Lake Atitlan

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The group took a 12 hour bus ride to Lake Atitlan on 12th day of our Guatemala Encompassed tour - rumour has it there was a 5 hour bus route but that this road is patrolled by hijackers.

Lake Atitlan (or Lago de Atitlan in Spanish) is Guatemala’s number one tourist attraction due to its scenic excesses - a bevy of towering volcanoes, rolling hills and small traditional Mayan lakeside villages surround this lake which appears blue through grey to green depending on the position of the sun. The lake is itself a collapsed volcano that at its deepest point is 320m deep and with no visible outlet it discharges its contents to the Pacific via a vast network of underground caverns. We arrived a little behind schedule at about 6pm. This meant that our boat ride to our spectacularly located hotel, La Casa del Mundo was plagued by the Xocomil (wind that blows away sin) that makes a staring appearance over the usually calm lake in the afternoon - it was a bumpy ride.

Having slept off the punishing 12 hour bus ride we stepped out of our hotel. There was a busy day of activities ahead. Our first stop was of a relaxing and almost therapeutic nature - a little swim in a hot water region of the lake - however this was a short lived experience and we were soon zooming across the lake which was riddled with floating volcanic rocks. We headed to the village of Santiago Atitlan. This is the largest and most important of the lakeside villages - famed for its traditional nature (this is one of the few places in the country where Mayan men still wear traditional dress) and it is the main centre of the Tz’utujil speaking Maya. These were not our reasons for visiting though. During the day the main street becomes a huge artisan market and bargains a plenty can be and indeed were found.

My favourite part of this trip though was a visit to a local house where an effigy of the liquor swilling, cigar smoking evil saint Maximón resided. We entered the house mid ceremony. The owner of the house had apparently lost loved one - I think it was his wife because he was praying to the effigy for a new spouse - and the ceremony went on for about 10-15 minutes, concluding with the man offering money, a new cigar and alcohol to the ever thirsty wooden model. The man then had a drink of something which apparently would make him hallucinate (apparently Maximon himself would appear before him with and reveal the outcome of his prayers) and the man fell about crying - he was hysterical. Altogether this was a very bizarre experience, made even weirder by the fact that I was charged for the privilege of photographing the wooden model at the ceremony’s conclusion. Call me a sceptic but I think the whole thing is rouse designed to earn money from suckers for photos of weird stuff like me. Coincidently no-one knows the origin of this evil saint which adds fuel to my argument.

I was soon back on the boat and crossing the water towards San Pedro - hippy central in these parts. Foreigners flock here to soak up the bohemian atmosphere, and the bong smoking locals were clearly in evidence out on the roads selling all sorts of hemp products and wares sporting marijuana logos a plenty. Having already visited this town a few weeks earlier I used this opportunity to chill out and I soon found myself sat on a cushion sipping on a cool beer in a bar called “Freedom”. Later I would return to the hotel for a dip in the hot tub. The tour had taken on a decidedly relaxed feel and the inevitable feeling of a journeys end - there were 3 days left.

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Photos

Lago de Atitlan
Surrounded by Volcanoes

My hotel on a cliff
The Casa Del Mundo

Maximon!
Evil Saint and Messager of tribal prayers, or a stunt put on for the tourists?

Plenty of religious hippies in San Pedro!
The murial translates as "Jesus is the Man"

Two young girls from a village around the lake selling their wares
They refused to smile, but were more than willing charge me for this photo.

Comments

[Charlie]

Good Afternoon Sir
Afternoon Lawrence (at least it's afternoon here), I've finally got round to posting a comment on this detailed Blog site; shortly before you're heading home no-doubt. Glad to see you've been keeping busy and seeing the sites. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos. (I've 3 of our NYC one's on the wall). I would like to wish you good luck for your final leg Mr Palin, and I'll see you in September.