I Got Body Slammed By A Mountain

---

After Xela (Quetzaltenango) we traveled to San Pedro La Laguna, a small town by Lago Atitlan. The place had a good vibe. It was very chill and hip. There were quite a few travelers here, but it didn't feel touristy. There's an area where it feels like you're going through a maze. Businesses and restaurants are located through these narrow alleys. Kind of cool. Local people here were very friendly. I felt comfortable hanging out in this town.

Homer and I decided to hike a nearby mountain called La Nariz del Indio (The Indian's Nose). To reach the summit it takes an estimated time of 3 hours. We made it in about 2 1/2.....exhausted. The hike is a challenging winding uphill climb. The summit is over 6,500 feet above sea level. The view was AWESOME! On our way down I was munching on some "chicharrones" (pork rinds) leading the hike through the dirt trails. All of a sudden I took a step and the trail broke loose! I hit the ground HARD....literally getting body slammed! Half my body was hanging off the edge of the trail. My sunglasses fell off my face and my bag of pork rinds were damaged beyond recognition. Homer was behind me and had to help me up. I couldn't get my balance to grip something in order to get up. I hit my left knee pretty hard too. I was in pain for a few days. It was sort of funny. When we made it back to the hotel, I noticed my bank cards were missing from my pocket. SHIT! Yup, the impact must have popped them out of my pocket. The next day we took a shortcut and climbed the mountain again to see if we could find them. No luck. Luckily I had some U.S. Dollars and my friend Homer to spot me some dough.

The next day we crossed the lake by boat to a town called Panajachel. We didn't really dig this town. TOO MANY TOURISTS. What was cool about this town is that there is tons of local merchandise to buy. The Mayan colors and designs are really cool. There wasn't much to do in this town either, but shop. We just stayed one night here and decided to head over to Antigua.

More later.

---

Photos

Lago Atitlan
The summit of Nariz del Indio with a view of the lake.

Lago Atitlan
The towns of San Pedro and San Juan.

Nariz del Indio
You can see the image of a face in the background if you rotate the photo to the right.

Nariz del Indio
Wow. Mexicans CAN fly.

Nariz del Indio
At the summit, we ran into some Canadian chicks we met in Mexico.

Broken Trail
This is where the mountain body slammed my ass.

Lago Atitlan
Pair of volcanos.

Panajachel
His name was Paco and he woke us up with his yappin'.

Panajachel
Cute Mayan girl hustling Homer.

Lago Atitlan
Local fishermen.