Hello Honduras

The day we left Lake Atitlan to mission it across the border to the small town of Copán Ruinas in Honduras, also happened to be our 18 month anniversary of travelling. And how did we choose to spend it? Travelling across country for 12 hours whilst constantly changing modes of transport. Rather fitting way to celebrate actually! Copán Ruinas is conveniently located across the border from Guatemala, so we spent just a couple of nights here to visit the Copán ruins - the lucky last on a long list we'd already visited. It was probably one of the smaller ruins we've visited, but some of the structures, particularly some of the intricately carved stone stela's, were very well preserved. There were bugger all people there on the day we visited, so it was nice to be able to leisurely walk around in the relative peace and quiet. Once we'd done that though it was time to move on again. We actually went to the island of Utila next but that's a separate blog all on it's own, so because I have editorial discretion and creative license, you shall now hear about our brief stop in Lake Yojoa. 

Yojoa is the largest natural lake in Honduras and is a popular spot for nature lovers and fishing enthusiasts. However, we only stayed for one night and didn't even see the lake. Bad tourists. We were more interested in checking out the Pulhapanzak Waterfall, the largest in the country, which was about 25km north of the lake from where we were staying. It's kind of off the beaten track, but it's still popular with local and foreign tourists. In fact, there were a lot more locals there the day we visited cooling off in the swimming areas, but we were all about the waterfall. You can view it from above or below, but we wanted to make the most of it so we got a guide to take us behind the waterfall to get the full experience. We're glad we did too, as it was pretty incredible. We don't usually like having to pay for guides as we often think we can do it just as easily ourselves. This was not one of those occasions.  He knew exactly where to step and hold on to avoid being washed away by the ridiculously powerful water crashing down on us and making it impossible to see where we were going. It was pretty slippery and awkward at times, but totally worth it to get right amongst it, and a perfect way to cool off.

Gallivanting across Guatemala

We had three more stops to round out our time in Guatemala, and they were, for the most part, all about relaxing in beautiful spots. The first of which was Rio Dulce, right up in the northeast and another long and bumpy minivan ride away from Semuc Champey. It's a beautiful place though, with the river winding around through some spectacular scenery - lush green foliage and local wildlife, and an amazing gorge with walls almost 100m high on either side. We chose to stay at a little hostel called The Roundhouse which was about a 30min boat ride along the river and is run by an English/Dutch couple. It was a cool little hostel and, as the name suggests, is a round wooden building with a few private rooms and a dorm at the top under the circular sloping roof. Being on a river there was no pressure to do anything but relax in the hammocks and read and eat delicious home-made food including family style dinners with the owners and whoever else was staying there. Unfortunately the pool was empty when we were there, but that would have been the cherry on top. After 3 days of chilling out we got taken up the river to Livingston where we hopped on a bus to Antigua.

Antigua is one of the most popular destinations in Guatemala for it's architecture and very European feel (it's also a UNESCO World Heritage site). It is quite an attractive city, especially since the surrounding view is dominated by three volcanoes on the horizon. Many people rave about and love this place, but we didn't share this view. We thought Antigua had a pretty dodgy feel to it to be honest, but perhaps this was because we knew/met people who had been robbed at knife/machete/gun point. Also because a couple of times when we were out walking at varying times of the day/night, locals told us we shouldn't be there as it wasn't safe. But, touch wood, nothing bad happened to us personally and we spent a few days there catching up with a couple of Aussie girls we'd met at the hostel in Semuc Champey and wandering around. The only real touristy thing we did was to walk up to the Cerro de la Cruz, a big cross on top of a hill with pretty good views over the city and the volcano to the south. But soon we were ready to leave and spend our final days in Guatemala in the tranquil lakeside setting of Lake Atitlán.

