Feb 24 2019
Today we head to Lanquin to get to the pools of Guatemala’s favorite Semuc Champey. It was a 6 hour long shuttle ride for only 110 Q (about $14.25 USD each). Driving through the countryside was beautiful.
However, the shuttle was jammed packed and we even had a person sitting on the floor in between the seats. At our first rest stop I offered to trade with him for awhile but he politely declined. As the trip went on it seemed like the shuttle driver was driving faster and faster. The roads also got more steep and curvy. There were times I had to close my eyes as it was too scary to watch. Every corner it felt like the shuttle bus was going to tip over. We started going through villages where all the women had long, colorful skirts and blouses and would be carrying things on their head. We saw men carrying huge bundles of chopped wood on their back holding it with ropes and their bare hands.
It was so interesting to see such a different way of life. As the bus became even more frightening, racing through these steep mountain villages with children and dogs walking around, one girl was literally about to throw up so her friend spoke up and politely asked in Spanish if the driver could slow down. Thankfully he did (a little bit) and we all made it safe to our destination. Once we arrived in Lanquin there was a tuk tuk that took us to our hostel Vista Verde. We all fell in love with it. We were in a tranquil setting of mountains and trees and the hostel was very nice with a wonderful pool!
Our dorm beds were up on the top level of this hut that you climb a very steep ladder to get to. There were no doors so it was open to whatever potential bugs and critters that could make their way up that ladder. This was the first time we had beds with mosquito nets.
The place was really cute and clean though. The biggest downfall was that the bathroom was really far. You had to climb down the super steep ladder and walk a good ways to get to it. We were high on the mountain air though and beautiful landscape. After a quick dip in the pool to cool we took a tuktuk to town to explore. We met a new friend Kyra from Toronto on the shuttle from Flores and she was staying at our same hostel in our same dorm room. She joined us for a walk in town and we all fell in love with Lanquin.
It was so beautiful nestled in the mountains and it had such an authentic feeling. It was almost like stepping back in time for me as we observed the way of life of these beautiful people. We did find a little pub and stopped in for a quick drink before heading back to the hostel for sunset.
We got back and went to the pool and observed the amazing mountain sky as the sun went down.
We made plans to have a rest and relax day tomorrow before going to Semuc Champey because we loved this town so much and the pool at the hostel.