Days 7 & 8: Semuc Champey/Traveling again

Hello! Sunday was such a crazZzZzy day!! From the moment Melissa and I woke up, we were doing something or the other. All day Saturday we traveled to Lanquin ansh stayed in a hostel there for a night (which is about 45 minutes from our destination: Semuc Champey). At about 9am we hopped on the finest transportation they could offer us, aka the back of a pick-up truck, and had a long buuuuumpy ride to Semuc. The moment we arrived though was so magical. The water was a brilliant blue-ish green and the landscape in general was breathtaking. We then went on a 30 minute uphill hike (with a guide of course!!) to get a better view of the natural pools and river. Then, it was swimming time! We hiked back down and explored the water. Even though it was just regular water, there was something really cool about the whole situation. There were some natural places to dive off of and a few "waterslides" which actually hurt my butt so much!! We grabbed some lunch and met up with 2 fellow volunteers, Connor and Nicole, who also signed up for the trip. After lunch things got scary! I swear to you, I escaped death at least 3 times. Some native members of the Q'eqchi' Maya town of Lanquin took the four of us and then another group into some water caves with only a candle each for lighting. In retrospect, the whole process was definitely a once in a lifetime experience, but during the cave swim I thought I was going to drown/get eaten by a bat/drown again. We saw some stalagmites, stalactites and even swam up a natural waterfall. I couldn't take any picture in there for obvious reasons, but it is definitely worth traveling to again!! Afterwards we ate dinner and slept like babies because little did we know it, all of us had a very long Monday ahead of us.
SO Monday was obnoxiously obnoxious. We woke up at 6am for a 7am shuttle back to Lanquin. From there about 10 of us took a bus back to Antigua, but before we officially left we had to stop and pick up 20 more people! The catch here is that the bus could only hold 20. For at least an hour our bus driver was trying to cram 30 people in a 20 person bus for an 8 hour trip. Even if it was possible no one would have been ok with it. But finally everything got figured out and we were on our way. BUT THEN, about 3 hours into our ride home we arrived in Santa Cruz de Quiche and we were blocked in. Our driver tried to find a way out for 2 hours. Apparently the miners were on strike for better wages and working conditions so they decided to block all the major roads going into and out of the city. Basically, we were stuck in the city until 4pm when the miners let some people go. Once we were on the road again it took us 7 hours to travel what should have taken 4 hours! Our 8 hour trip home turned into around 13 hours. It was death. But, I'm grateful to have gotten to go to Semuc Champey and I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything!
Here are some pictures from Semuc Champey:

                                                    A birds-eye view of the natural pools

                                                     A ground view of the pools