Blogs from Lago de Atitlán, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 8

2 nights in Panajachel. Boat ride across Lago de Atitlan to vist the small village of San Pedro.... read more

I've been doing a little too much travel these past months to have much patience for tourist traps. Although the Guatemalan people here are as usual cheerful and happy, the place is just like so many tourist villages. The Lake, Atitlan, is however right there in front of me. And it is easy to travel by boat across this volcano-ringed gem to another, quieter place. This I'm going to do right now. If I would not have arrived here right at dark yesterday, I would have left it for Santiago Atitlan, or Santa Cruz, or Jaibalito almost right away. It's cheap enough though, and at least the people are nice.... read more

Post cards The last day we shopped for more gifts and sent post cards. We loved eating outside by the street but the vendors can be annoying, coming up to, putting bracelets on your wrist, draping scarves on your arms and neck, placing trinkets on the table. One very old lady pushing pot holders that look like chickens placed them on our table. By that time we had been trained to ignore them because saying “No thank you, please” is interpreted as being in conversation. Only when we got up to leave did we notice that she had left one. My mother loves it. Mo's postcards were sent to seven different countries. The number upped to nine a couple days later when, out of jealousy, I stopped counting. I felt so parochial, sending mine as far ... read more

The return to San Pedro brought back a lot of funny memories of Xmas and New Year shenannigans. Though this time the party never even got started as Mhairi and I planned to dive the next morning so late night boozing was a no no. I hadn't been diving since Malaysia in 2007 so they reccommended a refresher session, which I was very thankful of as soon as I got under water and the fear began to rise. I remembered most of my skills but became a bit paranoid about bouyancy and not being able to wait for the safety stop, diving at this altitude to 15m is like going to 26m at sea level. The safety stop is crucial at this pressure otherwise you will get the bends (nasty nitrogen bubbles in your blood that ... read more

After a rather uneventful traverse of Guatemala City I found my way to the Interamericana highway and made my way higher and higher into the highland volcano country. The ride was spectacular and punctuated only by a couple stops to warm my hands and snap photos and one stop in a small town where the road had been closed by a indigenous rights demonstration. I pulled to the front of the line of traffic and asked a couple of police officers what was going on. One told me I'd have to wait but just then his partner noticed another motorcycle squeezing past on the far edge. The slapped me on the back GO! Go! As I inched closer to the edge a friendly young man with a strong Mayan nose came over to pull back the ... read more