Looking out over Antigua from the Cerro de la Cruz

Thankfully this time it was just a short ride from Antigua to Panajachel, which is the main transport hub to get to the various small towns dotted all around the lake. We decided to head across to San Pedo La Laguna, a laidback little town popular with backpackers. We found a hotel with great views out over the lake for only 50 quetzals (AU$7) a night - perfect. The aim of the game here was to basically do nothing for a week but enjoy the peace and beauty of our surroundings, and that is exactly what we did. You'll probably be shocked to hear that we didn't even drink for the entire time. Honestly. We'd initially thought that we'd hike up Volcano San Pedro, but after reading up about it we found out that at that time of year it was usually covered in low cloud at the top, obscuring the amazing view (which is generally the point). Also, you have to pay for a guide to take you up 'for your own personal safety', as it's a hot spot for robberies. So in the end we decided against it. After a week of total relaxation we were then ready to cross the border into Honduras.

Semuc Champey - The Jewel of Guatemala

After a few more days chilling out in Flores after the trek we were ready for a change of scene from ruins and jungles, so we made the long and winding (typical for Guatemala) journey to Semuc Champey. According to reviews and by recommendation from Jenner who'd been there a few years ago (thanks Jenner!), it was a definite must-see.

Semuc Champey is located pretty much in the middle of Guatemala and isn't exactly the easiest place to get to. We got a minivan as far as a small town called Lanquin, which is basically the end of the line for non off-road vehicles. We then transferred from a packed minivan to standing in the back of a packed ute, all piled in on top of each other and our bags. Holding on for dear life we then made the 30min or so drive over some more steep, winding and very bumpy dirt roads to Utopia, the promisingly named eco-lodge hostel we hoped to stay at for a few days. Thankfully it turned out to be a beautiful place in a stunning setting, and luckily they had a room for us. The main building of the lodge was a huge, open wooden structure, reminiscent of a tree house. The common/dining area was a massive open space with wooden swinging seats at the bar, big BBQ tables and amazing views out over the surrounding mountains and the Cahabon river below. Upstairs was a big open loft space with hammocks, bunks for the dorm, and little rooms, or 'private nooks' as they were called, under the eaves. There were also little cabanas in the garden below. As it was such an isolated place, all meals were eaten at the hostel with dinner being a communal affair. There were actually some pretty good meals produced too, all vegetarian. There's one or two places much closer to the entrance to Semuc Champey, but we were very happy with our choice.

The open-air loft dorm 

Getting to Semuc Champey National Park involved another ride standing in the back of a ute, driving over yet more steep and winding dirt roads. Just short of the entrance, however, we stopped at the first activity of the day - exploring a cave by candlelight. As with many things we've done on our travels, we don't always know exactly what's in store - which is sometimes for the better. We had read many reviews though and were prepared with sturdy waterproof sandals, so we didn't have to resort to tying jandals onto our feet with string as some people had reportedly done. There were about 10 of us in our group, and after being instructed to disrobe as we'd be climbing and swimming through multiple underground chambers, our guide led us to the entrance of the cave where he handed out candles to everyone. Then we ventured into the abyss. Soon the only feeble, wavering light was from our flickering candles which, of course, frequently went out. Parts of the cave were easy to manoeuvre through, but many times we had to swim through surprisingly deep water with one hand held above our heads to keep the candle alight. There were also a few rather more challenging parts where we had to scale a sheer, slippery wet rock wall by rope/ladder, and fall blindly through a tight hole to water below. If you're at all claustrophobic this is probably not for you, but we all had a great time. It was like being a kid and discovering a whole new world, playing around in this underground lair. I have no idea how long we were in there (maybe an hour or so), but it was so much fun, even when our candles went out and we couldn't see a thing.

Bit of a tight squeeze down this one!

When we finally emerged into the daylight again, we were taken to a rope swing where the locals effortlessly demonstrated launching themselves into the river below. Only 3 or 4 of our group were keen to follow suit, and each and every time it ended very painfully - landing very hard and awkwardly in the water and coming up sore and winded, the locals were having a great laugh as it obviously always happens. Cheeky bastards. When no-one else was willing to risk further pain and injury, we crossed the bridge to enter Semuc Champey National Park.

