Almost out of Guatemala

Today me and Lauren were supposed to leave Rio Dulce, Guatemala for Honduras, but we weren't sure about the bus schedule and missed the direct bus to the city we want to go to in Honduras. Oh well, we just have to spend another day here in this little town on the river, which the coast guard says is the best place for yachters in the area to store their boats during the hurricane season.

Lake Atitlan, with San Pedro Volcano in the background

So an update on the past week or two. After Antigua, Lauren and I went to the Atitlan Lake, which is a couple hours west of Antigua and Guatemala City. We took a small boat across the lake to this small town called San Marcos that was full of hippies, rainforest, and not much to do. The day after we arrived, we set off on a small hike to another town about a 3 hour walk/hike away. The path was right on the lake, set up in the hills a little, so the view was amazing, and we got some good photos, especially of me and my machete (the machete I bought in San Jose with my mom, which I was finally able to put to good use on this walk, as I had heard petty theft was not uncommon in the area).

Later that day I went to yoga at a nearby hotel and met some Irish girls who had been traveling through Latin America for the past 9 months. They told us to check out San Pedro, another small town on the lake, so Lauren and I went there the following day. When we got there, we headed straight to this market that was about 2 hrs away. I tried to haggle with a woman about a scarf/pashmina that I was set on buying for no more than 40 quetzales (about $5) and so when she offered it to me for, 50 I said no. Thirty seconds later, after debating about it in my head and Lauren finally telling me to go for it, I went graveling back to the woman and paid the 50 quetzales. Lauren did some of her own haggling as well and got a change purse and a headband (that we found out later could only be made for a child's head, as it barely fit around either one of our's thighs). On the way back to San Pedro, we met some Argentines who were more or less on the same route as us through Guatemala, so we joined forces with them and a couple of days later headed up north to Coban and then to Semuc Champey.

Don't really know how to describe Semuc Champey, but I've added photos so you can get the gist. We climbed up to a lookout point, which was amazing, and then went down to swim in the limestone, crystal pools. The water was cool and refreshing, though too cold for one of our Argentine friends, who finally went in after we splashed and pushed him in. Later that day we went on a tour of these caves near our hotel which were just incredible. Unfortunately we couldn't take a camera inside (and seeing as it was pitch black, there was no way it would have worked, even with a waterproof camera). The tour started with the guide handing each of us a candle, which we were to carry with us, lit, throughout the tour. This sounds easy, but when you have to swim and climb up cliffs and waterfalls, it sort of presents a problem. Especially when one of the people who are with can't swim. So there's the 5 of us, doggy paddling along with one hand and with the other holding a candle above our heads, trying not to let it touch the water, while bats squeak and flutter above our heads. A little terrifying, not going to lie. But it was an amazing tour. We got to jump off 3 meter high cliffs into water, scale up rocks, and slide down small waterfalls. It was one of the best things I've done all summer.

Me and Lauren with two of our Argentine friends, Mauro and Manuel, at the lookout of Semuc Champey

After we got back, we were exhausted, and had to wake up at 5 a.m. the next day for what turned into a long day of traveling consisting of 3 buses, one taxi, and a boat ride in order to get to Flores, in the northern part of Guatemala, near the Mexican border. From Flores we checked out the Mayan ruins of Tikal, which to be honest, were pretty impressive, but not as impressive as the ones I saw in Mexico (Palenque and Chichen Itza). We ended up doing an early morning tour (or late evening you could call it, the bus came to pick us up at 3 a.m.) to try to catch the sunrise, but it was too hazy and cloudy so we didn't see it. Oh well, the sunrise tour was worth it at least because it would have been way too hot to go any later than 8 a.m.

me, Lauren, and I think Mauro in the background on one of the highest temples in Tikal

After Tikal, Lauren and I had to part ways with the Argentines, which was quite sad, as we had been traveling with them for almost a week. But they were going to Mexico and we were set on not following them and making our way down to Honduras. So now we're in Rio Dulce and we went to the waterfall that the town is known for this morning. It's this hot waterfall that falls into a river of cool water and was another one of the best things I've done in Guatemala. When we asked the local kids who were there where the water comes from, they shrugged their shoulders and looked at us with a dumbfounded look, which seems to be the general reaction we get from all Central American teenagers

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Lauren jumping off of the hot waterfall in Rio Dulce