summer on repeat: Can Can you Lake Atitlan?

Welcome back,

I´m glad that you´re still reading this despite the fact that I´m a very slow blogger, and it might take me 4 more months after my trip to finish my travel tales. Those who stick with it will get a prize for braving the months of bad punctuation and text wrapping. A bottle of hot sauce, perhaps? (Yes that says Mayan Viagra)

In my last blog I was on my way to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. I had booked another shuttle (I love to tempt fate) to Panajachel, which is a popular tourist destination on the lake´s edge. This shuttle ride went extremely smoothly. I had the luxury of sitting in the front seat and enjoying the supremely beautiful view. The sky was a bright blue sprinkled with puffy bits of cloud. It was the perfect backdrop a we wound our way up along the mountains (or volcanoes?), through harvested corn fields, and endless numbers of flowering bushes. I´ve never seen mountains with so many flowers on them.

When I arrived in Pana I made my way down to the dock, where I would take a water taxi to San Pedro on the other side of the lake. There was no specific reason for staying in San Pedro, other than that I had heard, from other backpackers, that it was a nice place to stay. I waited for more than half an hour for the water taxi to fill up with enough passengers to make the trip profitable. I think it´s possible to go directly from Antigua to San Pedro, but I really liked the boat ride. It was a nice introduction to the lake. The water was a glassy cerulean blue perfectly framed by the surrounding volcanoes. I could immediately see why people come here to relax.

Upon my arrival in San Pedro I was immediately accosted by a ¨guide¨ who wanted to show me places to stay. When I found out that my first choice was booked up, I reluctantly let him lead me to another cheap place to stay. Some of you might be thinking, “Oh Gwen! Please don’t tell me you fell for the scam where they tell you the place you want to go to is full, and then they take you somewhere else where they get a commission.” Don’t worry. The Lonely Planet (a.k.a. Backpacker’s Bible) warned me about these schemes. I actually checked out my first choice and found out first hand that they were full. The guide led me to a very cheap hotel. This place was a little sketchy looking. The room consisted of four cinderblock walls with a double bed in the middle. The bed was not against any of the walls, and I had a feeling the sheets hadn’t been changed. I was still feeling weak from my sickness, so I decided to just go with it for one night. After throwing my stuff in the room, I took the money I saved on housing and spent it at an overpriced restaurant with bad service. Then it was back to the room for a nap.

After a somewhat restful nap, which was achieved during those moments when I wasn't thinking about how gross the room was, I decided I couldn’t stay more than one night in that musty hole. I spent the evening walking around checking out other places to stay. I found an awesome deal at Casa Lola. A private room with a bathroom, hot water, tv, and free drinking water for only $7.50. Sure, it was double what I was paying at the other place, but it was so worth it. Casa Lola was immaculately clean and bright. The hallways continuously smelled like fresh laundry. Did I mention the hammocks? Ahhhh...

That night I went to sleep content with the knowledge that I would not have to be in that room for another night. I woke up early the next morning (already fully dressed because I wanted minimal skin contact with the sheets), and went straight to my new hotel. The next couple of days were spent mostly gaining my strength back, watching made for tv christmas movies from the 90's, catching up on internet, and sleeping. Not very interesting, but very relaxing. I did manage to walk around the town a bit, so I'll leave you with a few pictures.