Lanquin, Grutas las Maria , Semuc 1

From Flores we took a minivan to Lanquin. The van came by our hostel to pick us up and was already packed. This meant that the 6 of us had to use the last 2 seats at the back , 3 of the additional fold out seats that vans here attach to the existing seats, and only one of us had a decent seat. These fold out seats are like baby seats. They have a back rest that is about a foot high so no back support whatsoever. Gautemalan van drivers have a penchant for lying about schedules. When you get to a bus stop, all waiting vans are just about to leave, and when you are in the van and ask how much longer it will be, it is never longer than 2 hours. Many 2 hours later we reached Coban, and then continued on to Lanquin.

It had begun to rain quite heavily, then lightening and thunder added to the caos. The roads were dirt and I could not make out the difference between the road and the river below. The drive was really stunning. The vegetation here is thick! It covers every possible space, even the rocks on the mountains around are not spared. It seems like the greenery is having a continuous war with the road, waiting to take back what it used to own. Waterfalls cascade down hills swamped in clouds. Suffice to say it is breathtaking.

Anyway we reached Lanquin around 7 pm. It was pitch dark . El Retiro, the hostel we wanted to stay in was quite full, but we managed to bag the last two triple rooms. Dnner here was supposed to be splendid, an all you can eat barbecue was the menu of the day, but as our luck would have it, we had reached too late and they had run out. El Retiro is not a place you can get any sleep in. It is a party hostel, very scenically situated on the Corabon river but the party does not stop and I'm getting too old for this.

The next morning we headed to Semuc Champey and the Grutas Las Marias. The hour long drive in the back of a pick up with a bunch of Gringas and gringos was eventful, and the view spectacular.

We finally reached the river and changed into our swim wear. We then walked up to a swing that was tied so that it would swing high over the river and asked to swing on it and jump into the gushing river as some kind of initiation rite. I wasn't too sure about it given my swimming skills but when a bunch of guys and girls did it, and finally Yannick too did it, I had too. It was fantastic! Leaping off a swing and falling some 20 feet into a gushing river was exhilarating but this was just the tip of the iceberg.