December 5th-7th, 2014
The bus from San Cristobal into Guatemala was an
all-day affair, from 6:30 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening. The Mexican leg was about 5 hours, then we
had a one hour wait at the border as we changed shuttle buses. The terrain at the border was gorgeous with
tall, round, tree covered green hills.
Rolling into Guatemala for my first time I discovered that it’s the land
of speed bumps. There seemed to be
enough potholes in the roads to negate the necessity of speed bumps but there
were still tons of them.
The white pylons represent the border:
Sweet...a new country:
Once in Panajachel, the main town on Lake Atitlan, I found a
hotel (splurged to have my own room for the first time on this trip) and
enjoyed a nice pizza dinner. Since it
was dark, I would have to wait until morning to see the big lake with its three
inactive volcanoes on its shores.
The next day I walked down to the lake which was
stunning. I paid 25 Quetzals (about $4)
to take a full boat taxi across the lake to San Pedro, where many backpackers
end up. The boat ride was slow as the
lake was already pretty choppy from the wind.
I was happy that I had unknowingly picked one of the best seats on the
boat, near the back, as splashing waves soaked some of the other passengers
near the bow. It took me a while to find
the Mikaso Hotel but it was worth the effort as it was a gorgeous place right
on the water…literally. Speaking with
the French Canadian woman who was working the front desk, she explained that
the water level had risen significantly in the past few years and some houses
near the hotel had been abandoned as the bottom floor had 3-4 feet of water in
them.
Knuffle at Lake Atitlan:
An abandoned house:
My first chicken beer:
That afternoon I took another boat taxi over to San
Marcos. A small hamlet which I read was
described as a place for “hippies with purpose”, and that was an accurate
description. There were small posters
for yoga, reiki and energy healing. I
get yoga, and it does the body good and I know with my back injuries from paragliding
that I need to do more yoga but reiki, hmmm, nope, don’t get it. I walked through the village, up some
incredibly steep roads and walkways. The
native people living there must have strong hearts and leg muscles. Most of the houses were pretty rudimentary
with waste water just running down the open gutters by the side of the
road. Nevertheless they have a pretty
wicked view of the lake and the volcanoes.
The view from San Pedro towards San Marcos:
A garden by my hotel:
The entrance to Mikaso:
A lovely sunset:
My kickbutt breakfast at Connections, next door to San Pedro Spanish School. I returned the next day for the exact same thing:
On the boat to San Marcos. The front row is holding up the tarp...but they didn't always do the greatest job.
The shores of San Marcos:
At the pier:
The view from up in the village:
A common tourist activity is to watch sunrise from a
viewpoint called the Indian Nose. I
signed up for this even though it required waking up at 3:15am. I met my guide Santos and we hopped on one of
the infamous “chicken buses”. I was
surprised at the number of people on the bus at 4 in the morning as the seats
were more than half full. It took about
an hour to wind around part of the lake and then drive a curvy road up the
hill. An almost full moon helped light
our way up the fairly easy trail to the lookout point with a small wooden
shelter and some benches. The sky was
beginning to brighten and the view was gob smacking. Santos pointed out the seven volcanoes in the
distance and amazingly, as one of them was silhouetted by the yellow light from
the rising sun, a dark plume of smoke rose from the top, the volcano was
spewing smoke. Sweet, the first time I
have seen a volcano in action…well worth the price of admission!
The early morning glow:
The volcano farts:
Looking down to the lower viewpoint:
The viewing structure:
The volcano farts again:
Well worth the price of admission:
A cemetery in Santa Ana, the village over the back:
After sunrise we walked into the little town of Santa Anna
and caught a shuttle van down to the lake and then a tuk tuk from there around
to San Pedro. Yup, a tuk tuk…made me
feel like I was back in India!
Some cute kids and their mom who shared the van ride with us:
Back in a tuk tuk:
The morning glow in San Pedro:
Last views from Mikaso:
Later that day I caught a shuttle to head to Antigua, and
what an entertaining ride that would be…
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