Semuc Champey, Coban, Flores and Belize (Hitchhiking 101)

So Henry and I went to Lanquin, just an hour or so away from Semuc Champey, which is a MUST for anyone traveling in Guate! There is this awesome place in Lanquin called El Retiro, although the staff can be asses at times, the benifits outway that aspect. In lanquin you can see the local caves or take an innertube down this FREEZING river. We did neither, but there are no regrets because we enjoyed everything else there. After visiting the Semuc caves, which was the most exciting thing Ive done in a long time, we went to the waterfalls and pools there for a swim. The caves take about 1 hour or so to venture through, it¨s very Indiana Jones and you only have the light of a candle that¨s in your hand.... It was amazing, however had this cave been in the states, with all the safety regulations and threats of lawsuites it would have been a completely different experience altogether... At some points it was a little scary and I would recommend anyone whose out of shape or old to go, whatever the latter actually is I don¨t know. Unfortunately I don¨t have pictures of the caves this time but I will post them soon! After Semuc we stayed another night in Lanquin at El Retiro and then left for Flores. We woke up around 9ish and started afoot to begin our hitchhiking adventure. Needless to say we had a great experience, never waiting longer than 15-20 minutes for a ride even though we had some doubters along the way. The first pickup we got was from a cattle truck, in which case we sat down in the trailer listening to some tunes and chatting about life. The last hitch we recieved was from an 18 wheeler driver who was from Puerto Barrios on his way through Rio Dulce. We never met a bad or shady person, everyone was very hospitable so forget the bad press and try it sometime. PS. Three young ladies from Denmark and Belgium did the same trip we did hitchhiking after we told them about it in Flores... We saw them at our Hotel safe and sound!

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