Ok, so we´ve really fallen behind with this so we will have to cut the crap and just get to the point!!! San Marcos was lovely, very quiet and relaxing, we went for a drink in this bar by the lake at about 4pm and then a storm came so we got stuck there for a couple of hours, needless to say we were fairly well on by the time we left and weren´t too bothered about the rain! Nearly got lost on the way back to the room, we´re blaming the lack of light and not the alcohol on that!!! [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday while still in San Pedro we decided to climb a Volcano on Sunday morning at 6am. We got out of bed at 5.30 and met the tour guide who was a Guatamalena dude with zero English and we with zero spainish other than "Olla". We headed off on our 6 hour hike. We stupidly thought it would be just a stroll in the hills but it was extreme hill walking. When we bought the ticket the previous day we were told that we would need sercurity in the mountains in the form of police to ward off bandits who [View Full Entry]

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Lake Atitlan and San Marcos Hannh and I got away for the weekend. It took about 2 hours to get to the lake. What a beautiful place! When I got into my room ($6/night with a shared bath; the most expensive place is around $40/night), I noticed the light didn´t work. When I looked at the ceiling light, there was no light bulb. So, down to the desk I went to ask for a light bulb. Keep in mind that very few people here speak English, and, of course, neither did the woman at the desk. I told her there was [View Full Entry]

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We found another one of Guatemalas not so secret treasures, Lago Atitlan. As we arrived in our minívan we came over the hill to look down upon a large beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes and much vegetation. Panajachel is the largest town around the lake and this is where we were dropped off. Although this was nice enough we had read about another place called San Marcos, a town on the other side of the lake where we had decided to base ourselves. We soon discovered there were 3 prices on boats around here and because we were neither locals nor [View Full Entry]

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ja wiedermal nach einer halsbrecherischen busfahrt mit den sagenumwobenen chickenbuses welche wie gewohnt, fahren wie die bekloppten, irreschnell, umsomehr leute , umsomehr rasen.. andere logik kann ich nicht erkennen, plus einer laengeren fahrt mit cracksuechtigen tuctucfahrern (wasn tuctuc? son 3 raedriges piaggoding.. wie kohli mal gehabt hat.. wisst ihr eigentlich das man mit denen auf die seite kippen kann? geht ganz einfach :-) dann einfach aussteigen und wieder aufstellen..), bin ich dann doch mal endlich an einem ort angekommen. dieser wirkt angenehm, so habe ich auf einem kleinen hu [View Full Entry]

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Deze nacht niet goed geslapen! Denk dat er vlooien of een of ander beest in mijn bed zat, want sta vol met beten .. en beten jeuken .. en als beten jeuken .. dan moet je krabben! Nu dat eindelijk al mijn muggenbeten en blijnen bijna verdwenen zijn, sta ik dus vol met beten van iets anders. Tof tof .. Had er dus ook geen probleem mee met op te staan om om 8u de yoga-les mee te volgen. Was een lesje van 2 uur .. maar was me niet echt bevallen. Was vandaag precies men dag niet om mij in [View Full Entry]

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We´re still in San Marcos, but loving every minute of it. We´ve fallen into a pattern of sorts. Lucy goes to yoga every day, I´ve been going to Spanish, Jack goes for a run. There´s lunch, there´s slow strolls to enjoy the view, we read our books on the deck slowly, easily distracted by the views. Then it´s dinner time, we choose a restaurant, play cards, and come back to enjoy the view some more. San Marcos is a tiny little village, split in two by a not very busy road. Up in the mountains are the houses where the local [View Full Entry]

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After a gruelling morning lying by the pool at the gorgeous Hotel Atitlan, Lucy and I took one of the ¨lanchas¨, a little fibreglass boat, over the lake to San Marcos. The trip over allowed us excellent views of a number of other little villages at the lake edge, all small sleepy villages, some with surprisingly large and lovely houses built into the hillsides. I suspect mostly owned by holidaying Americans. Lucy befriended one such lady on the boat, who told her that on various spots on the lake there are some huge mansions. One of which is apparently owned by [View Full Entry]

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This is my next item on my list of "Top Things to Do in Guatemala if You're Visiting for a Short Time." (See Dec 24 entry for my list). I have already posted an entry on Lake Atitlan last October, (see "Zipping Along over the Jungle" on October 14), of our time at Hotel Atitlan. This time we decided to stay at a different place than Hotel Atitlan, a tiny village inn located "across and to the right" of the lake and is not accessible from our "usual" town of Panajachel. We took a little launch (a boat hilariosly named Titanic) [View Full Entry]

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So I finnished school the other day and got my diploma. Another piece of paper i´ve recieved from some school that will do absolutely nothing for me. I could wallpaper my room with these. That´s not entirely true...my spanish is much better than when I first got here. Now I at least have some idea what the hell is going on. The last few days have been awsome. Met some really amazing Americans (can you believe that) and we had quite the piss-up my last night in Antigua. It also happened to be one of the American´s birthday so we [View Full Entry]

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