Guatemala, with its 13mio people, two oceans, the mountains of Sierra Madre and many volcanic peaks, is among the most attractive countries of Latin America. A true gem for travelers is the lake Atitlan, in the southwest of the country. It’s about 12km wide and to the south of Guatemala, some 3 hours drive from the capital. The lake itself is an inactive volcano crater filled with water. On its shores live the Kaqchiquels and Tzutujils, the descendents of ancient Mayans, who still speak dialects of the Mayan language (Spanish being only the secondary means of communication).
We didn’t get to the lake from the capital though, but have crossed the border with Guatemala directly from Mexico. In the city of San Cristobal, to the south of Mexico, we arranged (at a agency) transport across the border, right up to the lake. It was a bit more expensive as traveling by local buses, but we’ve saved a lot of time, that is always running out too fast on such journeys. We traveled by a shuttle bus and had stops very two to three hours. We were there in July, which is the month of rain, so we arrived to the village Panajachel (locals call it Pana) in a rainfall. The village was the main gathering place of American hippies in the sixties, so the place got a nickname Gringotenango, the place where gringos (foreigners) live. It’s popular because you can get many local products, from jewelry, colorful clothing and hammocks. In the evening the village offers live music, good food, bars (with barkeepers from all over the world) and after dinner some places set up a miniature cinema. The main street is the Calle Santander is full of shops and restaurants. You can also visit the Lacustre Atitlan museum, showing the history and the creation of the lake Atitlan and its surroundings, and you can also see a collection of ancient Mayan pottery craftsmanship there.
Usually the travelers stay in the village only for a day or so, and we also left the next day already. We traveled by a small boat to the village of San Pedro on the other shore of the lake.
Years ago this village was dangerous for travelers, but now the villagers learned that travelers contribute to the profit of their shops. So the number of restaurants, tourist agencies and bars has increased over the last few years. The village is mostly known for Spanish schools, and many travelers I’ve met stay here (or in some other lakeside village) for a few weeks to learn Spanish. The cheapest and most common way to learn the language is staying with a host family.
Local transportation in the village is the tuk tuki and for longer journeys they use the chicken bus. The chicken bus is a worked over American school bus, that looks nice on the outside, but in order to get more profit the bus gets much more people then there are seats available. Because of high speeds accidents aren’t rare. In the village, with all the restaurants and bars, there is also another necessity for travelers – vitamins. There’s much tropical fruit and the women are selling it all over the place. I found the pitaya very interesting, for it’s a cactus like fruit also called Dragon fruit, native to Latin America, but can also grow in southeastern Asia. In the evening the bars and restaurants are open and they attract many tourists. More and more foreigners from US, Europe or other parts of the world are opening restaurants and hotels here. On my last day here I’ve met an Italian from Trieste, who opened a restaurant here. He told me he came to Guatemala as a tourist, but his passport got stolen and he waited three months for the replacement. In the mean time he met some people who helped him to rent a place and started supporting himself.
The most visited lagoons of the lake are San Pedro and San Marcos. San Marcos is a paradise for all who decided to explore the spirituality. You can find centers of meditation and many massage parlors on every step. It’s also a place for all vegetarians, for most restaurants have vegetarian specialties. The lagoon is interesting, because it is small and pleasant, and also the water is cleaner on this side of the lake, inviting you to take a swim.
Apart from the lagoons the lake is also surrounded by three inactive volcanoes. The nearest is the volcano San Pedro, rising above the village of San Pedro, and about an hour or so from the lake are the other two, somewhat higher volcanoes Toliman and Atitlan. One of the main goals of our visit to San Pedro was the volcano of the same name. So the next morning at 6am we head up to conquer this three thousand meter high volcano, with the assistance of two local guides equipped with two machete. We were quite an interesting group. A Slovenian girl, an Ozzie, three English girls and two German tourists, accompanied by a (as in every country I’ve been to so far) group of Israelis, all eager for some adventure. The Israelis have a strict conscription system where after high school girls serve two, and guys three years in the military, after which they always take a trip abroad, to soak in some life, before they get a job (as they say).
Naturally we started the hike full of confidence, first taking a stroll through the village to the main road and following the road some distance up-hill, to come to the entrance of the national park (where we parted with some of the quetzals). Then we went on, on the narrow trail, with coffee and also corn fields on our left. As most Latin American countries Guatemala is also mostly agricultural, there is almost no industry. Corn is very symbolic, as it was the main food for Mayans.
After the first hour the hike up the volcano became quite exhausting, and we were all breathing hard, and were covered in sweat, while making our way up the slippery trail (for it rained last night). After some three hours we reached the point, with a wonderful view of the lake Atitlan, the village on its shore and the two other volcanoes, raising to our right. We were enchanted by the beauty, despite our exhaustion. We were lucky enough to take quite a few beautiful pictures, because only ten minutes after we reached the top it got covered by thick fog and we couldn’t see anything anymore.
After the volcano it’s suggestible, to eat something good in one of the local restaurants and then have a relaxing dip in the spa. These are the small cemented pools, where the locals fill with hot water and after that you fill reborn. After a spa I suggest a massage, possibly with hot stones, or a fresh swim in the cool lake (as we did). And it felt great.
In the village live the Mashenos, known that they have accepted the Christian belief and its rituals. The market is most interesting on Sundays, when you can also see the worshipers of the ancient Mayan religion performing their rituals. These take place in front of the church of Santo Tomas (about 400 years old). So you can see the locals having the same kind of processions ancient Mayans had. You can see shamans, who carry their spiritual guides and spread clouds of smoke. It was all in smoke around the church and I’ve also seen many candles and flowers at the church door, but also many tins from which smoke came. Sometimes the shamas even sacrifice a chicken to the gods.
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