Heading south from Flores to Lanquin for Semuc Champey

We've seen the last of Flores and got on a 'direct' bus to Lanquin at 9am this morning. . We're still suffering from the gut bomb likely delivered by Restaurant Brisas and I wasn't able to try the "Tepescuintle" that I found on the menu at a restaurant in town (it's a rabbit-sized jungle rodent that would have prepared me well for this fall's eating zoo back in portland). Hopefully we're on the mend, though.

The travel agent in town told us the trip to Lanquin would be 4-5 hours and there would be room at El Retiro so we needn't set anything up with them. The ride was actually 9 hours (we got in at dusk around 620pm) and El Retiro was booked so we found other accomodations with the help of our friendly driver. We are staying at El Recreo, which is no El Retiro, but plenty adequate for our needs. We can do a tour in the morning through the hotel, too.
The ride led us from the flat areas around Flores

the ferry...

with our corner under water

south and into the mountains. It was impressive when the blue ridges came into view and we gradually made our way up and over them. As the landscape changed, so did the little details. Pine trees appeared on the hills and the slopes were increasingly cleared of brush and trees in favor of corn. Every hill seems to have corn on it around Lanquin, even those on a very steep slope.
The bus that we were on was actually a doctored 4-door truck with back seats in the cab and four seats (from a car) in the bed of the pickup. There was a roof (no walls) and on top of the cab was a rack for our bags. At first we were a bit disappointed to be riding in the backseat after expecting a bus, but soon realized that we had a good spot when the rain started. Fortunately our bags were covered with a tarp and the folks in the back stayed pretty dry.
Between Flores and Coban, in Sayaxche, we came to a river crossed only by ferry. The ferry was a little scary to begin with, but once we loaded it up our corner was under

waiting for the ferry to leave

water. This being Guatemala, the operators weren't concerned with us sinking into the river but only frustrated that the engines couldn't get that much weight off the shore. The solution was for a couple cars to return to shore and the semi to pull forward quickly and stop for an extra boost. On about the 15th try its momentum got us off the shore and on our way across the river. Our other excitement enroute was the public restroom we visited in Sayaxche- 2Q for one of the dirtiest places we'd ever been. You get a receipt, though!
The final excitement came on the mountain roads toward the end of the trip. They were full of hairpin corners, which our driver cut like a champ, occasionally with squealing tires. All this with periodic oncoming traffic. The last bit was bumpy gravel/rock road with enough potholes and large rocks to make a remote US Forest Service road blush. About 12km of that, down and around hills to cross two ridges and you're in the beautiful area around Lanquin.