Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The turnoff to Semil is 2km before Semuc Champey. From there it's about 1km to the
hotel. Call from Lanquín (or drop into the office at the crossroads where the bus arrives)
for free transport out here.
Getting There & Away
If you're into walking, the 2½-hour trip from Lanquín is a fairly pleasant one, passing
through lush countryside and simple rural scenes. If not, there are plenty of transportation
options. Pickups run from the plaza in Lanquín to Semuc Champey - your chances of
catching one are better in the early morning and on market days: Sunday, Monday and
Thursday. Expect to pay somewhere between Q10 and Q20. All the Lanquín hotels and
hostels run shuttle services out here, too.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Chisec
POP 35,000
The town of Chisec, 66km north of Cobán, is becoming a center for reaching several ex-
citing destinations. This is thanks to the paving of the road from Cobán to Sayaxché and
Flores, which runs through here, and some admirable community tourism programs aim-
ing to help develop this long-ignored region, the population of which is almost entirely
Q'eqchi' Maya. The best source of information on these programs is the office of
Puerta al
Mundo Maya
( 5978-1465;
www.puertamundomaya.com.gt
;
Lote 135, Barrio El Centro)
, which adminis-
ters quite a few of them.
Hotel La Estancia de la Virgen
( 5514-7444;
www.hotelestanciadelavirgen.com
; Calle Principal; s/d with fan
Q90/140, with air-con Q120/180; )
, Chisec's best hotel, on the main road at the
northern exit from town, has neat and sensible rooms, a restaurant and a swimming pool
with some excellent waterslides in the shape of fallen tree trunks.
Hotel Nopales
( 5514-0624; Parque Central; s/d Q60/90; )
has surprisingly large rooms (with
smell) set around a courtyard dominated by a permanently empty (unless it's been raining)
swimming pool.
8am-9pm)
is one of the few places you'd
Restaurante Bonapek
(Parque Central; mains Q30-50;
want to eat in town.
Buses leave Chisec for Cobán (Q20, two hours) eight times daily, from 3am to 2pm.
Buses or minibuses to San Antonio and Raxrujá (one hour) go hourly, from 6am to 4pm.
