After our time in San Pedro, Lake Atítlan we decided to take the 7/8 hour bus ride to the region of Alta Verapez to stay in a small village called Lanquín and the nearby attraction of Semuc Champey. We hunted around some travel agencies for a good deal on a shuttle and finally found one that included a free nights accommodation at a popular hostel in Lanquín. The travel agent told us it was a direct bus all the way there and gave us our ticket... Happy travels! Well maybe not...
Getting on the bus in the morning we were told there were huge protests going on that were blocking the roads and guys with machetes etc so we would have to take a different route, this would make us a couple of hours late... No problem... We arrived in Antigua where we were to stop for lunch before continuing on. The bus driver tells us we have to get off and wait by the lamppost where another bus would pick us up in 15mins, apparently this wasn’t a direct bus after all! Along with another three backpackers from England we waited and waited... and waited... Two hours later the shuttle arrives to pick us up. Instead of arriving at 8.30pm, we turn up to the hostel at around 11pm. This was fine, all we needed was a good nights sleep so we asked the driver for our tickets to confirm our free nights accommodation... The driver says something about needing the tickets to get paid and takes off, great! When we get to the hostel the guy says we have to pay tonight and then we get tomorrow night free... the catch! The other three people with us already had reservations for the next night so they demanded their free night and then when the boss came down, they all suddenly changed their mind and said that no-one ever promised any free nights and we all have to pay for every night! Apparently they’d never heard of the travel agency offering free nights... Our first scam... It was all quite exciting really! I secretly enjoy hearing people get angry in Spanish because it’s such an expressive language, I was quite keen to join in but a little too tired and weary. We headed off to the other popular hostel that was literally packed to the brim with people sleeping in hammocks and in lofts etc and finally by about midnight found ourselves a hostel!
We spent three days in Lanquín and the main attraction there was the caves full of bats and lit up spectacularly. We also did a day trip to Semuc Champey where we began by exploring these caves kind of like Cave Stream at home but with more water and they’re much bigger. Our guide insisted on us rubbing the colour from a plant on our faces like tribal paint and we headed through the cave with candles, quite exciting! We had to swim quite a lot, often holding the candle above your head with one hand and swimming with the other. We were climbing up ladders and ropes hanging over waterfalls and then you reach the point after which you head back out where you can climb up the side of the caves about 3m high and jump into a pool below. Needless to say I was not so keen for this but Haz was the first one up there! He then played a cruel trick by floating slowly to the surface face down... Not funny! After heading back out of the caves we walked to Semuc Champey where there are these amazing natural pools formed that are bright blue and kind of look like the pink terraces as the pools go down all different levels (google Semuc Champey to see pictures, it’s hard to explain!).
Since then we have made our way back down south to the beautiful colonial town of Antigua, 45mins from Guatemala City. We are here for one week and I am so glad! It is just stunning, surrounded by volcanoes that are really close; it has a huge market and dozens of beautiful churches and ruins. We are going to do some shopping at the market and take a tour round a coffee farm and coffee museum next week before heading back to Nicaragua. We have our own private room for $5 a night for both of us and we are eating pancakes, granola and fresh fruit for breakfast every morning! We can get chicken burgers for dinner for about $1.20 for dinner or cook our own pasta with sauce and avocados for two for about 80c for both of us!
We really love this city and would love to come back here, you can rent apartments super cheap as well and so if you’re thinking of traveling, we recommend Antigua! We have been away for 6 weeks now and have another 5 weeks to go, over half way through the trip! Please leave comments to let us know how you all are (if anyone is reading this now that you’re all on your own holidays!)
Ruby & Harry :)
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