Blogs from Semuc Champey, Verapaz Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 5

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So our first blog entry has been some time in coming but here it is! We finally made it to Guatemala City on the evening of 4th May, the hostel we had booked for our first night was very good and picked us up from the airport, pointed us in the direction of a money changer and generally sorted us out. The guidebook advertised it as a hostel in the safe neighbourhood of the city. This turned out to be in an armed compound, army style! In addition to the armed guards and barbed wire fence surrounding it, each hostel or house had their own heavy duty fences and locks. At least it was secure but probably not the best first impression of Guatemala for us!! From there we got the bus the next day, first ... read more
View from my bed in El Remate
Temple 5 Tikal
View from the top of Temple 5


c'est beau mais c'est loin ! (à l'époque !) ... read more
cascades
semuc champey
transparence


Destination 3: Lanquin & Semuc Champey It was supposed to be easy. We were to catch the 6am bus leaving Rio D to take us to Coban via El Retcho on the bus that was heading towards Guatemala City. Fine! No problems! We got on board, found our seat and dozed in preparation for the 4+ hour journey to El Retcho. We stopped at numerous points, not uncommon on the Guatemalan bus journey to pick up and drop of random passengers. Its not as if they have set stops or city signs for that matter. Its also important to note that they dont sometimes tell you the place where they are stopping at, or dont announce it all the way down the bus....It was this that was our ultimate downfall. Some 6 hours later we were ... read more
Me in the pools.
Semuc Champey
Semuc Champey


Une dernière nuit à la Casa Argentina, et voilà, il est temps de reprendre la route. Un taxi nous emmène au turbulent terminal Minerva, nous cherchons parmi les nombreux kiosques improvisés, quelque chose à se mettre sous la dent. Au menu: poulet frits, pan*, tamal*, etc... Ensuite nous abandonnons nos sacs sur le toit de l'autobus; direction Coban via Guatemala city. Pendant près de 3 heures nous avons l'impressions d'être à l'intérieur du dernier cri en matière de montagne russe. Nous passons de 2300 à 3000 mètres, nous sommes balancés de gauche à droite, nous devons nous accrocher fermement au siège d'en avant pour rester en place. L'autobus atteint des pointes d'au moins 100 kilomètres à l'heure, on échappe même une partie de la cargaison qui se trouvait sur le toit. On évite de justesse un ... read more
Lanquin, Guatemala
Lanquin, Guatemala
Lanquin, Guatemala


Wow. Wow wow wow wow. I never thought things would get more beautiful, until my birthday came along. I dont have words to describe this place. Essentially, is a huge river with different pools that you can swim in and its just gorgeous aqua colour. We also went into a cave that was essentially full of water...so that was an adventure as well. I couldn´t bring my camera in there which sucked, but in any case, it was amazing. We all had our own individual candles to light the way but it was scary at certain points when there was no one in front or behind. Very dark!! We jumped off a 9m bridge which I guess isn´t all that high, but it certainly felt high. One of the guys we met, Josh from Denver, dove ... read more


5 hour drive to Coban from Antigua, we hit traffic in Guatemala City on the way. Checked in at Casa D'Acuña. 4 bed dorms for 50 quetzals about $8. My roommates are 3 brothers from Chicago that lived here in Guate when they were younger, now back in the States for college, they are here visitng their parents who runs an orphanage in the city. These brothers are the nicest dudes I met in a long while, unfortunately only the older I remember the name, Scott. His younger brothers are taking Nursing. We talked for hours then off to bed as I am going to Semuc the next day leaving early. Walked the town of Coban early on during the day, found an internet cafe and ATM that takes my debit card and had a walk ... read more
TIKAL
FLORES
EL MIRADOR VIEWPOINT


Time to get busy and see some stuff This time we treated ourselves to a direct shuttle bus heading to a town called Coban, yet strangley we had the whole shuttle bus to ourselves (we kept thinking, somethings going to happen, but nothing ever did.) We arrived to rain, which is what makes Coban primarily a coffee growing town with many fincas and historically many Germans. We stayed at Hotel la Paz which was fabulous every corner you turned was like a David Lynch set!! We woke in the morning to a heavy mist which later turned to torrential rain, quite normal in Coban which sees 300 days of rain a year!! Who'd want to live here? Well many people do, and it was in Coban that Karen had her best vegetarian meal yet and ... read more
I am sure there must be dwarf lurking
Nobody around at all
Orchids by the hundred


Being back on the road felt great after the island fever, I headed south to the town of Poptun and the infamous Finca Ixobel. The Finca was started by an American couple in the 80's, though Michael Devine was shot dead outside the property in 1990 during the civil war. Some say the CIA were behind the killing, a sad tale but his memory lives on in this fabulous low-key resort run by his widow Carol. In one afternoon I explored Cueva Ixobel, walked up a pyramid shaped hill, took a dip in the natural pool and tucked into the huge buffet. This was a feast fit for a king after rations at ARCAS: beef goulash, stuffed aubergine, home-grown salads, freshly baked bread..get in my belly! Fireflies peppered the lawn with their twinkling lights and you ... read more
Some lovely specimens
Then it started to rain for the aerial shot..
The orchid garden


Hola! Ok so the story so far.... I believe I left your tongues salivating at the thought of me visiting San Pedro La Laguna, well, what can I say? Lago Atitlan es muy bonita! I spent the weekend there and it was very chilled and I reckon I needed the break from Antigua. San Pedro is a small town situated on the lake with glorious views of the surrounidng countryside (and of course it is bountiful in volcanoes). If you want to stay at the lake there are a few towns where you can stay - the most popular being Panajachel (therefore the most commercial), whilst San pedro is a little bit more laid back and actually akin to some asian places some of you may have visited. you can guess at my surprise when I ... read more
Lago Atitlan
Lago Atitlan 2
Cerro de la cruz


Hallo Freunde, jetzt mit Photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! diese woche keine fotos und langer text. Warum??? hier gibts nur internet per satelit und das geht leider garnicht. Naechste woche lad ich die fotos hoch und werd was dazu schreiben. Als kleinen Vorgeschmack auf naechste woche hier bin ich gerad www.elretirolanquin.com kein plan wie gut die homepage ist und obs da fotos gibt. allein die seite hier zu laden hat mich 30 Minuten gekostet. Ich hoer jetzt lieber auf den die seite kann jeden moment wieder abstuerzen. Das waer dann das 5 mal. Also ne schoene letzte woche vor weihnachten, ich meld mich vorher noch mal. Und sorry nochmal... read more
Kurz vor Abfahrt
Resultat
El Retrio bei Tag




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