Vacation from a Vacation

This is gonna be long if i try to include most of my little tri`p but here it goes.

We left on Friday and drove for a solid 10 hours until we got to a place called Coban in Northern Guatemala. I was pleasantly surprised when i got there, it looked somewhat like an old castles but the rooms were what really did it for me. A nice clean room, with towels, a hot shower and even a color TV! So as soon as i got there, ripped off my clothes and jumped in what i thought was a hot shower.... it was ice cold, they forgot to turn the water heater on for us, just my luck. But i finally got my hot shower the next morning, and it was well worth the wait. As nice as this hotel was, i had trouble sleeping, because whenever a chicken bus or a big truck would drive by the street out my window, my bed would actually shake, but the comfy matress made up for that.
The next day, we drove out to semuk champey, which involved around a hour and a half van ride through rough rooads at a very slow pace, then cramming 11 peoeple and their backpakcs into hte back of a small pickup for another half an hour of rougher terrain. We were welcomed on the way up by a small boy who deecided to flash us while lauhging hysterically. I found it quite funny.We arrived at a pretty sketchy hostel, which was pretty much as many beds as you could fit into a room, and walls with so many holes in them, the bugs just had free rein over the place.
This all proved to be worth it, as we were right next to a very warm river which we could swim and use the rope swing into. We took a small hour and a half hike up a mountain, which realistically couldve taken twenty minutes if everyone was in shape, but it had a beautiful view from the top. When we went down the other side, there are small pools of water formed by the river which we spent a couple hours in. It topped anything else i´ve seen in Guatemala and i could´çve stayed there for days, my favorite place so far. On the way back we spent a little bit jumping off a pretty tall bridge into the river, which was a blast.
That night we did some swimming then had supper and hung out wiht a couiple beers, but i held back because i wasn´t feeling to well.
The next morning, we went on a cave tour which was a phenominal experince. It took us around two hours to explore a km into the pitch black cave though water with nothing else then a small candle in our hands. It involved swimming, jumping off mini cliffs inside the cave and hiking up laders and climbing ropes. I kept on thinking while swimming through how this tour would absolutely never be allowed to happen in the western world, i could just see too many things going wrong.
After an hour of getting out of the caves a different way, we took a small hike up river and floated down the river on inner tubes to enjoy the hot day. By this time, I was really not feeling to well, i was having a little trouble walking but everything we were doing was too good to say no to. I just relaxed on the way down and by the time i got there i threw my tube aside and went and fell into my bed. I had a serious fever, my head was getting stuffy and i sould barely move. So we, more like the others, packed up, and we jumped back into the pickup for the ride back to our van. I just sprawled out in the back of the pickup and tried to get threw the ride. By the time we were at the van, I wasn´t doing to much better, and the driver wanted to take me to the Hospital. I said i could go when we got to the next city andthankked him. Let´s just say the eight hour drive was nowhere near pleasurable for me. I sat in the front seat with my head out the window ready to give last nights dinner to the ditch the whole ride. I didn´t eat all day, but by night I was feeling a little better and could walk around a bit. I´m guessing it was the salad i ate the night before that made me sick, beccasue most people stay away from lettuyce and cabage around here.
Thankfully, the next morning, i felt good enough to walk, and decided to Go to Tikal wiht the others. We hired a guide this time, and taught us alot about the people, culture and the civil war that just recently ended in 1996. His father is actually one of the leading guatemalan archeologists in Tikal and has made some big discoveries lately. After some history, wildlife watching, we went searching for Tarantualas, which are alot easier then i thought to find. We found a couple small ones, and a large one, which are, according to the guide, nonpoisinous, but can leave a nasty mark. We also saw spider and howler monkeys, crocodiles, a bunch of birds and some other intresting animals. Tikal ruins were overwhelmingly big. For reference, in pure Volume of size, they are larger then the biggest pyrimides in Egypt. We got to walk up them(quite high) and learn about all the history and the way the mayan civilization functioned. An odd fact, is that the winning teams coach in their ball game is sacraficed to the god´s after his game.... something random for you. They just started excavating the sites in 2004 and if they don´t keep them clean, nature can cover the larger ruins in as little as 10-15 years.

Upon reaching the hotel, we went for a swim in the pool, and the lake, which was so warm, almost hot, and i was feeeling a little better. We walked around then headed out for supper and enjoyed it by the beach, the first time i´ve had pasta since i got here. We spent the night hangnig out and walking around.
The next day we had a solid day of driving again, with a small stop in Rio Dulce, where we swam in the river and had some lunch. By this time i was feeling healthy again and could enjoy myself once again.
We spent our last night in Antigua, which is a very touristy and expensive city in the south west. I was considering spending some time down there for spanish lessons but im glad i saw it, because i much prefer it in Xela. That is more of a tourist city, where xela is more of a backpacker/spanish studnet community. We hung out at an Irish Pub that night then went to bed for another early morning.

We did a large amount of driving, which is now why i have a nice sunburn on my left arm...while the right one is still in good shape. I mustve forgot alot of little deatails while writing about this long trip, but maybe ill edit it later. Although i did manage to end up wiht a broken camera half way through the trip, so im notsure about that situation, maybe buy a new one or try to fixit. Id like to study spanish for another two weeks then maybe volunteer or whatnot. Im also expecting a friend who might be coming down sometime in june for the last part of my trip.

Trhats it for now