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today

// February 20th, 2005 // Guatemala

Well here is where i went today… it was one of the most beautiful places i have ever been! Kind of like Triangle Lake but much bigger and different.

Click the image for a full size one… it´s the smalles possible my camera can take so the quality is not all there… but it was a lot smaller to upload.

The place is called Semuc Champey. It was kind of a bitch to get to, though not really… kind of off the gringo trail which is nice. I was worried i had cut myself short on time by getting my bus ticket back to Costa Rica for a day early, but it all worked out… I wanted to make sure i had enough time to get back down to costa in case the bus breaks down or something… So i got to Coban yesterday, and this morning i caught a little taxi to Lanquin… i didn´t think i´d get out of there today yet, but i was able to catch a micro bus to Semuc… the guy tried to charge me 50Quetzals ($6) but i yelled at him and got it to $2 which is what it was supposed to be…

when i got to Semuc, i paid and went in… there was a trail that was under construction and the sign said enter at my own risk… Which made me laugh, because i´m sure that if that sign wasn´t there and i got hurt, i´m sure they would be at fault… right… this whole trip is ¨at your own risk¨ anyway.. it was a bitch to climb… i definately pushed it in flip flops… but the view from the top was well worth it… the trail took about 30 mins or so… almost like climbing a ladder… i was tired… but the photo is from the top of the trail… If you look at the large version, you can see people at the bottom to get a scale. this is from a big river… and actually, most of the river dips down underground just before these pools… it was quite amazing.

The funny thing about it is i had no idea really what i was going to see… i knew it was pools, but i kind of thought there was a city i was heading too… it was a very nice surprise… only like 10-15 people there give or take…

I had also figured i would have to stay in a nearby hotel but i was able to catch a bus all the way back to coban… it was miserable… the last two hours was in a microbus… basically a bit longer than a minivan… built for maybe 12 adults tops… well we had 22 adults, about 4kids, a couple screaming babies and a guy or two on the roof… it was shitty. they kept adding more people to… i though the van would explode… oh well, it was better than getting up at 4-5 am tomorrow to try to make all my connections, now i just have a 4-5 hour ride down to guatemala city.. wait, i take that all back… i get to hang out here tomorrow i think! a day of rest. That´s why i hurried back. There is an orchid garden here with some rare orchids… so i´m going to take a bunch of photos and perhaps leave in the after noon for guatamala city or catch an early bus tomorrow…

I have no idea when i´ll be online next, i guess not for two or three days. thank god.