In order to get the best view of Semuc Champey we had to make the steep climb to a lookout. After about 20-30mins, panting and drenched in sweat we emerged onto a wooden platform and were rewarded with an incredible view of the most amazingly turquoise blue pools below. It was pretty damn impressive and worth the walk. We had a break and some lunch before we could wait no longer, and headed down to cool off in the beautifully clear water. Probably because it's such a mission to get there, Semuc Champey isn't over-run with tourists which was a welcome change. We were free to swim about in the various pools, sliding down natural rock slides and jumping into the refreshing water. We could have stayed there for ages, but we were too soon told it was time to leave. 

But our adventure wasn't quite over yet. Most of us were going to tube back down the river to the hostel rather than endure another dusty, bumpy ute ride, but a few of us decided to add to the excitement by jumping off the 12m high bridge first. From then on it was a fairly sedate float down the river, punctuated by the odd 'rapid' and scraping our asses on rocks in the shallows. One guy got a flat tube and unfortunately Kurt lost his sunnies going over in a rapid. Apart from that it was a pretty awesome day.

The final thing we did while staying at Utopia was a chocolate making course. They have a shitload of cacao trees growing on their property, so the owners (an American woman and her son) decided to capitalise on that by running daily courses. They showed us the plant growing in various stages of ripeness in the garden and we cracked some open to taste the nibs raw - they're covered in a slimy white substance and are quite sweet. We then spent the rest of the time in the kitchen where we were shown how to roast, shell and grind the nibs down into a paste using everyday household applicances and ingredients. We finished off by making our own chocolates which, while still quite bitter, were pretty damn tasty. 

So while it was a bit of a mission to get there, Semuc Champey was a real highlight for us. Some things are just worth making the effort for.

The Magnificent Mayan Ruins of Tikal and El Mirador

Flores is a tiny town on an equally tiny island, connected to land by a causeway. It's a cute little place in the north of Guatemala, and has lots of colonial red-roofed buildings and narrow cobblestone streets. It's a nice peaceful place to relax for a few days and visit the nearby Mayan ruins of Tikal, and tackle the epic jungle trek to El Mirador. 

                             

Tikal is the main Mayan archaeological site in Guatemala, and is about an hour's drive from Flores. A lot of people choose to visit Tikal for sunrise, in the hope of getting spectacular views as the day dawns. We chose this option which meant getting up at the ridiculous hour of about 3am (maybe even 2:30am) to do the rounds of picking everyone from up their various hostels, driving the hour or so to the park, and then walking in the dark to the best vantage point. Temple IV is the tallest structure at Tikal, standing 70m tall, so we climbed the couple of hundred steps to reach the viewing point. Unfortunately for us the weather wasn't clear enough for a spectacular sunrise, but it was still a pretty amazing view looking out over a vast expanse of jungle and other structures rising out of the tree-tops. We even spotted some toucans! 

Tikal is a pretty massive site, most of which is still undiscovered (like most ruins), so you can spend hours walking around. The cool thing about Tikal (although probably not so cool for conserving it) is that you can climb up a lot of the structures to get a better view of the layout. And even though we've now been to a lot of Mayan ruins, each one is slightly different. One thing we'd never seen before, and I don't mind if I never see again, was a tarantula. Our guide knew a spot where he regularly annoyed one into emerging from it's underground hole, and lucky for us, the hairy critter was obliging. He then proceeded to let it crawl all over him, and then of course people in the group wanted to partake and try and outdo each other. Not for me, thanks. So, although sunrise wasn't a great success it was still another impressive ruin.

