After breakfast on Tuesday morning, we took a shuttle from our hostel to Semuc Champey at a cost of 120 GTQ (~20 CAD) for a round trip for the both of us. The shuttle was actually a pickup truck and the ride was almost an hour of being thrown around in the back while traversing through a terrible road. Despite the queasiness due to the bumpy ride, we were glad we had chosen not to take the bike because the road was far worse than the one we had taken the day before to get to our hostel and had areas of muddy puddles that would have certainly caused a few more falls.
Semuc Champey had been recommended to us and seemed to have great reviews online so we had high expectations. After all, it has to be amazing if people speak highly of it despite the challenging route to get there, right? After crossing a rickety old bridge that looked like it was on the brink of death, we arrived at our destination. The entrance cost 100 GTQ (~17 CAD) for the two of us. There were quite a few people at the site, mostly around the pools since you can swim there. The hike to the viewpoint at the top of the mountain is an arduous 700-meter climb, using mostly uneven and slippery rocks as steps. There is a wooden staircase, but only for a small part of the way.
Now, the big question… was it worth the trip? Before giving our answer, I’d like to point out that “worth” is a highly-subjective term and what one person would find absurd, another would find magical. With that being said, we did find the place beautiful; however, we felt that we should have skipped Semuc Champey and tagged along with Tim and Marisa to Las Conchas. We did not feel that it was worth the challenges we encountered to get there. To top it off, after visiting the Cascadas de Agua Azul in Mexico, the bar was set extremely (if not a bit unfairly) high for us. Plus, the site at Agua Azul is set up much better and is very easy to climb the stairs to the highest viewpoint.
We don’t want to discourage anyone who may have his or her heart set on visiting Semuc Champey because there are many people who do love it. We just don’t fall into that group and cannot recommend it based on our experience.
Our shuttle picked us up in the afternoon, about 30 minutes later than scheduled, and we took the same bumpy road back to our hostel. This time around; however, we were able to get seats inside the vehicle so the ride was less nauseating than the first time. We had dinner with Rick, Diane, and Lori at the hostel’s restaurant again that evening and went to bed, dreading taking the road out of San Agustín Lanquín the next day.
