Lake Atitlan

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Arrived to Panadol (Panachel) we followed Claudio, he went already different time to Lake Atitlan and he knows where the boats depart for San Marco la Laguna. He’s going as well. 25 Quetzals to go on the other side of the lake, we had to get used to the new currency. 11 Queztal are 1 Pound, more less. 35min boat ride on a calm water to arrive to a little wooden pier where at night the water it looked to us similar to cement screed. There were guys ready to offer us tuk tuk type of transportation, they call it taxi, we skip that and continue following Claudio, he said that his hostel it’s just near our one. Literally 5 mins later walking Claudio indicate with his index finger a wooden gate, that’s your hostel.



Daria, out of her mind, thinking to explore life outside her comfort zone, booked to stay an entire week at one the most popular Hostels of lake Atitlan, the yoga hippie famous hostel del Lago. Owned by the cousin of Carl (Lisa and Daria close friend), very recommended from the most hairy armpit yogis in London and across US, not even, also famous for the Tuesday hard core drum’s circle where they burn stinky armpits hairs as sacrifice to the gods and especially goddesses because feminism it’s very important in like Atitlan.



Daria didn’t book for the reason of getting close to these people but because she previously get in touch with Sarah the owner and accordingly organised a Thai massage workshop and teaching yoga there. The yoga platform was the best in the whole of Atitlan.



For me, I am fine to stay there, I am very familiar with this type of situation, I’ve been in hippie hostel, dormitories in different parts of the world, camped in hippie villages and so on, so Daria don’t needs to ask me if I am ok to stay in a private little house with en-suite bathroom in hippie Hostel, she knows that this could be even seen as luxury accommodation to my eyes.



I also brought with me from London a pair of very colourful African trousers that I did show off immediately to let my self be welcomed by the hippiest bunch residents at the hostel and I felt their envy.



Anyway it that wasn’t that cheap as per hippie pockets, nor was it very well maintained. Broken window, cucarachas and stinky toilet were all inclusive, no extra pay for that. To get into the mood properly we decide to don’t take showers for a couple of days, all worked fine. One of the dogs hunting around the hostel even left a nice poo on a bright orange pipe left outside our door as a welcome, such a gentle cute gesture that nobody removed or touched for the all the lengths of our permanency at the hostel, I was thinking it was sacred to the people there, but the last day was removed so I think definitely was our welcome and good luck temporary statue, a real gift of nature equilibrium, dark and not stinky.



During the day we had lots of things to do, no time to write the blog and chill on the platform on the lake, we explore a bit the surrounding little towns going by boat and coming back walking or opposite way around, but never tuk tuk, they were so badly stinking of fumes coming from their handmade exhaust pipes that we decide to boycott them and opted for more sustainable way of transports.



Kids instead love that smell, or at least look like they feel it as the smell of progress, I think they’ll enjoy an exhaust pipe coming out of their smart phone too, but there is not enough technology to invent such a thing so they are sitting on their tuk tuk waiting that progress will bring them the gasoline mobile phone. Aside from all the jokes, probably mobile phones will be more sustainable if using gasoline than continuing producing lithium batteries with a life span of just 2 years creating an engine mobile phone will be absolutelly a gain of the future, these guys will wait for it there, listening to reggeton and drinking Coca Cola (same price of water in Guatemala).



Another thing I notice in lake Atitlan and around Wuate (as they call Guatemala) is that having a dog is a symbol of wealth, but just a pedigree one, all the other bastards are literally treated like bastards. We went to have a late dinner (8:30pm) in one of the “restaurants” left open at that time and they had 3 dogs, one was a massive animal, named Perlita. Don’t remember what breed it was but was looking between a Rottweiler and a Boxer, very calm sad eyes. After a type of minestrone for Daria and Tacos and beer for me we went to speak with the owner of the dog, the same owner of the restaurant, he bought the dog as business, he paid 900pounds for it and his intention was to make many puppy from her and sell them. We thought wasn’t a good business in such a poor country but then we realised that really a lot of people have pedigree dogs in Guatemala and probably it was a good business. Anyway Perlita was cute and stinky so Daria liked her.