However, Tikal wasn't the only Mayan ruin nearby. There's another one which is the Grandaddy of lost Mayan cities in the Guatemalan jungle - El Mirador (The Lookout). It is enormous - some say it's the largest Mayan city in existence - covering about 61 square kilometers, and it's a hidden treasure, still largely unexcavated and covered by vegetation in the virgin rainforest. There are no roads or rivers that lead there, so you have two choices: hike (a six day round trip journey), or, for the obscenely rich and lazy, hire a helicopter to fly you in. Obviously, we chose the former. In actual fact, we hadn't even planned on doing the hike until the Aussie Matt's said they were trying to get a group together. We said we'd join in if they could find enough other people and sort out the guide. And so that was how we found ourselves setting off a day or two later, completely oblivious of what lay ahead. 

At about 4am six of us were ready and waiting for someone to meet us and get us to where the hike started. However, we were soon to become a group of seven as Dieter, a crazy little Guatemalan guy, made the extremely last minute decision to get up and join us. Who does that at 4am? What an insane legend. After a very long, dusty and uncomfortable chicken bus ride, we finally arrived at the little village of Carmelita which is the closest access point you can reach by vehicle. It was here we were introduced to our guide and two others (our cook and the guy who looked after the pack animals), and we set off into the wildnerness.

Carmelita - the starting point of our trek

Luckily we weren't there in the rainy season, however it did mean we were walking over very hard and uneven ground where the mud had dried and cracked into ruts that were easy to stumble over/into. It was also disgustingly hot. Thankfully our guide had been doing this trek for years, because without him we would have been screwed. It's not the kind of trek you can do independently, no matter how good you think you are. You will get lost, and you will die. 

There are three main complexes in El Mirador - El Tigre, La Danta and Los Monos. They are all constructed over several levels and each has a group of three temple pyramids on top. La Danta is actually one of the biggest pyramids in the world by volume. Over the five days of our hike we visited each of these complexes and they were all quite different. We got up at 4am to get to the top of some of them by sunrise, and saw the equally spectacular views atop some at sunset. Trudging through the humid jungle at ground level, it was an amazing feeling to emerge well above the tree-tops and have a perfectly unimpeded 360 degree view of the surrounding rainforest. We could even see the tops of the other pyramids rising above the trees in the distance. A stunning sight, although it made us realise just how far we had to walk!

Each day we would arrive at camp, where our hammocks and tent would be set up  and our food cooked for us. One of the benefits of having a guide and crew to do all the hard work when we were all buggered from another long day of hiking. When we started out we were all mentally prepared for 6 days of hiking and the basic sleeping conditions. However, on the fifth day we got up at 4am and were eating breakfast when our guide broke the news to us - we had run out of food. Well how the fuck did that happen? It's not like we had a free for all at mealtimes - they cooked the food and served it up, and if there was any left they gave us more. Surely they'd done this enough times to know how much food was needed? We were told that they'd contacted someone back in Carmelita who would bring a mule with more food and meet us along the way to the next camp. However, when we arrived at said camp at lunchtime, there was no food waiting for us. Apparently we still had enough supplies to have sandwiches, but not exactly enough to fill us up after 8 hours of walking already. And to make matters worse we'd seen the cook sneakily eating while she was trailing behind us on one of the horses. No food, huh? So, in the end we were left with no choice but to push on to the finish, back to Carmelita. We were already pretty tired so the final 4 or 5 hours were a real struggle to say the least. Having to walk 11 hours (about 60kms) in one day was a fucking mission. Oh, and we did eventually cross paths with our food coming to meet us. Too bloody late, but nice try. When we got back we were told, through the Spanish speaking Dutch girl who'd sorted things out, that our guide and the others felt so bad about the fuck-up that they cooked us food and were even talking about giving us some money back. They also said we could stay the night in the village and head back to Flores in the morning. But we all just wanted to get back straight away so we could have a shower and eat some good food and sleep in a proper bed. So we ended up all piling in the back of a police ute and barrelling back to town in a fraction of the time it took on the chicken bus. A rather uncomfortable, but pretty exhilarating and hair-raising way to end the journey!