7/5/08
Kalya and I caught a 6:00am microbus from the central plaza in Coban to Lanquin, a two-hour, 60km drive away. The drive to Lanquin was marvelous, with absolutely stunning early morning views of the mountains surrounding Coban and extending throughout Alta Verapaz. The last 10km of the drive is very rough, on winding, rutted gravel roads. We made it to Lanquin around 8:00am.
Once in Lanquin, we headed for the legendary El Retiro Lodge. El Retiro is a wonderfully pleasant hostel on the bank of the Lanquin River, which is a tributary of the Cahabón (more on this river later). Beds are available in wooden huts with palapa roofs, and dinner is served family-style every night at 7:00pm. Kalya and I had a wonderful stay at El Retiro, complete with a Mexican fiesta, half-price Mexican beer, and interesting international card games. I will always look back on our night at El Retiro with fond memories.
But back to Saturday morning... We were able to snag two beds at El Retiro, which usually is full by about 10:00am. After settling in, we started looking for transport to Semuc Champey, which is another 10km down another even worse mountain road from Lanquin. Most people visit on a tour, but tours also take you to a nearby cave and cost about four times as much as a visit to Semuc Champey on your own. We decided to do it the Guatemalan way.
Then, as we were ready to leave, a (very) large tour group was leaving from El Retiro to do the usual day tour of Semuc/caves. So, instead of finding a random ride to Semuc, we hopped in the cars with the tour group. We feared that this plan was too good to be true, and sure enough they immediately noticed that there were more people going than had paid. After a few minutes of discussion, the guides decided to head out and deal with it later.
When we arrived at Semuc, the discussion of the rogue tour group members resumed, and Kalya and I told them we thought it was possible to just pay for transport to the site. There was some confusion, but we ended up giving the driver a little something and suddenly everything was resolved. Good for us and for him!
Semuc was absolutely fantastic, and only the pictures can give you some idea. It is a very wide limestone bridge which crosses over the Rio Cahabón. Most of the river gushes into a cave on one side and out the cave on the other, but some of the water is diverted across the top of the bridge, where it falls into a series of turquoise pools through a series of waterfalls. It's very reminiscent of Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, only you can swim in this one.
On the way home, I jumped off a bridge into the Rio Cahabón. Fantastic!
7/6/08
We left El Retiro at 8:00am to begin the 300 mile journey back to Xela. We arrived in Guatemala city at 2:50pm, just in time for our 3:00pm bus to Xela. We made it to Xela at 9:00pm.
That's 13 hours in a bus. That's 23mph on average. This brings me to my point - transportation in Guatemala is very, very, very slow. The roads are windy, two-lane, unlimited access nightmares. There are potholes. There are rock slides. There are entire sections of the Panamerican Highway that are covered in a mudslick.
We were really glad to make it home.
7/7/08
This morning we were back in clinic, and it was nice to get back to our project. It is, after all, the real reason that we're here. I completed five interviews today, meaning I met my daily quota, and Kalya finished the chart review! What a productive day!
We've also decided to change our travel plans this weekend. We were thinking of taking a four day trip to Nebaj, a town in northwest Guatemala which is known for its weavings, wonderful mountain scenery reminiscent of the Peruvian Andes, and its history of political violence and oppression. I hate to miss our on the trip to Nebaj, but there is really too much stuff going on in Xela right now to be one by Friday.
Our new plan will be to work at clinic until next Tuesday, then head to Guatemala City Tuesday afternoon. This will give us a full day to enjoy Guatemala City before we depart at noon on Thursday.
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