One day after the nice breakfast and a nice 100% chocolate cacao drink for Daria we went to San Juan a near little town where textile cooperative sell their manufacturing for reasonable prices, our intention wasn’t to buy anything but to go to a casa materna (place where women go to give birth) looking for a Comadrona (a kind of doula) for Daria to ask some tips on how to massage to pregnant ladies with a type towel that Daria had intentioned to buy but it looks like it’s cheaper from the internet than buying here at the source where they produce it. So with that in mind and for reasons of luggage space we decided to opt out the purchase, instead I mention to Daria that a good deal could be to buy a machete! And no need for weapon license here. Walking around Guatemala in general, we realise that everybody got a machete, from the young age of 8 or 9 years old, it‘s a cultural thing. Here nature is very powerful and plants and weeds grow so fast that it’s possible kids have to hack their way through the jungle to go to school and again when they come back home without mentioning all the other uses that could have living in a tropical environment. Anyway, in Tulse Hill also could be useful to have one, it’s s a jungle! But as per the Daria’s rebozo towel, we didn’t have space for souvenirs.



To arrive to the casa materna we got lost, so we asked for help to couple of little girls seated outside a house surrounded by chickens and dogs. Cutest kids ever, they brought us there through coffee bushes and avocado trees then very happily they left us there where a guy in a cool carhart grey uniform let us in and introduce us to the boss of the clinic, a 25 year old American speaking lady and she introduce to the local Comadrona, 1 foot 4, 80 kgs lady. Daria close to her was looking like a giraffe.



Food wise Wuate is similar to Mexico but less tasty and less spicy, I saw Habanero and piquin chillis but in restaurant their food is a bit greyer than in México and as spicy sauce they have a mix of vegetable oil, chilli powder and something else that has cosistency of sand, it’s s dark in colour and it works fine as it’s s very spicy but flavourless. Mexican salsas are definitely better, or even we can say are the best salsa ever. First evening we went to Vida a vegetarian focused restaurant, no bad, not that cheap neither, 2 things we appreciate, Daria really enjoyed a dark green soup made principally of Chipilin, a characteristic Guatemalan vegetable that could vaguely be reminiscent of spinach but definitely less good and much more bitter. Daria loved it and asked again in other restaurant, me, I can happily live without. The second thing, I enjoyed the black beans hummus, I believe was a normal hummus that have the chickpeas replaced with black beans, very good alternative.

Another thing I noticed, on the roads in the country side a lot of people sell huge courgettes, like overgrown zucchini, I think they are a type of pumpkin, I saw a lot of courgette plants around, once, walking along a sendero trail with Daria we found a ciruela tree, literally means plum, but they look different and the taste is totally tropical, I like them, Daria don’t. They have thick skin, orange yellow colour big pip and just a small amount of tropical fruit flesh but bitter and a bit grainy similar to a maracuia. It’s the season for ciruela plums so I picked a couple of hand fulls and put them in my pockets. Below the tree I noticed a courgette plant flower, big yellow courgette flowers, I immediately thought of the Roman deep fried courgette flowers (so yummie) then I realises there was a big courgette hidden below the leaves, was one of the big zucchini that people sell on the roads. I didn’t nt pick it up though.



Because the food isn’t as tasty as in Mexico, we weren’t so excited about going out to eat so we kept on having the huge breakfast in the morning (hostel inclusive) and going for dinner early keeping our self quite healthy. I had for a week the same breakfast, scrambled eggs, black beans, avocado and 3 hand made tortillas. In Guatemala tortillas are more or less always hand made and they call it tortillas in 3 tiempos, I don’t know why. They are doubly thick compared to the Mexican ones but smaller and impossible to fold (it breaks), the taste is very similar, they are probably even cheaper, and they give them to you boiling hot. We liked them.

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Photos

Drums ceremony
Daria was asking why the fire was so blue, i think the armpit and legs hair made a reaction creating different shades of colours.

The mega rounded totem
We didnt know what it was, just a gigantic rounded psychedelic drawing in front of the church, was made for same kind of religious festivitie maybe dedicated to saint Hendricks ;)

Tortillas 3 tiempos
We got inside this little tortilleria to buy a pack of 10, hand made super hot tortillas in a plastic bag. 3.5 Quetzales.

View from the road from San Pedro to San Juan
The road was dusty, the sun was strong and non stop cars, trucks and tuc tuc spitting smelly fumes and making cloud of dust. Not a healthy walking.