Lago de Atitlan

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Originally, we were thinking of going to Antiqua but heard it was full of tourists. Hoping to bypass the tourist scene, we opted to skip Antigua for Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. Bad move ... there are TONS of tourist here. If you want the market scene, this is the place. Blocks and blocks and blocks of street vendors and street urchins trying to sell you stuff. And, they all are selling the same things. I´m not sure how anyone makes any money here. You don´t even need to negotiate. All you have to do is say ´no thanks´and immediately they start dropping the price. I had one little girl who started at 30 quetzels (around $3.50) for a little purse and within a minute (and several "no gracias mi preciosa's" it was down to 1 Quetzal! I still didn´t buy it.

On the bright side, the lake is spectacular. We stayed at Posada de los Volcanes at the recommendation of our hosts at Guatefriend's. Nice and convenient right on the main market street and not far from the lake. The first thing we did after getting settled in our room was head to the lake, pick from one of the many bars and restaraunts situated along the lake and order Cuba Libres (doubles), plantanos and frijoles with creme. No hay nada mejor que esto (a phrase Susan taught me from our last trip to Honduras meaning 'it doesn´t get better than this')!

We were going to head to San Pedro la Laguna to hike to volcano, but have since decided to go to San Marcos la Laguna, supposidly a meditation retreat with yoga and massages. We are hoping there will be few tourists, vendors, and roosters.

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