Guatemala in a Week: Flores to Antigua and Lake Atitlan

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We spent the day wondering how to get to Antigua. We wanted to be there by the end of the day, but it's all the way across the other side of the country. We were prepared to make the 10 hour overnight bus journey if it came down to the crunch, but I'd developed a nasty cold over night and was feeling pretty awful. We decided to go to the airport in Santa Elena and enquire about plane tickets and knew that they ranged from $60-80 and even up to $130. A local met started hassling us at the airport telling us tickets were $130 but he could get them for $110 if we came to his travel agency. When we went into the airport to enquire at the desk, he beat us there and started whispering to the ticket man who sheepishly told us tickets were $130. We immediately smelled a rat but decided to hitch a lift with this guy into Flores where there are many travel agencies. Again this guy ran into the neighbouring travel agencies before we could get to them and lo and behold, tickets were $130. The guy started to get angry when we told him we wanted to shop around. He even got some dodgy guy with tickets in his pocket to offer us one for $90. It was far too dodgy. Eventually we lost him and found a reputable travel agency called Martsam Travel who sold us tickets for $76. We were so angry at this guy for trying to rip us off - it's a good scam and I'm sure he's managed to rip off many travellers in this way.

After wandering around Flores and consuming two banana liquados in a row with paracetamol for my cold, we caught our plane to Guatemala City. It was one of those small propellor planes, but I was used to the fear by now. Calvin was told off by a sheepish flight attendant for drinking beer on the flight! What a yob! But why do they sell cans at the airport kiosk before you board?!

We were lucky to find a cheap taxi on arrival which took us and a British couple to Antigua for $10. It took us 90mins due to the traffic in Guatemala City but we got there in the end and ate a meal at Mono Loco where Calvin knew the American owner from Roatan years ago. We got chatting to some friendly Guatemalan guys before I headed back to the hotel to sleep off my cold.

It was an early start on the bus to Lake Atitlan - 3 hours away in the western highlands of Guatemala. Lake Atitlan had been my biggest excitement when planning my trip, and the biggest disappointment. From everything I'd read about it being one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, I was pretty deflated after seeing prettier lakes in New Zealand and Canada. Granted it is pretty spectacular with the surrounding volcanoes and rich Maya culture, but it was a very hazy day so I couldn't enjoy the full view. We'd met some Americans, Joe and Janet, on the bus and caught a lancha with them, which took us across the lake to the town of San Pedro La Laguna. It's a bit of a hippy town with cool bars and steep cobbled-stone streets that lead into the mountains. The population consists of an interesting mix of gringos and local Mayans in traditional dress who live amicably together. It's apparently the place to go to learn Spanish with so many Spanish schools dotted around the town. It was a cold day but I wanted to go swimming, so instead of braving the cold lake, we visited the thermal springs and spent the afternoon soaking under the sun. I tried to meet up with my friend Beth from the last time in Antigua but she had left San Pedro that day! Bad timing...

We spent the evening chilling out on pillows at a funky open-aired lakeside bar playing The Cure (of course I didn't want to leave), slurping banana daquiris.

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