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Published: February 12th 2009
Is this like your office?
Seeing this makes me appreciate no end my old cubicle at workTim Version:
* Traveled to Lago de Atitlan and stayed in partying drunk San Pedro, then chilled yoga wind-chime filled San Marcos.
* Loved kicking back relaxing, swimming in finally some clean water, and just generally soaking up the good life.
The version that once again reminded me how sadly water addicted I am...:
Lago De Atitlan, playground of the rich, chill out spot of the same, also known for partying, drugs, alcohol, yoga, the sound of windchimes and lots of original Mayan people and dialects. Really it is a little of everything and it lives up to all those reputations!
The bus ride there from Antigua, shite... thats all there is to say. Beautiful views as always but the roads, while fairly new, are still often only half constructed leaving you with a bruised bum and enough twists and turns to leave you quite disorientated! I asked a guy on the bus how long the work had been going for on the roads and he just smiled and said always heh. Typical roadwork timetable.. To get there takes a bus from Antigua to Chimaltenango, then from there to Encuentros, from which you catch another to
Panajachel. Now this doesn't actually go to Panajachel... you then need to take one more quick one down into the crater which actually goes to Panajachel. The last part while fast gives you a good view of the lake and is the best part of the whole trip. The lancha docks are the first thing in the lakeside town of Panajachel so thats where you wanna get off! I think my neck and rear end were both bruised and twisted by the time I got there so the next slow boat ride was a welcome change!
From the docks I caught a boat to the lakeside town of San Pedro where I got to stay with a couchsurfing couple in a primo spot, so thankyou very much to both of them! The view from the boat gives you a good orientation of where everything is, but the prices are set for tourists higher than locals and the attitudes of the guys running the boat is pretty irritating... I found this a lot in Antigua too but was able to avoid all their services. Here you have no choice. If your Spanish is poor, they will charge you more. Argue
hard and they will charge you less. Get really lucky and you'll get local prices! On the boat ride I got talking to a girl from the Chech republic with an interesting story of an angry ex-husband at home causing problems for her and her child and new boyfriend, so they have come here for a holiday but very possibly to live! She had the most incredible short blonde hair and huge blue eyes, a look I had heard they were famous for.. a very beautiful lady.
In San Pedro I found it so much more overrun than I expected, but I didn't really research much... greeted at the docks byu more hasslers from hotels and Spanish schools than I could handle, within 100 metres I ended up telling a guy just to rack off, but once you get a little further than that the hassling stops! Its kinda of to be expected as the type of tourist I found there suits that kind of service... tonnes of westerners living up the cheap accomodation and cheap Spanish schools, living their days drunk and drugged up and having a hell of a party time! And its awesome for that, really
really good, and surprisingly cheaper than most of the mainland places so I can see the massive attraction to here! Heh its funny though to see people learning Spanish for 3 hours though then going to a totally English speaking bar and drinking and playing pool for the rest of the day.... not quite the most effective way to learn Spanish but whatever works for you. It'd make a good chilled party holiday anyway. After I wound my way through the "gringo trail" I found the house of the couple and got talking to them and they were awesome and relaxed and I got a bed to myself, much more comfortable than expected! I set out to explore the area, and did the same the following day, just walking and reading and relaxing, as I was actually feeling pretty sick unfortunately so was limited in what I could do. The front 3 blocks or so are all hostels, hotels, bars and Spanish schools, but behind that you reach the local homes and businesses built on the very steep hillside and life slows down and quietens a lot. Up the very top you get incredible views but be prepared to get
some good use out of your legs coz its freakin steep! There are also still a few places near the lake where you can get some relative peace and quiet, it just takes a little searching...
A couple of days later I hopped the lancha over to San Marcos, a village on the other facing side of the lake, and breathed a massive sigh (a happy one) upoen arriving - talk about tranquility! I literally arrived to the sound of windchimes, and only one kid asked me if I wanted to see a cheap good hotel. I asked for the name and it was the same one I was heading for so I let him lead me over to it and it turned out awesome - El Unicornio. Relaxed, full of plants and places to sit, with comfortable small dorms, it was perfect. Especially as I still wasn't feeling the best health wise! Slow paced, full of people meditating, a very yoga and natural medicine and massage based place, with no bars to be seen or Spanish schools. The town behind, the mayan area, is much smaller than San Pedro as you can only reach here by boat so
the people who come are a little more dedicated I think. The town seems quite well off though, with decent little streets and a good quality of living, most houses having sweeping views of the lake to boot! It's clean and has a happy feel to it. In the afternoon the waves lap up with a little bit of a head on them - I'm surprised by how good the fetch seems to be but I guess the lake is pretty damn big. My giant Che Guevera book and I got a lot of quality time here, split between that, wandering, talking to others at the hostel and swimming in the lake off a rocky point over to the right. The only downside comes from the church, the stupid freakin church. Blaring prayers and bad music one of the days I was there, it was impossible to avoid the sound everywhere which I found very forcefully disgusting and disruptive to normal life and there was no call for it... shits me up the wall really. Healthy dogs here, a good sign. Looking for dinner both nights there I ended up eating locally made bread and lovely fruit and ended up
full before I found a place to eat. I also had a few long interesting conversations with locals sitting around the place, usually starting with them trying to sell me things but that conversation stops in time and it turns into a real one if you wait long enouhg and show enough interest. I also unfortunately found a new street on the last day from the docks full of the stuff I dont want including idiotic people trying to push English on the local people, with cheesy products being sold everywhere.
Its good here but has reinforced in my mind that Utopia is where you make it. It can't be bought, moved into, read from a book or learned from conversation but instead comes from deliberate thought, consideration, construction and will. That is of course minus the human element. That shouldn't be too deliberate or constructed, and certain countries do seem to carry certain mentalities more than others so finding a country with a way of living that suits what you are after is a good start...
One night in San Marcos, the hotel had a really good crew of people including a guy from NZ I really
liked talking to, a 59 year old lifetime stoner who was a complete legend, and then a few others including a guy who played guitar and sang. Wel all went to a spot on the side of the lake near where you swim and just chilled and listened to this guy play guitar, chatting and relaxing, and the style of all the people was the same - not after what San Pedro offered and really after some true cheap localised backpacking travel. The 59 year old stoner was especially hilarious, but unfortunately had a run in with the cops on the last day as they ran a rather large drug bust on the island. Thankfully he had none on him at the time but they double searched him and his bag and were still going to arrest him until he let them have his rather expencive torch - so there went all my respect for the local authorities! THey checked us when we were around the campfire with the guitar but all ended well.
I was going to go to Panajachel for a day but fell in love too much with San Marcos so stayed a little longer than
planned but my visit had a deadline end as I wanted to see the Sunday market in Chichicastenango so thsts where I headed next.
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