as they are a rip off.

Ask the bank if the y will get you quetzals if you order them,I do not know because I always have quetzals at home, enough to make it to a bank there rather than change at the money changers or the travel agencies.

If you take one of the tourist van to a town that has ATM you really need very little so exchange the minimum in Mexico or at the border.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

I would do exactly as Citlali suggests. If you aren't able to get quetzales ahead of time, exchange just a small amount at the border. Don't worry about finding someone at the border to exchange money - they will find you, more than you wish!

If you have a large amount of pesos in cash that you need to exchange, I would keep aside just what you are going to exchange at the border, keep the remainder in a secure spot, and exchange them at a bank at your final destination in Guatemala. 

One word of advice - ATMs in Guatemala aren't always reliable. If the network is down, you may not be able to access money from your US account. Usually it's just a matter of finding a different ATM. A few years ago access to the international system for withdrawals was down for a few weeks in a row. I finally had to do an email transfer to my neighbour's account (in Canada), who then sent me the money via "MoneyGram" (which is way cheaper than Western Union) and easy to pick up in Guatemala at the bank "Banrural" or at Elektra stores.

Usually, though, if one ATM isn't working, find another one - look for those that have a symbol that matches the "Plus" symbol on the back of your debit card, to indicate they are linked to the international system. Another note - some ATMs in Guatemala only accept 4 digit PINs, so again, if you have a longer PIN you may need to try different ATMs. My daughter was travelling there and had a 5 digit PIN which caused her problems at some machines.

Enjoy Guatemala. It is an amazingly beautiful country where a large part of my heart resides...


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