Panajachel and Lake Atitlan

---

We were happy with our choice of taking an Uber from Guatemala City to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán. It was pretty speedy - a little too speedy at times - and got us to our hotel at check-in time with military precision! The Hotel Posada Gutierrez was a short walk out of town which we preferred as we had read that the bars could get quite lively. It was a bit expensive for what it was but we were generally satisfied with the place. Breakfast was good and there was always access to filtered water for our bottles.

Walking down Calle Santander can be a bit hectic. That's where the loud bars are, and believe me they are loud! There are also some great restaurants there, offering pretty good value for decent quality meals. The street leads all the way down to the edge of the lake and that's where we went to watch the amazing sunset. It wasn't as busy as we thought it was going to be which made sitting there watching the sky gradually fill with colour a very pleasant experience.

Panajachel isn't much to write about, to be honest. There are a few streets with some amazing murals and it's definitely worth wandering around to find them. We also stumbled across a shop specialising in the cans of spray paint that graffiti artists use to make their murals. The young lad in there reckoned they were the first such shop in Guatemala. Who knows, he could be telling the truth!

The main reason for any visit here is the lake itself. We set out to take a public ferry across to San Juan and San Pedro on the far side. We thought we had struck lucky as we sat on a boat with four other tourists, but time ticked by and they all walked away demanding their money back. We spoke to the staff and they took us down the road putting us on another boat. It was soon full and we were on our way. It wasn't the smoothest sailing, possibly because of the number of people on board, but it got us to the other side safe, sound, and relatively dry.

We got off at San Juan where there was a steep climb to the town. The cobbled lane is lined with tourist shops and restaurants while umbrellas above protect you from the strong sunshine. Look out for the occasional tuk tuk going up and down, and be sure to tip the musicians because they are excellent. We walked a lot around the town mostly admiring the murals. Some travellers we have met thought it was a tatty place and the murals were not up to much, but we felt completely different. We wandered for a long time and many, many photos were taken. There were murals of rural scenes, historical events, educational affairs and politics. There were also larger than life cut outs of what we presume were political candidates in the recent election. Eventually we hopped into a tuk tuk and made our way to the next town along the coast, San Pedro la Laguna.

San Pedro seemed more functional which surprised us as we had the impression that this was the party town and San Juan was the sleepy, hippie neighbour. Maybe we missed something. Again there were lots of impressive murals. The town market was bursting with fruit and vegetables too. We wandered down narrow lanes and eventually found a spot for a much needed coffee. As we got closer to the pier for the return boats, we found the restaurants and bars. It's probably pretty lively at night but on a sultry afternoon it was pretty peaceful. We ended up having lunch on a third floor terrace with spectacular views of the lake. Our return journey was a bit rough! The waves were hitting the fast moving boat from all angles and one soaked Russ and the lady in front of him. Everyone else seemed to get away with it - more or less!

There were several options for moving on to our next destination - Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela. The tourist shuttle minibuses were all leaving a bit too early for us, and for an extra $20 we were able to get a private transfer with the owner of our hotel. This proved to be very useful as I managed to leave my prescription verifocal sunglasses in his car. He did send them on, but it turned into quite a saga which you can read about here!

---

Comments

[RENanDREW]

Lake Atitlan
The first day we walked down to the lake from our hotel in Panajachel to see that the whole lake was covered in a thick fog, with not a volcano to the seen :( Thankfully the wind shifted the next day, and we had lovely views. You just reminded me of our rough boat crossing from the islands in the afternoon - hope your cameras and phones were safe :)

[rrruss]

Keeping our gear dry!
Yes, everything was packed away so no problems at all thankfully!!

[D MJ Binkley]

Guatamala
We haven't made it to Guatemala yet but hopefully soon. We'll use your blog as a roadmap. Thanks for taking us along.