Money??

I'll be in Guatemala for 8 weeks and was wondering what to do about money. Is a re-loadable travel visa card ok or do most atm's run out of money?? I heard they don't work most of the time. If anyone has any good ideas please let me know! I don't want to get a Visa card and then not be able to use it. Also, did anyone have any problems checking luggage? I don't want anything to get stolen out of my checked luggage. Reply to this

I visited most of the major cities there other than Guat city during the past 6 months and I found the Visa cash machines never gave me a problem(ask for "cajero" pronounced ka-hair-oh to find them). A big problem in Guatemala is that most cash machines are locked after around 6PM, so keep that in mind. My Visa based card worked everwhere I tried it. Also, most every city in Guatemala, including Xela seems to roll up the sidewalk at 6 or 7PM, so get all your business, internetting, and most of the time, dining, etc. done before then. If you are a girl it is probably not good to be walking around by yourself after dark even off the side streets of the central parks, but I did note I saw a few doing this in Xela.

Since I drove I don't know if there is an opportunity to change money at the border when you ride the bus, but maybe someone can comment. Be sure to use an online currancy converter to know the exchange rate before hand. Then keep arguing with the money changers for a better rate.

The main thing that put me in a pinch was getting to a gas station in the new country before I found an ATM, as most of them don't take credit cards. If you were bussing, it seems like you can keep a coke and snacks in your pack to last you till you can get to an ATM. The surprising thing for me is that fewer places than have been reported in CA accepted my US dollar, of course outside of El Salvador. They might if you forced the issue but no one I have dealt with has wanted them. Reply to this