Antigua, San Fancisco Church
Antigua
Semuc Champey. Carlos (the guide), and Alex
Semuc Champey from the top
Our Hostel, in the Jungle
Alfombra in Antigua
Procession, AntiguaThis past week has been a crazy adventure...so I'll start from the begining.
Sunday, I hopped on a bus in Reu and headed to Antigua. 2 buses, a load of sweat, and 4.5 hours later, I was dropped off in what turned out to be the outskirts of Antigua. No one tells you where you are, but I knew I had to get off the bus and I felt my only option was to I follow the crowd. I made my way to Parque Central, thanks to the help of a local, and later to a hostel...but had to fight my way through the crowded streets. Imagine Ashland on the 4th of July...that's what Antigua was like when I arrived. Thousands of people in the tiny, cobble stoned city. They were holding a procession, which they hold every weekend before Semana Santa, which is the Holy Week. I settled into my hostel in Antigua and then roamed the streets watching the parade, the people, the colors, the floats. It was incredible, so vibrant. There were alfombras (rugs), made out of coloroed saw dust on the streets in elaborate, religious designs. All the men who participate in the procession dress in purple robes and the women wear all black. They carry enourmous floats through town and burn incense to cleanse the air. It was a huge fiasco, I wonder what Semana Santa will be like... The streets were filled with people well into the night, but the city finally settled down and Monday it was as if nothing every happened.
Monday and Tuesday I wandered around Antigua, did some shopping and sight seeing and came to appreciate the city more than I did the first time around. I did my fair share of partying with the people from the hostel, Antigua never sleeps and there is always stuff to do. On Monday, my friend Alex came to meet me and on Tuesday we got on a 7 hour roller coaster of a shuttle ride to Lanquin, Guatemala...Welcome to the Jungle. Alex and I met 2 girls on the shuttle...both from Portland, OR (small world) and the 4 of us decided to stick together. The shuttle driver dropped the 4 of us off along a dirt road, 9:30pm, pitch dark and we had figure out where in the world to go. We pulled out our head lamps and pocket knives and made our way down a dirt path and soon stumbled upon the hostel we were looking for, after a sketchy encounter with a local. The hostel (Zephyr) is unbelievable. It's situated in the middle of nowhere, with a view of the river and the jungle on all sides. The common area is lined with hammocks and tables for comfort and relaxation. The one downfall is that it's dry season, and today there is no water. So, you can only imagine what the toilets look like after everyone contribution... We are hoping for water in the next few hours. A shower would be great...
Sunday, I hopped on a bus in Reu and headed to Antigua. 2 buses, a load of sweat, and 4.5 hours later, I was dropped off in what turned out to be the outskirts of Antigua. No one tells you where you are, but I knew I had to get off the bus and I felt my only option was to I follow the crowd. I made my way to Parque Central, thanks to the help of a local, and later to a hostel...but had to fight my way through the crowded streets. Imagine Ashland on the 4th of July...that's what Antigua was like when I arrived. Thousands of people in the tiny, cobble stoned city. They were holding a procession, which they hold every weekend before Semana Santa, which is the Holy Week. I settled into my hostel in Antigua and then roamed the streets watching the parade, the people, the colors, the floats. It was incredible, so vibrant. There were alfombras (rugs), made out of coloroed saw dust on the streets in elaborate, religious designs. All the men who participate in the procession dress in purple robes and the women wear all black. They carry enourmous floats through town and burn incense to cleanse the air. It was a huge fiasco, I wonder what Semana Santa will be like... The streets were filled with people well into the night, but the city finally settled down and Monday it was as if nothing every happened.
Monday and Tuesday I wandered around Antigua, did some shopping and sight seeing and came to appreciate the city more than I did the first time around. I did my fair share of partying with the people from the hostel, Antigua never sleeps and there is always stuff to do. On Monday, my friend Alex came to meet me and on Tuesday we got on a 7 hour roller coaster of a shuttle ride to Lanquin, Guatemala...Welcome to the Jungle. Alex and I met 2 girls on the shuttle...both from Portland, OR (small world) and the 4 of us decided to stick together. The shuttle driver dropped the 4 of us off along a dirt road, 9:30pm, pitch dark and we had figure out where in the world to go. We pulled out our head lamps and pocket knives and made our way down a dirt path and soon stumbled upon the hostel we were looking for, after a sketchy encounter with a local. The hostel (Zephyr) is unbelievable. It's situated in the middle of nowhere, with a view of the river and the jungle on all sides. The common area is lined with hammocks and tables for comfort and relaxation. The one downfall is that it's dry season, and today there is no water. So, you can only imagine what the toilets look like after everyone contribution... We are hoping for water in the next few hours. A shower would be great...
Wednesday morning we got up bright and early for our adventure tour. After a drive in the back of a pick up truck down a twisty, windy road, our fist task to was get onto a swing, tied to a giant tree and swing over a river...jumping into the water was optional, but I opted out of the jump and just did the swing, quite exhilerating, an adrenaline rush and better than a cup of coffee. After the swing, we headed to Grutas de Lanquin, the caves. None of us were sure what to expect, but we were told to get into our bathing suits, wear good shoes, leave everything else behind and then we were each handed a candle as we approached the mouth of the cave. Our faces were painted with an orange-redish fruit, which we were told the Mayans used to use as a natural sun block. We entered the cave and soon were wading through water led by the light of the candles. We swam one handed, crawled through small spaces, climbed ladders, dropped through a small hole, went down natural rock slides and made it to the end of our destination and turned to head back to the light. After the caves, we hopped on inner tubes and did a 30 minute float down the river for relaxation. Next, we headed to Semuc Champey and had lunch (street meat burritos). We then paid our entrance fee into the park and then saw that we had a 1.2 KM hike STRAIT UP...stair after stair after stair...after more stairs. Here they say "Vale la Pena".... which means "it was totally worth it" as we had an unbelievable view of Semuc Champey, limestone pools with fresh water (google images, but I'll post pics SOON). We hiked back down and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in each and every limstone pool from top to bottom. Unreal.
The limestone pools completed our days worth of adventures, and we headed back to the hostel for some relaxation and food. I was set to head to bed early, but as always there was so much going on at the hostel, no time for sleep...I've always had a problem with socialization. I just can't say no. I stayed up until 1am playing cards and hanging out with the other travelers. I slept like a baby afterwards.
Our plan was to head to Flores today, but we decided to have a day of relaxation before another 7 hour journey. Today, we are going to enjoy the view from the hostel, take a swim in the river and wander around Lanquin before packing our things and saying our goodbyes to this beautiful place.
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