We are the Champey-ons, my friend

Alrighty, I'm back for another entry. It's been a little while, but as you will read (eventually) I've been fairly busy lately and haven't had much time to hit the internet cafe. Today was finally a day of nothin but laziness, so here I am. And here we go!

We camped overnight just outside Tikal. It was great because they had showers, and after 3 days in the jungle we needed them badly. They didn't even pretend to be warm, but we didn't care. It still felt great! Next morning we caught a bus back to Flores to pick up our other gear that we left at the Rainforest Alliance office. They were happy to see that we survived the trip. We knew we wanted to catch a bus that afternoon to head to Coban for our next adventure, but we needed to get some food in our bellies first. One of the girls workin at RA told us she knew where she could order us some steak! So we quickly agreed, and went wandering around town for a bit. The bus was leaving at 1, I should add.

We checked out Flores (beautiful city, right on the water, I'd recommend it fo sho) and headed back to RA. We were running a bit late, so we took a Tuk Tuk to get there (little red 3-wheeled taxis that are all over the place here!) We got there at 12:30, the steak got there at 12:45, and we got to the bus stop at 12:59 or so. Plenty of time to spare! On that bus ride, I ended up talking to the guy sitting behind me, in hopes of practicing my Spanish. That was all well and good, but he was in the process of learning Spanish too! That's when I learned an interesting thing about Guatemala - for many people here, Spanish is a second language. Many people, especially from small towns, speak one of the Mayan dialects. But between my broken Spanish and his, we got our points across.

We got to Coban, thinking that the hostels were closer than they actually are. People were offering us taxis, but our motto was more along the lines of "if we can walk, we walk." Using the compass, a little Lonely Planet map, and some wrong turns, we eventually got to a hostel. Planned our trip for the next mornin, a trip that started with a bus picking us up at 6am. But we didn't worry about that. Met a couple other folks staying in that hostel, and we all headed out for dinner.

We found a great little Italian restaurant that offered steaks, wine, and a promise that if you weren't satisfied, you wouldn't pay. It looked and smelled great. But there was something else calling me... a call that wouldn't be ignored. So me and a new French-Canadian buddy answered the call, with a short walk down the street to good 'ol Micky D's. Countries I have eaten a Big Mac in: 5. I still haven't done it in Mexico yet... hopefully I can get that done this trip too. Anyhow.

We got back to the hostel, grabbed a couple drinks, and then somebody found a guitar. So me and Danny took turns playin on it, everyone sitting around and singin, till the owner of the hostel finally turned out all the lights and told us to go to bed. That was sometime around 12:30 or 1, I believe. Next thing I know, there is a bus revving it's engine and honking outside. It seems we all slept through our alarms. So we packed as fast as we could, no time to brush teeth or even hit the bathroom. I think "sheepish" would best describe our expressions as we boarded the bus.

Well the road twisted and turned through the mountains, the sun rose slowly and the fog settled in the valleys as we headed toward Semuc Champey. Another product of A-ron's research, Semuc Champey is a series of Limestone pools that formed naturally in the middle of nowhere. We found a great hostel down beside the river, and the bus dropped us off there. This place was picturesque, and the accomodations we chose consisted of a bunch of mattresses thrown up in the attic on top of the dormitories! It was like living in a tree fort for a few days!

I spent 5 days at that hostel, perhaps more than I had originally intended. But it seems to go that way in Guatemala... some places just have a great vibe, and you don't want to leave it. The folks that ran the place were real friendly, they knew your name, even took the time to teach me some new tricks on the rope swing they had there. And the food was great. And the drinks were cheap. And... and I'm having trouble remembering why I left. haha

But the day we spent at Semuc Champey itself was unreal. Only a 5 minute walk from our hostel, you enter the park and walk along the river. Up ahead, you see a waterfall and the river below it. Walk up along the side, and suddenly you see the first limestone pool, with water trickling through it and over the edge. We started in the bottom pool and worked our way upsteam, each pool better than the next. We staked our claim in a pool halfway up, and spent the afternoon there. I taught eveyone how to "rock-run", where you grab a rock that weighs about 30 pounds or so and use it to hold you underwater. Then you run as far as you can on one breath of air. It's great to help increase your lung capacity, and the feeling of running along underwater is cool too. This inspired us to move a giant petrefied log, bit by bit, into a new position in the pool. We made a bridge! And darn if we weren't proud.

Later on we wandered up to the highest pools, and there we realized that the waterfall we'd seen earlier doesn't feed the river at the bottom. Well it does, but it's not the primary contributor. The river actually runs underneath the limestone pools, which are actually a bridge overtop! All those crazy-beautiful-blue pools are actually suspended over a raging river! It is quite a sight. There is also a mirador (lookout point) overtop of the whole kaboodle, so we hiked up there to watch the sun go down. Up there, looking out over the mountains, the river, semuc champey... it was one of those moments that causes your mind to be quiet and your soul to breathe. Everyone sorta just sat there taking it all in. And, even from way up there, you could see our bridge that we made with the giant log! What a day. That night saw us sitting by the river in front of our hostel, listening to the frogs, and basking in the light of a full moon. There may also have been a campfire, guitar, and drinks. In the state of constant happiness we were all in, anything that was there was good.

