Checking with Catholic churches about guest rooms is a great idea, though it's been quite a while since I've done it. It helps to have a letter of intro from a local priest (maybe in Huehue?) if you have a chance to meet one. Be prepared for the heat in Ixcan!

Yes, the second time I went to the Ixcan, I was able to stay at the Parroquia in Playa Grande, because I had made the arrangements through a MaryKnoll nun who worked in some Ixcan communities. I was also doing work with returned refugees, not traveling as a tourist. But it can't hurt to ask.

I think there were two hotels in Playa Grande: the s*&*hole were I stayed on my first trip, and a nicer place with cabañas that was owned by a drunk butcher who was getting ready to slaughter a cow in the "lobby" in preparation for market day the next day.

Good times.

(As long as you're in Playa Grande, you should check out the Parroquia if you have the time--it's a very modern wooden structure, an unusual church for Guatemala.)

Thanks for your reply.

I will ask around when I get closer to the lake to see if it's safe. I guess that's the only way I can find out!

The other parts I will see what happens. I'm only stopping to break up the journey & so I'm not travelling at night. I will enquire with the churches, but I'm sure there will be something cheap (and nasty!) along the way if the church is not an option!

Do you know if the laguna has cooking facilities eg pots, stove? And if I decide to stay longer I have to go all way back to playa Grande for food?

I don't know. I never went to Laguna Lachua--just tromped around and visited various Ixcan communities. You should ask on the Thorntree forum. They may also have more information about safety, given the more recent presence of drug smugglers and Zetas in Guatemala, especially in that area.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntreeSearch?q=laguna+lachua&x=0&y=0&facet=thorntree_date_range_less_than_5_years%3Atrue

There's a place out there called Finca Chipantun. I noted it some years ago, but never got out there. Seems their website is no longer operating, but there's info on the web and it's mentioned in some guide books. It's just outside the park. Might be worth checking out.

BTW, I assume you (will) have gotten all the recommended shots before traveling in this area? It would be a good idea.

I was at Laguna Lachuá last week and it was MAGICAL. Go.

Here is the review I wrote, not realizing they had no page. I will repost this as its own forum posting so that those travellers with the time to get there do go.

My review:

One Guatemalan told me it would be impossible for me to get to this spot. Another said difficult but not impossible, another said unsafe. Determined, I stopped into the tourist office in Cobán and the friendly staffer gave me a map, told me what I needed to say and who to say it to. I needed to bring in all of my own food and water so I did an Amazing Race like expedition to the supermarket and got a taxi just in time to make the collective pulling out of the station for Playa Grande and Reserva Laguna Lachuá.

This place is magic. It makes me so proud of Guatemala. It is a Leave No Trace reserve. No suntan lotion in the lake. No eating by the lake. No food in the rooms. No alcohol. No perfume.

You can sleep in your own tent, rent a tent, or stay in one of the 8 rooms in a wooden house. There is a communal kitchen with no refrigeration. It’s a 4km walk in and a 4km walk out. Other than organics, you take all your trash back out with you.

The walk is through pure tropical rainforest. You can hear the howlers (but they’re too smart to hang around the trails) and sometimes the crocodiles entering the water. It’s breathtaking.

The lake is… like nowhere else. You can see the colourful fish from the dock and the karst rock in the lake is smooth and gorgeous and you can sit in some of them like little bathtubs in the warm water so clean you feel you can drink it.

It’s full of local tourists on weekends and almost empty on weekdays. When it rains, no one goes to the lake and it is warmer in than out and the water turns a darker blue and the fish become more active. It’s worth bringing good goggles or a mask.

I definitely suggest staying two nights.

Most international tourists never see Laguna Lachuá. It was the absolute highlight of my 6 weeks in Guatemala so far and proof positive that we really can save this earth. Please go.

Bring some Spanish and something tasty and fresh for Carlos or Samuel, the two caretakers who have worked at this remote lake for decades.

I forgot a couple of things. It's 4.2 km into the lake, not 2. You can cook over the old wood stove in the kitchen, but they don't sell firewood, so you'll have to carry it in. I would recommend bringing in food that doesn't spoil easily as it's hot and humid there. There is absolutely no refrigeration.

You are completely safe in the park. When you register you'll see that they practically give you a DNA test before admitting you. This is a fiercely protected park, some of the best conservation protocols I have seen anymore, much less Central America, you'll be fine.

Once you are there, Carlos/Samuel miss nothing. There is only one way in or out of the park.

I took a collective all the way from Cobán, stayed 2 nights at Lachuá Lake in the Park, one across the road with a family, did a round trip to Playa Grande by carro and collective and then took 2 busses to get to Sayaxche and over to Flores.

You will need some minimal Spanish. The only people I encountered who spoke English was one Japanese tourist and one British one.

Lachuá will make you weep at its beauty. :O)

Thanks so much for posting this beautiful review - added to my list for a future trip. I have spend very little time in the Verapaces in more than a dozen trips to Guatemala so it's probably about time. :-)

Hopefulist, The whole Verapaces area is awesome, one of my favorite areas of Guate, definately go next time. A cool place to stay on the way up is Ram Tzul (reviewed here on TA).