Day 7: Flores - Lanquín - Semuc Champey (How to go from Flores to Semuc Champey)
The alarm sounds at 4:30 in the morning. Today is the last day of the year and the first thing we think is that we will be part of the day on the way to Flowers to Semuc Champey, in Cobán, which will be our next stop on the trip to Guatemala and Honduras for free.
There are not too many options to make this journey, at least for a tourist, so we hired a van shared with Guatemala Destinations at 8 in the morning to take us from Flowers to Semuc Champey, one of the places we didn't want to miss in Guatemala.
In principle, this type of transport does not negotiate the schedules since they usually leave all at the same times and make the same routes. The other day we received a notice that the schedule changed from 8 a.m. to 6 a.m. The truth is that we found it very soon, but counting that the trip is about 6-7 hours, thinking about it, we prefer to get up early and get to our hotel in Semuc Champey before, to enjoy the afternoon there.
Punctual as a clock at 6 in the morning we are at the reception of the Hotel Villa del Lago in Flores, without even having been able to have a coffee, since the breakfast time starts at 7 in the morning and everything is still closed at the surroundings.
Shared vans in Guatemala
This is the means of transport most used by travelers in Guatemala, since it assures you the most common routes at a fairly economical price, also ensuring the departure time (more or less) and security.
Things to keep in mind in shared vans:
- Normally they are not punctual, do not suffer. They have to pick up all the customers for the different hotels, so if yours turns out to be the last one on the list, you can quietly wait 45 minutes. But if he is the first, he thinks he will be there on time like a clock.
- The shared vans in Guatemala They do not stop every hour, not every two or sometimes every three, so it is quite advisable to bring water and some snacks to entertain the stomach.
- The seats are not assigned, so the earlier your turn comes, the more likely you are to have a good seat.
- Shared vans are not assured of comfort or modernity. Depending on your luck, you will be able to find yourself in a last model with air conditioning or in a little bit that luckily keeps the 4 wheels.
- The luggage is placed on the roof of the van, so we advise you to travel with a backpack, much more comfortable than the luggage in these cases.
- They always put some tarps, to avoid that if it rains the luggage gets wet, so you can be calm if suddenly the storm of the century begins to fall.
- If the journey is long, you will make one or two stops, usually one of them coinciding with the time of the meal, so you can buy or eat in a restaurant.
We are lucky and come to look for us so punctual that when we arrive at the reception we see the van at the door waiting for us, so without thinking too much, we pass the backpacks to the driver, to accommodate them on the roof, we sit on the second row of seats and we are on our way to Flowers to Semuc Champey, with a very unlikely start of the tour, since we ended up going 4 times through the same place, picking up the rest of the tourists who are going to make the same route as us. Then we will understand the reason for this and that is when one of the vans is not complete and the passengers can adjust between two or when several passengers stay halfway, all the drivers are in contact, to go placing and bringing passengers together according to destinations and thus avoiding unnecessary stops.
The day has dawned quite cloudy and all the places that we are crossing do nothing more than say that it will rain, so we may expect a moving journey in this can or coffee maker which has touched us today as transportation.
Lucky that yesterday we bought some breakfast buns and with that we can keep our stomach entertained now until the driver decides to make a stop that allows us to drink the first coffee of the day.
Flower Path to Semuc Champey
The first stop arrives earlier than expected, but unfortunately it is not to drink coffee or stretch our legs, but to cross a river in a kind of board that we will not deny does not cause us a feeling of too much security and more when a couple of soldiers warn the driver alerting him that we have the wheels of the van too loose.
Waiting to cross the river
We will not deny that the smile is not something that has remained on our face after hearing the comment of the wheels, but we try to ignore it, at least a little, following our reading time, one of the many things you can Do when you have a few hours left.
Flower Path to Semuc Champey
As we move along the path, we are more surrounded by greenery and a sky that is still covered enough to make us doubt enough not to expect even a little to be fixed as the day progresses.
Internet in Guatemala
Even if you buy one SIM card in Guatemala For your phone, according to the company, as we told you the day we bought it in Antigua, there are areas of the country, especially in El Petén and in the area of Semuc Champey, where there is not even a line to call by phone . Even if you choose to stay in an eco lodge, announcing that you have this service, it is best not to get your hopes up, since it is probably broken and we have to be aware that finding a signal in these areas is difficult.
We have to say that we with this topic are quite inflexible and it is that on many occasions we prefer to have Wi-Fi in the bed and breakfast and more telling that our work depends on it. These days in which we hope not to have it, we are totally willing to learn to enjoy the disconnection and more when we will be in an impressive place and in a few days in which to make a work stoppage, we know it will not involve many losses.
Way of Flowers to Semuc Champey
As we move forward on route from Flores to Semuc Champey, the discomfort begins to invade us and the truth is that it is not a excellent plan, as we would understand, but the truth is that we always try to get the positive part and in this case, take advantage to enjoy "watch life go by", as we usually do whenever we travel by car, or read or simply enjoy the journey, in which every few minutes you cross a village or see a scene of local daily life, which without pretending it, teaches you many things.
