Friday I left Flores on a shuttle bus to Lanquin/Semuc Champey. It was about 6 hours in the bus. It was a very beautiful drive. The mountains are so green and lovely. I sat up front with the driver which allowed me a better view of the scenery and an opportunity to practice my Spanish. At one point we came upon a little town along Rio de Pasion. The houses were flooded with water about half way up the walls. According to the driver, the river begins in the Gulf of Mexico and floods about four times per year. I asked him where the families stay when their houses are flooded and the answer was 'en la calle', in the street. This time the houses had been inundated with water for several weeks. I bought a 7-up from one of the houses/stores. I asked the price and was told 10 Quetzales...which is a total rip off at about $1.35. But it just didn't seem right to bargain down to 4 or 5 Quetzales when this woman's home is halfway under water. A flood premium of $0.75 is totally appropriate in my opinion.
The reason we had stopped at Rio de Pasion is that you have to cross the river by ferry; there is no bridge. So we waited about 20 minutes then crossed the river in about 3 minutes and were on our way.
Upon arriving to Lanquin, I checked into El Retiro hostel. The only thing left besides hammocks was a double room for Q80 ($11) so I took it for the night. It was a loft above the dorms in a little hut. There was no door, only a curtain; so I used my mosquito net for the night. The only problem was that it was a bit precarious climbing the ladder with my 40+ pound backpack.
Eating in the hostel was family style. There were probably 50+ people staying. The food was awesome and vegetarian friendly. I ended up handing out with a bunch of Brits and the following night we played cards and dice.
On Saturday I took a tour of Semuc Champey and the surrounding caves. The first thing we did upon arrival is jump into the river from a rope swing. Most of you know I'm afraid of heights. But I did the rope swing no problem. Actually, this would be a day of conquering some of my fears. I only have flip flops and running shoes with me. The Brits had told me if I don't mind getting my 'trainers' wet, I should wear them. So I did and was really glad because some people lost their flip flops in the river or in the caves even after tying them on with twine. The Lanquin Caves are filled with water. Each of us (about 18) were given a candle. I, along with the guide and probably 3 others, had headlamps. The cave experience was really cool. Think Indiana Jones. Part of the time we were wading through water, part of the time we were swimming with only our heads and one handing holding the candle above the water. At one point we had to blow out the candles and go underneath a waterfall. After which we climbed two ladders and got to a point where we could climb up about 8 feet and jump into a pool. Again...I pushed past my fears and jumped. It was a weird feeling jumping into the pool in the dark and then not hitting the bottom. It felt like I just kept going down and down.
Once out of the caves we went tubing on the river for about 20 minutes. The tubes were not like the large tubes we used to float the Weber River this summer...but tiny tubes that your rear end could barely fit in. So you were sort of top heavy until you folded your body up and shoved your butt down lower.
Next, on to Semuc Champey. On the walk there, there were several children selling things...oranges, chocolate, etc. The people in this mountain village speak their indigenous Mayan language of Q'eqchi' or Kekchi, not Spanish. I didn't have any money with me, but I had my cookies with me. They definitely knew the Spanish word for cookies, galletas, when I asked if they would like some cookies. So I gave my cookies to three little kids, and they were pretty happy about that. On the way, our guide also broke open a cacao seed (from which chocolate is made). The seeds inside are slimy and you can't eat them. But you can suck on them and eat the slimy stuff, which is pretty tasty.
