So now i am extttreeeeeeeeeeeemely sad. I have just had the most awesome two days in Lanquin and a beautiful place called Semuc Champey.

I left Antigua early on Thursday morning to head north to Lanquin...a random little village in the middle of nowhere where images of log cabins, cold water and way too many insects filled my mind. Instead, after 6 hours on the road i very sureally (thats probabaly not a word...) end up in the parking lot of this massive shopping mall, and, waiting for the driver to get his act together and get back on the bus, i see a lost, very pale blonde guy....strange sight in the middle of Guatemala you say. Indeed. Then i look a little closer and he stares at me and it clicks! Johannas!!! One of the Norweigens i met in Mexico City!! So very excited to see him again (although he is slightly flumuxed as he appears to have lost his bus) i ask where alfie is and 5 minutes later he appears too and we have a lovely mini reunion! They told me they were going to Antigua as they came from Flores and are heading south so im slightly disheartend that our reunion is so shortlived.

A couple hours later our bus ends up in Lanquin and everyone clambers off eager to get a place at El Retiro, the Lonely Planet recomended hostel, and who do i see again?! Yes the vikings are back and here to stay!! So after about an hour of confusion we all manage to get beds in the same hotel. I end up staying witha random dutch girl who they made friends with on the bus and alfie and johannas end up with two english guys they´ve been travelling with for a couple days.

So at this point im uber happy, got a cheap room, found some old friends and made some new ones and am totally up for a good night. Off we go in search of beer (or an alternative on my part) and discover nowhere in the whole town sells it becasue its really religious and its illegal to sell it or bring it into resturants. On the search for a shop we come across a little building with a couple of english guys sitting outside with some beer and burgers WOOOO. So we decide to join them, turns out 3 of them own it as a side project becasue they´re building a hostel. So they make us a nice dinner of burgers and chips and we all get a bottle of beer (even me, relunctantly).

So after were happily sated we head off down the pitch black darknes of the Guatemalan valleys to a party in Hostel Ritiro which, luckily had been planned especially for tonight. Soooo much for religious town....they have a couple of scantilly clad dancers and a massive bar of 2 for 1 drinks. Whoop whoop to the second part. Another cheap night begins and i lot of dancing insues....(again, i like to make words up). Alfie teaches me some salsa that he learned in Columbia but in my drunken state along with my dyslexic inability to tell left from right....it proves more difficult than its worth. But a fun night nevertheless....even if it did involve quite a scary walk back to the hotel in the pitch black, but i had two vikings and a big english dude for protection so it all turned out alright.

Next day (yesturday) we booked a tour to Semuc Champey. Its tipped to be the most beautiful place in the whole of Guatemala....and it was certainly awesome, even with a hangover. Its a natural limestone bridge like 300 metres long or something, over a big river and the bridge consists of a series of natural, crystal clear pools (with no skin nibbling giant attacking fish like Thailand). So first stop is a cave...but not any old cave......a cave under a bloody waterfall that we have to climb down to on a makeshift wooden rope ladder, in the middle of this waterfall, above a series of huge rocks which rest precariously over a extremely turbulent river......fun. Just as I was beginning to think Guatemalan´s weren´t as mental as the Mexicans.....So anyway we all end up purching on these rocks at the side of this waterfall, only to discover that we then have to climb into this cave on a rock which drops vertically about 20 feet into this deathly gushing river....again i start to fear for my life in the hands of the mental Guatemalan. Luckily we all make it out fine....only to then be asked if we want to jump another 20 ft off this rock into the river (although we are told we need to be careful to jump under the waterfall so we miss the rocks). I value my life too much but the guys all do it and luckily survive the current and the vertical climb back up the side of the waterfall.

Next is a treck up the side of another bloody mountain to a viewpoint where we can see the whole of Semuc Champey. Pretty hot walk, but definately worth it. On the way back down we swim from pool to pool, with more offers to jump off ridiculously high things into fairly shallow water....again i value my life a little too much although im tempted.

The last stop involves some big rubber rings which we all take down the river and sit in, making a chain with hour legs so we all float down the river in a long line. Hit a couple of rapids on the way, the line breaks up and i almost end up drifting away down the river by myself. Anyway we regroup and start again, and when its over we have to trek up another bloody hill (througha snake ridden corn field) in bare feet. Craziness.

Anyway, after some food and a bit of a rest we go out for some food and have a chilled night in the same bar. And alas thats the end of that one, i left for Flores this morning and the others left for Antigua. Now i am extremely sad and lonely, paying one pound fifty for a bed in a hostel that slightly resembles the inside of St Marks Church (London people won´t get that). So yah, missing everyone like crazy and have to be up at 3am to go to the ruins at Tikal to see the sun rise along with the monkeys.

Laters dudes (sorry about the essay) x