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Arriving in Panjachel for the transfer and there were only 4 of us - which should have be the first hint of trouble. We set off on time and headed towards Lanquin - avoiding Antigua meaning a shorter journey. The israeli couple on the transfer needed coffee so we had a couple of unscheduled stops looking for some and they were then getting off early to go to Nebaj. The transfer dropped them at town but it then turned out they needed to go back 20 minutes up the road we had already passed. An arguement ensued but they still only had to get off where the driver wanted them to.
Driving through beautiful scenery and torrential rain we arrived and hour late in Lanquin after the final 11km of bumpy road. Nick was picked up by his hotel while my transfer after hanging around for half an hour said we couldn't go as there was only me going. I argued that my friends Tom and Hannah (from La Iguana Perdida) were down there and I wanted to meet them but it wasn't looking good until it turned out another member of staff needed to go down there that I was allowed to go in the back of a pick up truck on a hideous road in the dark for 40 minutes until I reached my destination.
By now I also knew was the shut Semuc Champey. Fights between locals and the government had broken out a few days before as the locals tried to retake the site after the gov had not paid them the 30% of the admission fees they had been promised. The result was the park was shut with no date for reopening. On the journey down I had passed armed guards who had shone torches at us.
Arriving at the very empty hostel it turned out that the reason I had been allowed down was that Hannah had left their laundry on the bus and this is what the staff member bought down. I grabbed a beer and had a quick chat to Hannah and Tom and agreed to met in the morning for the cave and tubing tour the next day - the only activity available!
Tom was ill tghe next day so my tour group turned out to be an older Colombian family and a German family - not a fun group! Heading into the caves we had candles and waded through water (at some points having to swim), down some ladders until we came to a waterfall and a 3-4 m ladder that I decided was too much for my fear of heights. I was then left with only a candle and a promise to return in 10-15 minutes. 35 minutes later when I was getting worried my candle would go out our group returned and we left the caves. Next we went to a few miradors where you could catch a glimpse of some of the pools. We headed to the tubing which started by the waterfall below the piscinas so we got another look at them but again not a good view. Tubing was a gentle float down the river and back to the hostel in time for a late lunch and a chill.
I had planned to leave to go to Rio Dulce the next day so headed on the 7 am pickup back up the horrid bumpy road only to find there was a "problema con el ruta" to Rio Dulce. Apparently there were protesters on the road there and it was blocked with no sign of reopening. My options were a bus to El Rancho and a night bus to Rio Dulce or stay and hope it reopened or otherwise go straight to Flores.
Not fancying a night bus of only a few hours I decided to stay in the hostel the transfer driver knew - really empty again during the day but I was feeling a bit unwell so spent most of the day in the room. By the evening I was told that Rio Dulce was on so I was able to book accommodation and settle in for the night before the 5 hour journey to my next destination.
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