Where the river hides under the earth

This title is definitely not original and probably used and abused by countless travel-bloggers, nevertheless the Q'eqchi' Mayans could hardly have picked a better name for the phenomenon at Semuc Champey— that is what "semuc Champey" means in their language. And hide under the earth it does, and it is truly a weird sight to witness.

From Finca Ixobel I had a hunderd kilometer partially-rough-gravel (and that means something in guatemala) route in front of me, and then a steep uphill which I would have to descend again too, to visit the waterfall and sight. And since I don't see much sense in going up a hill, going down, and then going up again a day or two later, I opted for asking around for busses to nearby Lanquín, which is close to where Semuc Champey is located. I was told there was a bus, then that there wasn't, then that there was one at 9.30 (first I was told 8), and in the end one showed up at 8.40 am. So there was, indeed, a bus, but it was crammed. Like all the way people-hanging-outside-the-door crammed, for the entire 3 hour drive up a horrible steep gravel path, with nothing to hold on to. (It would have been less crammed if you would spread the people over the bus, but apparently the seats in the middle are holy and so everyone who doesn't have a seat, like me, has to stand in the small space next to the door and hold on for dear life onto whatever you can grab... Guatemalans.)

Anyway, all went well, the bike survived, and I descended to where I thought Semuc Champey was located; turned out I still had to push it over a 4 km hill with 15-20% incline pretty much all the way through. I was dead just from those measly 4 kilometers.

On Tuesday early morning I went to visit the natural sight, and because I was early got both the viewpoint and the pools nearly all to myself. Basically, Semuc Champey consists of a natural limestone _bridge_, and the river formed a path underneath through erosion. The swimming area and calm waters is the "bridge", and the river goes underneath. The pictures don't do it justice.

I took one of the small "tuktuk" (made in India) taxis to Lanquín and back again, and also checked out the caves next to the sight: the Kan'ba cave. This was another unexpected adventure, as visiting the cave involves swimming in the dark, walking over underwater rocks, climbing, and going down an underground dark hidden waterslide. It was really fun; except I think I pissed off the guide at the end, because I didn't tip. I didn't think tipping a guide, if the price is specifically for the guide and him alone, would be a thing. I am just not good at that.

One more thing worth mentioning: I have come to insist like 4 times on looking for something "sin carne", and also now explain to people that "rez" is meat, "jamon" is meat, "pollo" is meat. With all that out of the way, I answered the question "how would you like your eggs?", with "omelette". And I get served a ham-and-cheese omelette. Come on, that's just taking the piss.Read more