Crossing villages on the road from Flores to Semuc Champey
It is this second part of the trip, we are accompanied at many times by the chimi-chimi, as they call here the intermittent and little intense rain that accompanies the name of Cobán, since it is typical of this area of Guatemala.
We took and about 4 hours of travel, when the driver decides that the time has come to stop on the 10-minute road, cover the backpacks of the roof of the van, buy some supplies and have a coffee for 50 quetzales, which does not We can deny, we know to glory, before we get back on track.
Flower transfer to Semuc Champey
We arrive in Cobán at 1 noon, where we make another technical stop, where several tourists get off and we also take the opportunity to eat at a McDonald's where they stop us, also taking advantage of the fact that it is the only area where we have a telephone connection to call home to congratulate the year, even a few hours before, and call Semuc Champey hotel, the Portal of Semuc Champey, so that they wait for us in Lanquín, where the shared van will leave us about 3-3: 30 in the afternoon, since from there to the hotel it can only be accessed in 4 × 4.
In little more than 20 minutes we start again towards Lanquín, stopping before changing the wheel that has been giving us problems since this morning that began losing air and is almost completely deflated.
We arrived at Lanquín at 3:30 in the afternoon, after passing the last 9 kilometers on a dirt track and after nine and a half hours after leaving Flores, where we made a journey of about 200 kilometers. This is Guatemala! Although we have to say that the landscape is beautiful, totally worth the journey and the time spent.
Last section to reach Lanquín
Situation map Lanquín and Semuc Champey
It must be said that the last section until reaching Lanquin if it rains it is quite dangerous, since the road is very narrow, dirt, winding and slippery, but with extremely beautiful views, which we cannot show you, since although it was a little sunny, the van did not make a technical stop here , leaving the image only in our retinas for remembrance.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Guatemala
- 10 essential places to visit in Guatemala
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Guatemala
In Lanquín we are waiting for a van with 4-wheel drive, discovered in the back, where passengers go, in the purest movie style, where we must settle under an intense rain that has just begun to unload, willing to travel the last kilometers that separate us from what they say is, the "most beautiful place in Guatemala"…
Picking up our backpacks from the van to pass them to the 4 × 4 before it starts to rain
How to get from Lanquín to Semuc Champey
When you get to Lanquin there are always several 4 × 4 of the different accommodations in the area, waiting for travelers who already have a reservation and offering the rooms they have free to those who arrive without a confirmed reservation.
Since Lanquin to Semuc Champey There are 9 kilometers of dirt road, full of curves and level changes, so it is more than advisable to get one of the 4 × 4 if you want to reach the Semuc Champey area.
The transfer in 4 × 4 from Lanquín to Semuc Champey or the accommodation is free if you are staying in one of them, if you do not have to hire a place for about 15 euros or so.
Keep in mind that the journey of 9 kilometers is done in about 45-50 minutes, counting that the road is fine and does not rain too much, if it cannot be extended at an hour and peak.
It is something to keep in mind if you are staying in Lanquín, where there is more infrastructure than not in Semuc Champey itself or in Cobán, which is located 2 hours from Lanquín.
But the final journey could not be so easy and it begins to rain as if there was no tomorrow, so we have to run and put the canvas in the 4 × 4 and start an ascent along a terrace path, in which it seems that we are going to fall at any moment ...
And two minutes later ... the sky falls
The reward comes when we approach the Semuc Champey Portal and see the Cahabón River, with that turquoise color so characteristic.
We only need to check in and see us in our cabin, overlooking the river and a terrace with hammocks, to realize that we have fully decided to come here.
Views from our cabin in Semuc Champey
After nine hours of travel, we rest for a while in the room and at 7 pm we go to the dining room of the hotel, where we enjoy unique views of the landscape that surrounds us, in beautiful facilities and perfectly integrated into the landscape.
Semuc Champey Portal Terrace
The hours go by and time begins again to forcefully discharge a rain that leaves us as we see that a bad taste in the mouth becomes stronger and we cannot stop thinking about what Sergio de Viajeropedia explained to us That was here a few months ago. And it caught a good storm and the next day, the pools were completely brown, something we will not deny, it would be a blow.
Trying to forget a little of this, we ask for some nachos and a sandwich plus coke and beer for 130 quetzals that will serve us as a New Year's Eve dinner, something that we do not fall into until we talk to Alexis, a French traveler based in Mexico, with which we agree having dinner, we see what day we are.
New Year's Eve dinner at Semuc Champey
Yes, we know, today is the last day of the year and maybe anyone would expect that there would be special dinner on our day, maybe a dance and even some grapes. We are not going to lie to you, it has been a day like any other, the main reason is that we feel this way and it is that we are not especially friends of this type of celebrations, preferring to do the family meetings or gifts at other times of the year, less flashy, but much more meaningful to us.
While it is true that these days more "specials"We miss the family, in our particular case, we do not need that day to meet or meet them, since we do it weekly, so it is not"trauma"not being there today ...
And with this you can imagine how our particular New Year's Eve has started and ended: we lay in the bed of our cabin, surrounded by the sound of nature and doing one of the things we like the most: TRAVEL
Semuc Champey
Day 8: Semuc Champey
