turns out guatemala has checkpoints afterall. i’m not sure what the point was, but it seemed more professional than mexico….not too much, though.
the police stopped all cars on the road and i had to show him my driver’s license, passport and auto immigration documents he actually looked it over in quite a bit of detail, even comparing the license plate. however, then he asked me where i was from (usa), what my profession was (engineer)…and then started talking about how rich people in the united states are — not the best topic when talking to a cop with a gun, my passport and a mouthful of corona’s (gold embroidered teeth that are all the craze in guatemala….each costing up to 600Q….see pic).

anyway, cops in guatemala seem more present in guatemala than in mexico. they all drive big blue pickups and you probably see them more often than you do in the us. i saw one guy get pulled over in front of me. the cop was going 60 km/h (speed limit)…..and the guy in an expensive looking landrover passed him. not sure what happened next….but the landrover passed me 15min later.