瓜國遇險記 A real danger in Guatemala

這是我第一次在瓜地馬拉遇到真正的凶險，凶險來自瓜國警察。

Monterrico，這是距離安堤瓜車程約2小時的海灘。我們一行人(2個加拿大女生、1個美國太太和她的5、6歲的小孩和台灣人我)在接近Monterrico的時候，在公路上被警察攔下來，他和他那群小囉嘍看了我們每張臉後，跟我們要護照。

我們是在瓜地馬拉境內，我們怎麼會帶護照，是去薩爾瓦多、宏都拉斯、貝里斯才要帶護照。後來司機下車去跟他們談，車上另一位旅行社員工也猛打電話搬救兵。後來司機回來跟我們說，原因是「我們沒帶護照」，我們本來想說不能去Monterrico，就回安堤瓜，這個也不行，我們只能留在原地等。後來警察說如果每個人不交USD 100，就要把我們移送到瓜市的移民局。

我們在車上討論怎麼辦，司機和旅行社也一直打電話找人幫忙，就這樣在公路上停了1.5到2小時，警察完全不管車上還有小孩。後來警察要求每個人交USD 10才能走，從USD 100變成 USD 10也真可笑。

後來警察的「長官」也開警車來了(他的制服號碼是15545-p)，他們一群人在他們的車上討論了半個小時。這之中美國太太一直打電話找人幫忙，後來一對瓜國夫妻開車過來，跟警察的「長官」討論了很久，又拿出很多證明，警察的「長官」就答應他們可以把美國太太和小孩接走。而我們呢?過了5分鐘，警察的「長官」說我們可以走了，每個人的USD 10也不要了。

我們一行人神經緊繃、折騰了1.5到2小時，每個人都累了，司機趕緊帶我們去加油站上廁所。後來跟我們說，警察的「長官」不收賄賂，是第一位攔下我們的警察死要錢才不放人，看吧! 這就是瓜地馬拉。

很多人說瓜國其實很安全，我之前也這樣覺得，覺得沒想像中危險，結果第一次遇到兇險就是遇到警察，而這就是瓜地馬拉沒錯，警察比百姓危險。

被嚇到、氣到後所領悟的瓜國平安守則:
(1) 隨身帶護照影本
(2) 出門旅行攜帶小額美金，用來疏通用
(3) 多抄一些緊急求救電話
(4) 沒錢就跟警察耗，反正他們時間很多
(5) 一定要會西文，至少要能聽懂

I encountered a real danger in Guatemala, a danger was bad policemen.

 

We were in Monterrico which is a beach two hours from here/from my home. Our group included two Canadians, one American lady ,her son and me. When we were close to Monterrico, a policeman asked our driver to stop on road, and asked us to hand over our passports.

 

We didn’t have our passports, because we were in Guatemala, besides, we had not left Guatemala. Our driver left the car to talk to them, and another worker tried to find someone to help us. Then, our driver came back and told us that this policeman was asking for USD 100 per person, because we did not bring our passports. We thought if we could not go to Monterrico, at least we could go back to Antigua, but this policeman said we had to stay there. Finally, and he said if we did not hand over USD 100 for first time, he would send us to immigration.

We decided that we would just wait in the car, that would have made the policeman unhappy, and they had ignored a little boy in the car. After one and half hours to two hours, the same policeman came to the car a second time and asked, this time, for USD 10 per person asked USD 10 per person for second time.

Finally, the head policeman came to us (his Uniform Number was15545-p ), other policemen talked about something in their car. The American lady had called her Guatemalan friends, and her friends arrived there (at the same as the boss came to our car) to help us. They talked to the head policeman and showed some papers , and the head policeman said the American lady and her son could leave with her friends. After 5 minutes,the head policeman said we all could leave, I did not see any exchange of money between anyone.

We were very nervous and tired after one and half hours to two hours in the car, and the driver brought us to a station to use the toilet. After ,the driver told us, the first policeman had wanted to take a bribe, and the head policeman he had not wanted to take our money. This is Guatemala , sometimes we must give way to their demands.

Many people have called Guatemala is the safer country in central America. In general, you are safe in most tourist destinations in Guatemala. I felt quite safe in Guatemala , but in fact something bad happened.

 

Safety tips in Guatemala：

(1) Bring a copy of your passport

(2) Bring as small amount of USD because sometimes you need to pay for safety

(3) Remember some emergency telephone numbers.

(4) If you don’t have money, you have no other choice but to wait

(5) You must understand Spanish