Semuc Champey is a natural monument near the Q'eqchi' Maya town of Lanquin. It is a 300 meter natural limestone bridge. Under the bridge passes the Cahabon River. On top of the bridge is a series of stepped, turquoise pools. It was so beautiful. First we climbed a steep trail to the 'mirador' or lookout point where we had lunch (me PBJ). Then we climbed down and swam in the pools. The turquoise color comes from minerals in the limestone. For the most daring of the group (can you believe I fell into this category???) the guide set up a rope ladder at the end of the pools. We climbed down the rope ladder underneath the bridge and we could see where the river was powerfully gushing out. But...it wasn't just as easy as climbing down a rope ladder. The rope ladder was in a really strong waterfall. So, in addition to a strong waterfall falling on your head and face, the ladder was also right against the rock; so there wasn't a lot of room to put your feet on the rungs...only the width of the rung itself. So it was a bit scary. But I made it down (and obviously back up as well...it was more scary on the way up). It was incredible below. Under the limestone bridge on a rock and you can see this powerful river gushing out from the darkness of this bridge in 3 or 4 places. It's hard to explain in words, but it was incredible. One of the Israeli's(there are a lot of Israeli's in Guatemala right now as they are on University holiday in October)
turned to me and said this is better than all the National Parks in the US. I started naming parks and he said, 'yes better' to each one I named. I got to Arches and he hadn't been. I would say Arches and Semuc Champey are in the same category. Anyway, it was amazing underneath there. It wasn't just what we were seeing, but also the experience of getting down. Never would you be able to do something like in a national park in the US. Once we were down there the guide told us that something like 9 people had died by falling into the river at the top of the bridge where the river starts to go underneath (we were at the end where the river comes out). But now they have a ranger at the top who keeps people from going to close to the edge. This is the first safety precaution (other than police in towns and armed guards at banks) that I have seen in Guate.
So I forgot to mention, but the drive from the hostel to Lanquin Caves and Semuc Champey was in a truck. I sat in the front along with 3 other women, but the rest of the group stood in the back of the truck. It's about a 10km ride on a bumping, winding, dirt road. On the way home after the adventures of the day, I felt much more couragous and decided to ride home in the back of the truck. It was actually really cool. You could see so much more from this vantage point. The moutains are so green and beautiful. There were tons of fireflies flickering in the distance. And it was just sort of...I don't know the adjetive...spiritual (but maybe less strong) riding in the back of the truck like that with 15 other strangers from different places who had shared adventures together during the day, helping each other in the caves. And riding back to camp the way the way the Q'eqchi' people do (if they are lucky enough to hitch a ride), although there would be 3 times the amount of people cramed in.
You'll see in the pictures there are corn fields high on the mountain hills. The people plant and harvest everything by hand. It's amazing really. The fields are so high on really steep hills. You see people (men, women and children) walking along the road with really heavy bags of harvested corn or bundles of firewood. The bag is on their backs and then it is supported by a rope that goes on top of their heads and their hands are sort of on their heads helping to balance and support the weight.
The second night at El Ritiro Hostel I was able to move to a single room for Q50 ($6.75). This time with a locking door and no ladder...just a few steps. It was really a cool place and had a great atmostphere. It felt more like camping. Some people just slept in hammocks.
It's hard to explain in words but the experience in Lanquin/Semuc Champey was overall, really incredible. Check out the rest of the
photos here. Also, see the link on the left side of the page for photos of other places I've been so far. I arrived in Antigua on Sunday and will be leaving tomorrow or the next day for San Pedro/Lago Atitlan. I hope everyone is well. :) Ciao!
We took a road trip from our main 'road trip' to El Chalten, which is in the northern part of the Glacier National Park. We went on December 23rd so we could get back in time to spend Christmas Eve in El Calafate. I call it a road trip because we left our BIG backpacks at our hotel in El Calafate and just took the bus with our overnight stuff.
We woke up 2 hours later. We have to wake up once at 6:30am and not only can we not pull ourselves out of bed until 7:00am, we have to take a 2 hour afternoon nap. Anyway, we did go on a small hike to view the town. It was super windy so we hurried down and then stopped for a submarino (steamed milk into which you drop a chocolate bar), then soup, then pizza and a bottle of wine, and a piece of chocolate cake. Needless to say, we're not looking as trim as we were in Bariloche...but I think you'll agree with me that it was a fabulous end to a fantastic day!
