Semuc Champey
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2008
1
6
18
Trip End
Dec 19, 2008
Lanquin,
Guatemala
Monday, October 13, 2008
We felt a bit like unwinding after all the spanish clases and brain exercises of the two weeks in Antigua, so it was a welcome trip to the relaxed Lago de Atitlan, in the West part of the country. The Lago is a popular tourist destination, but rightly so. Its (by the way my apostrophe doesnt work on this computer) surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and small villages built up the hillsides.
Many people come for the scenery, for kayaking and hiking and other outdoorsy things, but many others come for the tourism (and of course the cheap drugs). We were lucky to avoid that scene by staying the first night in an untouristy town called Santiago Atitlan, and the second and third nights outside of the tourist zone in San Pedro (which some people call the Israel of Guatemala, for obvious reasons). Santiago is famous for its crafts and traditional way of life, but all we really got out of the experience was a stay in by far the worst deal of a hotel in town, and a long walk down the highway to admire a much nicer hotel with at much nicer view that we could have stayed in. Ok, Im exaggerating because I actually really enjoyed Santiago, the small bit we saw of it. At the top of town is a square, with that morning thousands of avocados being sorted into trucks. The church there was interesting and has a plaque commemorating the massacres that occured in Santiago during the civil war (1960s-90s).
Our first welcome in San Pedro wasnt much of a welcome. We were approached by a slightly crazed looking man, asking us where we were staying. Assuming he was a tout trying to find us a hotel we tried to ignore him, until he started aggressively asking me where we were going. Before we knew it he had grabbed my sunglasses off my head (and some of my hair with them) and had run off down a nearby alley. One onlooking man tried to chase him down but we told him it didnt matter and we continued on our way. A little shaken, we met another tout, (a harmless old man) who brought us skeptical tourists to his very cheap hotel. It turned out to be great, complete with semi-private balcony, an interesting paint job and great lake views! The next few days we spent in San Pedro kayaking, walking around the town, eating fruit and gazing at the lake. We also caught part of the US presidential debate in a british pub with a guy from our school in Antigua, after which we had our own lengthy economic debate on how best to solve the worlds problems. I was right, of course. :) We managed to avoid most of the sketchy tourist scene, but did get a van full of rowdy Israelis on the very long detour back to Antigua.
Lanquin/Coban/Semuc Champey:
In Guatemala we definitely followed the Gringo route, which was made very clear when we noticed that the logo of a travel agency in Lanquin had a map of Guatemala with the route we had taken. However, places are usually popular for a reason and this was very true for Semuc Champey and surroundings. We arrived in Lanquin through Coban after 2 tiring days of travel on chicken buses and mini campesino buses. Lanquin is north of Guatemala city and is in the lush forest covered mountains of that region. Much to my happiness, the whole area is made of limestone, and receives a lot of rain, which means there are caves! We spent the first afternoon adventuring around inside the Grutas de Lanquin, a huge cave system about 1km into the earth. The well organized system of stairs, railings and lights made some great walking and photography possible, but we also enjoyed going off the trail a bit to see some bat hangouts and more impressive chambers with stalactites. Needless to say I was very thrilled the whole time to be in a cave (and not on a guided tour in a cave!).
The next day we set off for the park of Semuc Champey, one of the biggest draws of Guatemala. Inside the park is a 300m long limestone bridge, which is basically one piece of rock over a river, with the river flowing over and under it. Most of the water roars underneath, but other tributaries flow over top to create cascading emerald green and blue pools the length of the bridge. We spent the day exploring the best swimming place I have ever been to (and Ive been to some nice ones!), and gazing at and photographing the incredible beauty of the place. Although there were a lot of tourists there, we were able to find many quiet niches for swimming and jumping off small waterfalls. We will have fond memories of the guard who stands watch at the end of the bridge to make sure tourists dont fall into the dangerous river below. He definitely served a purpose, by deterring overadventurious (male) tourists from climbing on precarious rocks, but he spent most of his time blowing his whistle over zealously at anyones slight movement towrads the river.
Two bus adventures:
The way from Coban to Lanquin: we knew we were being ripped off on the
ticket price since it was more than we were quoted by other passengers,
and even the driver, so I waited with what should have been the ticket
money for the ticket collector to come by. When he arrived I handed
him the money, and a large debate between him, the driver and us ensued
in which I tried my hardest to argue/bargain in spanish and we almost
got left on the side of the road halfway up a mountain. (we had to pay
the full fair in the end as the walk would have been long).
The way from Lanquin to Coban: Our rickety van was so full that when we got in there were no more seats for me, so I ended up sitting on a crooked wooden box in the aisle (of course no seat belt). When I thought we were packed to capacity, the van stopped to pick up a family of four on the side of the road. All of them, plus me and the ticket collector, sat/stood in the aisle holding on to seats, doors and each other as we careened around corners and up and down hills. At one point I offered to hold one of the kids so I rode a good bit of the ride on a box with a kid on my lap. But the view was fantastic!
