We walked down to the shore in the afternoon at Pana to see Lago Atitlan.
An early morning view the next day of Volcan Toliman and Volcan Atitlan that Wiji took from our room.
We caught a small Lancha the next day and travelled south across the lake to Santiago Atitlan. The boat was filled with locals and zipped along allowing us glimpses across the lake. Santiago is described as the most 'workaday' of all the villages on the lake, and we were immediately immersed in the hustle and bustle of everyday Tzutuhil life on the walk up the hill from the dock.
We got a very basic room with a view of volcan San Pedro from our balcony. We visited the main square that had locals selling fruit and veg out of giant woven baskets and some really horrid smelling meat in the indoor market, we gave that a wide birth. The centre looked quite run down in general, so we headed to the church off the main square to see the wooden saints that apparently get new clothes made for them each year. It certainly was fancy dress, with a lot of brocade and awkward holes in the robes to accomodate the religious posturing. The Altar area had some beautiful wood carving from floor to ceiling and some more saints , in fish tanks (ahem!).
On a more serious note were the four plaques to commemorate father Stanley Francis Rother, a priest from Oklahoma who dedicated his time to the local people and their church. He and many locals were murdered in the church by ultrarightist death squads in 1981! There was still a lingering feeling that the violence here wasn't too far behind them.
We ate at El Pescador, the only eatery listed here, usually being big fans of eating the local fare on the street, but it seemed too risky to do this here, sadly. So we ate watched by a local boy, through the window, for the entire meal.
We were also followed about by children wanting to take us to see Maximon (masheemon) a diety revered throughout Guatemala, by the Spanish, Landinos and Mayans, alike. He is basically the patron saint of vices, namely alcohol, smoking and prostitution! The effergy is hosted by a different family each year and can be visited in situ and given preferred gifts of alcohol and cigars.
In Santiago he is reputed to be a wooden figure, draped in silk scarfs with a lit cigar in his mouth. In Nahuala, near Quetzaltenango, Maximon is a wooden box with a cigar sticking out of it, but still holds the same importance. We had a feeling that going to visit Maximon could get us into some trouble, so we didn't go. Shame really because I am sure it would have been a bit 'Island of the dolls', but sometimes you just have to resist! So we dished out some Quetzals to the expectant children all the same.
On the other end of the spectrum, we went off to investigate the possibility of a trek up a volcano, this lead us to Posada de Santiago , a very swish, Americanised hotel outside of the village. Here's a view from outside the hotel, with the evening sky clouding over, and out of shot on the right were women washing piles of clothes.
After exploring Santiago, we hopped on another Lancha and got on the move. Here's the view from the lancha on leaving Santiago.
And off we popped to San Pedro. Here's the volcano.
San Pedro was billed as a fire twirling, African drumming hippy hangout. Luckily we missed this and enjoyed some of the chilled cafes and the views. Not much else to do here really, unless you hire armed tourist guards, dogs and a guide to do a walk...not sounding like much fun, we gave that a miss.
Looking across the lake from San Pedro with all the lanchas lined up ready for the off.
'Jesus is the man' (apparently). Personally I am favouring Paul Simon to get me through a regulation chicken bus near death experience. Works for me.
Having breakfast lakeside at 'Chillies'. Am I smiling, or am I squinting. It's sooo bright?!
Waiting for breakfast, this was the perfect place to hangout and watch the ever changing sky and the clouds crossing the mountain range. It was beautiful to watch the sun break throught the clouds and light up different sections, as though they were under a spot light from God...whatever.
We wandered aroung the cobbled streets of San Pedro getting a very tangy whiff from piles of rotting coffee beans occasionally. It was all very laid back, with bars and little cafe's scattered about. We decided to hire a kayak and spend the day on the lake because it looked so glassy. (Less posibility of an express kidnapping too). We paddled off into the distance of the photo above and all around the shore line, scattering moor hens into the rushes.
It was a really peaceful way to observe local life from afar and look up at the landscape from the lake. We had a really happy time of this, and included a lunch break back on San Pedro, then went off again in the kayak to have another paddle about. We were more wary this time as it became windy and overcast we feared another Flores incident, but it quickly cleared and we paddled about until our arms felt like they might fall off. By far the best way to spend the day. Having explored to our satisfaction, we left San Pedro after two nights for San Marcos.
Leaving San Pedro behind.
On the very ricketty jetty of San Marcos.
Billed as an even more exclusive 'Hippy hangout' in every stereotypical way possible by the Lonely Planet, we left the lancha and headed off single file through the windy paths that were San Marcos, to the 'Unicorn Hostel' (whatever) with a couple of unwanted 'guides'. Here we found a series of gayly painted sheds around a garden courtyard. We promptly left our stuff in our shed and walked around San Marcos.
I felt as though I was looking for something but couldn't find it. Odd really as there were handpainted signs literally everywhere pointing out 'therapy centres', 'inner child regression' and psychotherapy sessions at every turn. The place seemed deserted and before we ever seemed to get anywhere we found ourselves on the road out of San Marcos. It was all very disjointed. So we turned back and walked along the lake, glimpsing the back of some large private homes with manicured lawns. Where were we? What was going on here?
Having a break in a cafe, sat on the raised terrace we were treated to the sight of two humming birds flying around the garden. This was the close up experience of these beautiful creatures that we had been waiting for since we caught our first glimpse of one in Benito Juarez, Mexico.
It was wonderful to watch these birds! But we had to agree that there wasn't much to do here. I had a feeling of restlessness, and had to admit to Wiji that I couldn't imagine staying here now that we had seen everything, (and we weren't really in the market for any healing). Lucky for me Wiji was happy to indulge me on the condition that I faced the music by handing the key to our shed back and making the excuses. This all worked out brilliantly with another couple waiting in the courtyard for a room... have ours! Bye! Relieved and feeling free of the place, we headed for the deserted jetty, only to be picked up again by our previous lancha, who found it a bit funny that we were leaving so soon!
Escaping San Marcos, thanks and goodbye!
It all worked out quite well once our escape plan had got us off San Marcos. We had a brilliant boat journey, stopping at lots of private jettys and some small villages that were not on our map. The lake was quite choppy and the opposite side of the boat to us had to sit under plastic to avoid the wash! We got a really exhilarating last trip on the lake. We then booked ourselves back into Mario's rooms and headed off out for a wood-oven cooked pizza and a few bottles of Moza. Can you imagine that?!
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