Lago Atitlan and beyond

Lago Atitlan served as a perfect bridging point between Xela and life after. It is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and a variety of low-key towns for visitors choosing. After being dropped in Panajachel, commonly known as gringo city, we boarded a lake ferry for San Pedro. Well, it was not that simple. First we had to find Alyssa, who not feeling well had taken a tuk-tuk to the boat dock. Unbenownst to Choi, Emily, and I we walked to the opposite boat dock where we searched for Alyssa for I do not know how long. During all this searching I realized I had left my camera on the shuttle which brought us to Pana, and Choi a loyal friend with only a small backpack ran back to the Atitlan Tour office to inform them of my grave traveling blunder. After having several men try to sell us tickets to a ferry for San Pedro, an honest tuk-tuk driver informed us we were in the wrong place and took us where we needed to be. And there was Alyssa about to give up waiting on us!

Upon arriving in San Pedro we headed to Casa Elena on the waterfront, where Alyssa had stayed on a previous visit. It was clean and comfortable with a topsy-turvy hammock outside our front door and beautiful views of the lack. We scored our own bathroom, too, which was fairly unbelievible for the low price of 80 quetzales a night. Our days were spent napping, reading, eating at places where free movies were provided, and spending about a couple of hours walking around the entire town. Yep, Choi and I covered all there was to see in less time than it took us to get there.

San Pedro offers some language schools, yoga, thermal spas, kayaking, fishing, and a variety of bars and eateries for your amusement. The Internet is available at dial up speed on a bad day most of the time. And if you so choose there are several illegal activities readily offered, too. It is the kind of place where you could spend a lot of time thinking or no time at all. A place which offers the best lessons in how to simply BE. Choi and I waited more than an hour for the lake ferry to take us back to Pana on Sunday (where I magically was able to recover my camera), and as I watched his body language I could feel his tension and impatience rising by the minute. I, on the other hand, could not have been bothered. The fact that there actually was a boat that would at some point take us to Pana was enough for me.

The best part of being at Lago Atitlan was the ferry rides. I use ferry lightly...motorboats with seats across from one side to the other, which hold about a dozen comfortably. While the curvy roads in the Guatemala make my stomach flip, the ferry rides across the lake were paradise. For some reason most of the tourists clamor for the front rows, which are the absolutely worst places to sit on these boats. When the water is choppy the front part of the boat smacks down on every wave giving your bum a good workout...the closer to the front you sit, well, you figure it out. The ride only lasts a mere 30 minutes from Pana to San Pedro and costs 25 quetzales.

After four days of doing nothing, I left for Antigua where I am again doing mostly nothing. Walked around town taking photos yesterday afternoon and this morning, already watched a few movies, and exchanged my book for a new one. With some gentle encouragement from a former Celas Maya student who I bumped into this morning in my hostel, the Black Cat, I am going to climb a volcano tomorrow.