The next day was time for A-ron, Sheil, and Danny to bid us all farewell. As they hopped on the back of the pickup truck, Johnny (the hostel owner) passed me the guitar, and I sang them off. I gotta say, I definitely had a few moments of nervousness as I realized that from then on, I was on my own. All further decisions, plans, successes, and failures, were now on my shoulders. But, I quickly realized that it was all good, and that's what I was there for! Plus I still had Jenny and Sally who we'd been traveling with since Coban.

So like I said, I stayed there a few more days. Me and the girls spent a day doing nothing but relaxing by the river. We hauled a mattress down onto the dock, and commandeered it for the day. Did some napping, some listening to music, some swimming. Then Sally brought out some pencil crayons (very artistic, that one) and started drawing. A young man from the neighborhood decided that we had the life, and he wanted in. So he came over. He put on my shades and picked up the guitar and rocked out for a bit, then spent some time coloring with us and teaching us some Mayan words. It was cool to have a 10 year old teacher for a couple hours.

Next day (or some day close to then, they all kinda blend) we went on a tour of a cave system just up the road. This was a bit daunting, cuz I sometimes get a bit claustrophobic when I think about thousands of tons of rocks poised inches above my head. But it was so darn cool, how could I say no? A river ran through these caves, so we waded, walked, and sometimes swam, upstream and into the heart of the mountain with nothin but candles in our hands to light the way. It was awesome! The guide had a headlamp that he would use every once in a while, but for the most part it was just the flickering flames showing us the way. In one spot, we set our candles aside, climbed up the side of the cave, and jumped into a deep pool. It was nutty. But the craziest part was when we got to a big open area an hour inside the rock... We sat down, blew out the candles, and just listened. You couldn't see a thing, and when you stopped to think where you were, your heart started to beat a little faster. But it was a hell of an experience, and although I was originally nervous, I'm glad I caved. Ahhh yeah. Caved? Get it?

What else can I say about my time there? We walked to the water every single night to listen to the frogs... you can sit there for an hour, and not have one single second where at least one frog isn't ribbiting. It was riveting. Ay-yo! Other neat things about the area: there were cacao plantations all over, so kids would offer you homemade chocolate nonstop. It was round, like a cookie, and kinda dry and flaky... but it melted as soon as you put it in your mouth. Great stuff. The rope swing was a blast. The coffee was nice and strong. Like I say, just an all-around great place.

But, I figured that it wasn't likely to be the only great place in Guatemala, a fact I have since confirmed. So I bade my amigas farewell, and hopped on a bus to Antigua.

I should probably stop the blog here, and write about Antigua later; but I'm on a roll and don't know when I'll be on here next. So I think I'll continue. But if you want to think of this as a chapter break, maybe go to the bathroom, grab a snack, let the dog back in... now might be a good time.

Ready?

Got on in to Antigua after 7 or so hours in a little shuttle. These shuttles seem to be the most common way for us tourists to get around, 15-person buses that usually play 80's music or anything with an accordian in it. But you do tend to meet nice folks on them.

Antigua was nice. Perhaps that's all I really care to say about it, because I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I went there. It's very touristy, kinda expensive, and it sure doesn't have any rope swings over a river. But I digress. The streets were cobblestone, there were some beautiful old ruins, pristine little cafes with hidden inner courtyards covered in flowers... it's definitely worth checking out, it just wasn't really the place for me. But I did manage to catch some live jazz, in the courtyard of some old ruins; and have a cup of hot chocolate on the roof of my hostel with a nice British girl. She also knew of a small town just up the road, so we walked there one morning (Jocotenango, I believe) and went to a museum where we learned about Mayan history, and also how coffee is made! It was cool, because the part on Mayan instruments was entirely in Spanish, and I understood most of it! It would seem that just being in the country, hearing it every day, is enough to really make you learn!

I went to an internet cafe in Antigua, and I'm glad I did. I had planned on heading out the next day, back to a smaller town closer to nature. But a couple friends had written on my facebook about Guatemala, and in particular, Antigua. They said "have you been to Volcan Pacaya? It's insane." I hadn't been, and I figured maybe I hadn't given Antigua enough of a chance. So I elected to stay another day, and booked myself onto a tour up Pacaya.

Sure glad I did! We hiked up the volcano, learned about a bunch of different types of trees from the guide, and ended up standing in front of a river of molten lava. It was frrreakin hot! Just slowly pouring out of the side of the mountain, moving like an intense red river of gravy pounring down the side of charcoal mashed potatoes. -It's just about dinner time here, can you tell?- I even got lucky enough to borrow a marshmallow and a stick off some people, and I roasted a marshmallow over the lava. Just a typical Tuesday afternoon in Guatemala. Not bad, eh?

So I'm glad I stuck around for an extra day. We got back from the volcano kinda late, and the only thing open was Burger King. I figure flame-grilled was kinda fitting, after spending the previous hours on an active volcano.

But the smaller towns were calling, and my next stop was to be Lake Atitlan. It is a huge lake in Guatemala, formed by the growth of the several volcanoes that surround it. San Pedro had been recommended to me by several folks that I'd met so far, but the recommendation came with a warning - "most people go there for 2 days, and stay for 2 months. It sucks you in." And I suppose they may be right... San Pedro is where I am writing this entry, and where I have been for almost 2 weeks now. But that, certainly, is a story for another day.

Thanks for reading!