Semuc Champey

Today we caught the 8:00am bus to Lanquin so that we could go to Semuc Champey (in Guatemala ). We were told that for such a long journey, we would be on a big express bus. Once again, we were led a bit astray. The bus that held 14 passengers plus the driver was nothing more than a small van that had jump seats added to the aisles so they could stuff as many people as possible on board.

I had anticipated that this might happen so we were fully prepared with snacks, water and movies to distract us from the fact that our knees were cramped up to our chests and you were going to sweat on the person you were wedged against for the next few hours. At one point, we reached a river which had no bridge so the bus had to be ferried across by a "ferry" that was constructed of some interconnected wood platforms powered by a single motor. Needless to say we were all happy to make it across.

The drive through Guatemala was actually nice because it gave us a chance to see some of the more rural areas and how people were living there. They do not have a freeway like we do, but instead have a two lane road full of speed bumps which the local people live along. This makes travel very slow and the tour buses often serve as transport vehicles for goods to other more remote areas.

The landscape became a lot more lush as we got away from Flores and as we neared Lanquin it completely changed. We went up into the mountains so the air got cooler and the trees dense.

Once we arrived in Lanquin, we had to transfer into a smaller vehicle to travel to our hostel called "Utopia" near Semuc Champey which was about 40mins away. I had been told we would have another bus waiting for us, but instead we were piled into the back of a truck along with the fruit and vegetables that also needed to be delivered. We rode on a one way dirt rode for most of the trip, having to negotiate around other vehicles when they came from the other direction on top of very steep cliffs. It was an unexpected journey, but the jungle once we arrived was breathtaking.

Two of the girls we met on the 8 hour bus ride had not reserved a place to stay, so they came with us to Utopia. Melissa and Alyssa were both awesome and we ended up having dinner with them and spending the rest of the night chatting. Dinner at Utopia is served "family style" meaning for a flat rate you get whatever they are serving. Tonight that was pasta, salad and bread with pumpkin bread pudding for dessert. Since there is nothing else remotely close to here, it is pretty much your only food option, but luckily it was really good. Because slaughters in the community were only done twice a week, the hostel operated a vegetarian kitchen. Once we had taken a look around our "private nook" as they called our room and explored the grounds we realized that this was a bit more down to earth than we'd anticipated.

It is a very bare bones place with pretty much no wifi and very few amenities like electricity. Many of the rooms including the bathroom stalls (which are outside), the showers and some of the rooms only have candles for light. Since the shower is only lit by a single candle, it left us a bit confused as to how we would shower in the dark. Hence, we had to shower together holding flashlights for each other so that we could shave since we would be going to the river the following day. It was definitely a hilarious bonding experience.

This hostel is also wreaking havoc on me since I have a terrible fear of spiders and we are basically living outside and huge spiders are everywhere! We were supposed to stay here for 3 nights but after seeing Alyssa's face, I have the feeling we may only be here for two.

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