El Lago

After three days at the beach, we spent another night in Antigua at our hotel, which now felt quite homey (its funny how soon you can feel at home somewhere when you travel) and got up for the early bus to Panajachel on Lago Atitlan. We were treated to seats in the front of the bus, which although good for me because I wouldn´t get motion sickness, also made us privy to the countless cars that our bus driver almost ran off the road as we made our way to the lake.

Panajachel is the biggest, most developed town on the Lake, so we headed straight from the bus to the dock where we got a boat to San Marcos, the third most popular spot, much smaller than Panajachel and San Pedro, the first two, and known for it´s ¨spiritual¨ vibe. The lake itself is huge, deep blue and surrounded by volcanos and the towns around it are very well spaced, with the occasional house or hotel with lake views dotting the mountainside.

We arrived at Panajachel and were met by local boys who immediately offered to carry our bags. Apparently my bag was relatively heavy and there was a minute where it looking like my little bellboy was going to give way under the weight, but he adjusted the bag and proceeded to lead us to the hotel that I had hastly chosen out of our Lonely Planet. We were led through a laybrinth of tall green hedges and thick stone walls with restaurants offering local fare and saunas offering massages and herbal therapy treatments. After a brief three minute walk we arrived at the Unicorn, where we walked through a doorway into an open courtyard filled with trees and surrounded by tiny A-frame buildings, each housing a single room. We were lucky enough to get the last available room.

We settled in and found a local vegetarian restaurant for a lunch of vegetarian burrios and fruit juice, before catching a boat to San Pedro to check out the sites. When we arrived in San Pedro, I was immediately glad that we had decided to stay in San Marcos. The dock at San Pedro is flanked with bars and restaurants and just up the ramp, the main streets is lined with gift shops, tour agencies and countless Spanish language schools. We spent some time wandering around the town, which turn out to be much less touristy, and much bigger than we had originally imagined, once you made your way up the hill and away from the lake. After our walk, we found a great spot to swim after climbing down the rocky side of a steep decline dropping into the lake. The water was cold, but clear and refresing, and the view was beautiful.

After our dip, we made our way back to the dock, where we had nachos and beers while we waiting for the last boat back to San Marcos. We found our waiter, as well as all of the men working (or sitting on) the dock to be extremely friendly and all made for a great ¨this is exactly why I travel¨ moment.

We returned to San Marcos and decided to skip the movie that was being shown at the local Pizza restaurant and instead had dinner at Paco Real, a hotel and restaurant that serves delicious food in a romantic environment (candlelight and fireplace). I enjoyed my meal, but enjoyed Steven´s even more and he graciously allowed me to partake of both.

The following day, we caught the boat back to Panajachel, throughly enjoying our seats on the bow which allowed for a 360 degree view of the lake and the surrounding villages, where we caught our bus back to Guatemala City.