Lazy Times on Lake Atitlan

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Day 774 (13.05.09)

With all the buses leaving in the early hours of the morning we had no choice but to have an early start. However a couple of hours later and we were climbing down from our 'Chicken Bus' (the nickname for the cheap local transport) in Panajachel on the shores of volcano-ringed Lake Atitlan.

Still pretty early we found an internet cafe for a little catch up before going down to the dock to find our boat across the lake to San Pedro La Laguna where we planned to settle in for a couple of days. Chatting to an American chap on the way over we got a recommendation for a hotel and when landed walked to the other side of town to find our pad the Hotel Peneleu which turned out to be really nice and an absolute bargain!

Now pushing past lunchtime we roamed the local restaurants and had a feast down by the dock side made by a lady who was eager to speak to the gringoes rather than cook lunch no matter how hungry they looked, lovely lady though.

Feeling the pace of our recent travelling we went back to the hotel and crashed out for the afternoon only waking in the early evening to have a quick read before fallling once again into a comatosed type sleep... wow, all in all we managed around 18 hours of sleep!

Day 775 (14.05.09)

With many other towns and villages dotted around the lake shore we were eager to roam further afield and see what they offered. Choosing one of the smaller places called San Marcos we hopped on a boat 'bus' which took us across the lake in no time. San Marcos is said to be situated on a place for 'good energy' and as you disembark on the jetty and start to walk up to the village, you are soon walking past the entrances to loads of Massage and Alternative Health spas. If we had more in our budget by this time in the trip there would have almost definitely been a diversion off to one of these but as we are nearing the end and looking after our remaining funds we reluctantly continued past up to the village centre.

The village itself was small. Lovely but small. We soon realised that the couple of hours we thought we'd be here was a bit of an over exaggeration having walked most (if not all) the streets and tiny alleys in about 20 mins. Enjoying watching local life we stopped off for an icecream and a coffee before jumping back on a boat home.

With the afternoon still ours to while away, we had a trip up to the market and bought some goodies to cook dinner managing to pull together an impressive tapas style dinner on our three ring camp burner at the outside kitchen in our hotel. Nice work!

Day 776 (15.05.09)

We started the day with another trip to the local market to pick up some bits and bobs for breakfast. One of the things we've loved most about our day to day life whilst travelling is being able to pop up the road and buy delicious, fresh, local produce at bargain prices. We're only just coming to terms with the fact that a mango's price will increase by about 20 times when we return home!

Our last day at the lake and we thought it not fitting to come here without venturing out onto the waters in a kayak to see some more of the farming and dramatic volcanic scenery along the lake side. Taking the kayak out for 2 hours (which is more than enough for untrained shoulders like ours) we followed the coast until we found a little secluded beach, before turning back homeward bound. The scenery was amazing and it was great to get the full tranquility of bobbing around on the lake.

With the morning all sewn up we went out for the evening to a great little restaurant on the lakes edge on the other side of town where we bumped into an Aussie couple we had shared a hostel with in Antigua a few days before and spent the evening chatting, eating and drinking. Our evening was topped off with a DVD the restaurant put on a big screen called Baraka in which the cinematography was amazing and kept us fully entertained.

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