We've finally made it back to civilization after several days in a place with no internet connection, no hot water, and electricity for a couple of precious hours in the evenings. Technically we're on our way to Flores, but at the moment we are stranded in Lanquin as an angry mob of workers has blockaded our only exit. They are protesting because they haven't been paid as promised, and are breaking windows, throwing rocks, etc. at vehicles that try to get through. But enough of the boring stuff, I have a lot to catch you up on!

After a string of very miserable days spent sick or on a stinky bus, we needed something amazing to get us back into travel mode. Semuc Champey was that times ten! It was a good two and a half hours from Coban, but we shared our shuttle with some Swedish guys and a very interesting Israeli that lost his eye in the army and spent his government pension travelling. We've been playing things kind of loose and didn't have a reservation anywhere, but our guide book highly recommended a place called El Portal. It's the closest hostel to Semuc, so while evryone else had to take a bouncy shuttle we could just come and go as we pleased. All the bungalows are on a hill overlooking the river, so it couldn't get any better.

We walked up to reception and discovered that nobody speaks English, but they tried hard and we got a "room" for 40Q per night. It was totally open to the outside and had a great view; just what we wanted! They have a kitchen, but of course we couldn't use it so I am STILL dragging around bags of pasta and pasta sauce. Brittany wanted me to dump it but it's the principle of the thing. It will get used! The food and people at the hostel were great, but the views were what made it so incredible. This is the kind of place that nobody would know existed if it weren't in a guide book. On the long, bouncy, unpaved road we took to get to it, we realized it's these kind of areas that let people have giant crack and weed plantations without ever getting caught. You could do anything out there and nobody would ever know. Kinda spooky, but just what I was hoping for.

After the short hike to Semuc's pools, we hopped in (well, one of us may have been pushed in) to the crystal clear water and enjoyed the fact that there were only a handful of people at a place we expected to be crawling with tourists. I don't know how this place isn't more popular, but I'm glad we got to see it before everyone else figures it out! Semuc is a long system of cascading pools, which means there are dozens and dozens of waterfalls. Some are big, most are just a few feet, but they are all beautiful. After swimming and a few cannonballs, we hike up to where the majority of the water actually goes underground. I wasn't expecting much here, but it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The water thunders down and over massive boulders until it finally disappears into nothingness. It's carved a path into the rocks and a bright gren algae or plant was growing all around, adding to the impossibility of what we were seeing. It's a pretty dodgy walk over slippery rocks to see this spot, and apparently somebody dies at least once a year from falling in so there was a security guard watching our every move (which in Guatemala usually means sleeping). Brittany and I were taking it all in when the guard actually refused to let a group of girls come around to see it. They just don't trust girls, and we got the feeling the only reason Brittany got to go was because I was there with her. The guards even specifically told me to watch her. See honey! I come in handy every once in a while!

We had only been swimming for a couple of hours but were pretty drained, so we took a nap in our very bug-infested (it is the jungly you know) room and ate dinner before crashing.

The next day we saw the Semuc Caves, just a two or three minute walk from our Hostel. This was one of the coolest things I've ever done! Holding a candle above your head as you swim in water who-knows-how-deep surrounded by outrageous rock formations in what should be utter darkness (don't let that candle get wet!). We were in a small groupon with two other German girls and spent about half an hour working our way deeper and deeper into the caves. There were pools and waterfalls and even places you could climb ten feet and jump in, which was awesome. At several points we had to climb old, slippery ladders into super tight spaces while a waterfall virtually falls down you. We did some crazy stupid stuff, even for me :)

On our way back I took a wrong step and my foot found a really deep hole. I fell through it and cut my arms up pretty bad trying to get out (in a cave lit by four candles, lest we forget). Brittany reminded me of what I'll get to say when people ask about the scars; "Well I was spelunking in Guatemala when..." I like the sound of that!

We spent the afternoon lounging by the river and even got to do some tubing (best dollar I've ever spent). As usual, there are a lot of great people here. One guy rose his KTM dirtbike from Wisconsin, through Mexico, and into Guatemala. Now THAT'S a ride! So I got to talk bikes with him over dinner. They must have overbooked or something because we got coralled into a large dorm room with a bunch of other dislocated backpackers just before bed, but overall our stay was perfect, with the exception of that dumb bridge! There is a bridge crossing the river near the hostel, and it's only loosley covered in wood planks. Whenever a truck drives over it the planks bounce and make a loud shattering sound, a lot like fireworks or gunshots (not sure which is more likely here). You get used to it though. After two and a half days full of tours, food, beer, and activities, our grand total came to a whopping $80US. Ahh, good times.

This morning we crowded into the back of a pickup for the ride from Semuc to Lanquin, where we would connect with a bus to Flores (160Q). There were 13 of us in the back of a pickup. I'm not talking a King Ranch F350 here, but a tiny little truck that was so overloaded we literally went backwards on a couple of the steep hills. You'll see Guatemalans travelling like that all the time, but even the locals started laughing when they saw a truck full of white people bouncing down the trail, all clenching to the side of the truck with white-knuckles and a hint of fear in their eyes!

That brings us up to now (sorry if it was painful). We're told the roads will clear this afternoon, so we're stuck here until then. It's kind of hard to fault people for rioting when all they want is an honest wage for a past month's worth of work.

So we wait, stranded in paradise!

(Computers here just DON'T like my camera, but we have some awesome pictures to post. They'll be up as soon as we can find a computer that'll work!)