Quick travel tip: In the tropical rainy season, it’s best to avoid situations where you need to air dry your clothes.

Ana told me yesterday that she could do all my laundry for $2, and I couldn’t resist. I should have realized that the clothes would have to be out on the line all day, but it didn’t occur to me. Today is nicer out than yesterday, but even with the sun beating down all morning, my clothes were still pretty damp by midday.

So I sat around a bit, trying to figure out my next move. Whether I opted for the relaxing fun of Livingston and Rio Dulce or to the natural beauty of Semuc Champey and the surrounding caves, I knew I had to get to Flores.

As soon as I packed up my (mostly) dry clothes, said adios to Ana, and headed down to the road, a bus to Flores showed up. I was willing to walk the additional mile and a half to the bus stop, in the jungle heat, with all my gear on my back, but the bus let me on right there. I would need to find some other way to become drenched in sweat. Luckily, there was no AC on the bus.

I got to the bus station just in time to miss the last bus toward Coban (near Semuc Champey) and the trip to Rio Dulce was longer and more expensive than I was expecting. So I took a quick ride over to Los Amigos hostel to stay for the night. It’s a very cool place with tons of cheap rooms, free wifi and a great restaurant/communal area with hammocks and sofas. They also offer a trip down to Semuc Champey for a reasonable cost.

I walked around Flores for a bit. Though it wasn’t really where I thought I wanted to end up for the night, I was ultimately glad to be there. The town has a great, laid back vibe and the hostel was full of people who appreciate that. I played Asshole (for those who didn’t attend college recently: Asshole is a simple, somewhat-UNO-like card game which generally involves drinking) with two Brazilians and two Aussies (I think I’ve met all 30 million Australians in the past two weeks). I chatted into the night with a commercial pilot from the States, a Dutch couple and a recently laid-off, Clarkson-educated engineer from Connecticut.

It’s no surprise that this hostel reminded me a lot of the one I stayed at in Tulum, Mexico. Most of the folks I met at Los Amigos also stayed at The Weary Traveler. The Lonely Planet (or in my case: Footprint Guide – as far as I can tell, the two contain nearly identical information) trek through Central America seems to be quite popular.