Lake Atitlan and San Marcos El Lago

The shuttle arrived at our hostel around 8 a.m.-ish and we headed toward Panajochel at Lake Atitlan via a winding mountain road known as the Pan American Highway. We were going at a pretty good pace, but still the Chicken Busses zoomed past us, regardless of blind turns, single lanes and no guard rails. Eeek!

We came to some construction on the Highway so we had to wait about an hour and twenty minutes before we could continue on. The local Mayas capitalized on this and many of them were walking up the hill, past the cars, selling things -- necklaces, woven things such as tortilla warmers and table runners, fruits, wooden toys, etc. Yes, I bought some stuff. Who could resist?

We finally arrived in Panajochel a little after noon and we proceeded to catch a water taxi to San Marcos. The lake is huge and gorgeous -- there are many small towns cicling the lake and while there are steep, winding roads, the best way around is via water taxis. It took us about 40 minutes to get to San Marcos and we enjoyed the scenery on the way (we have pictures).

We were met at the dock by several young boys, all of them eager to help us find accomodations (they get paid commission and they ask for tips, too). There were no roads from the dock and we had to traipse through the jungle on dirt paths and the occaisional cobblestone way. Tiny wooden signs pointed directions for some places, but we were still lost.

Aacoluxx, which had been recommended to us by Erin, was full, as was the Pyramids. We went to another place that had the hardest beds in the world, so we went to one final place -- Posada del Boscada Encantada. It was absolutely lovely! We got a very big private room with comfortable beds and it even had a loft to accomodate more guests, had we been travelling with anyone else. The courtyard there was gorgeous, with banana plants, flowers, and coffee growing in profusion. We met the proprietress, Terry, who is a marvelous lady. She invited us to her tree house, which is an amazing structure (see photos) that was built by her friend in this huge tree, for home-grown coffee. The coffee was the best we'd had on our trip by far so we were very grateful. She is also a musician and she played some beautiful songs for us that she had written.

We had met a local San Marcosian at Burning Man, Shanti, and had put out the word that we would love to see him to say hello. But, first things first -- we had to eat. We were pointed towards the Blind Lemon Cafe. We were starving -- we'd only had a minimal snack for breakfast and it was already pushing 3 p.m. We ordered and waited. And waited. Oh, and waited some more. Just as we were about to pass out from hunger -- about a quarter after 4 p.m., my dish arrived. Rhonda and I tore into it -- it was really, really good lemon chicken. The best I've ever had. Finally, Rhonda's burritto arrived, and that was great, too. So, the food was fantastic, but.... an hour and a half for food? C'mon! Apparently, though, that is the status quo at this place.

We finally did run into Shanti at the Hotel Quetzal (which had a bar) and we had a great conversation, as our vocal cords were lubricated by lots and lots of really great Argentinian wine. We agreed that it was really great to get to know someone better that we'd met at Burning Man since it's hard to really connect sometimes when it's so crazy there.

So, that was day one in San Marcos... a lake-side paradise at which we were getting some much-needed relaxation.

Day 2:

We went to breakfast at Moonfish, which had been recommended by Shanti as a good place in the morning. It had a gorgeous view of the lake and the food was very good. There were several people there, all artsy types. The vibe was chill.

Okay, so, we ate. And then we asked ourselves.... "Now what?" San Marcos isn't exactly a hotbed of activity. We wondered where the heck all of the people were -- with several of the hotels full, wouldn't there be people around? We guessed perhaps taking classes? Medicinal Herbology, Accupressure, Kineseology, Yoga.... maybe? Hmmmm..... the place seemed mostly deserted. We walked around in search of a place to get massages and most of the places were deserted, too. It was like the rapture had happened and no one told us. Rhonda FINALLY found a place to get a massage -- A 2 hour Shiatzu massage for $37 (now we're talking).

Meanwhile, I went back to the hotel to relax and Shanti came to visit so we chatted -- he had contacted a woman that ran a center for Mayan women there where they could weave and then sew things to sell for fair trade fairs and she had said we could visit! Yeah!

When Rhonda got back, we walked along the lake and up a hill to the center. The woman, Sara, was from Italy and she was the administrator of this non-profit program (see links). We were able to observe some women weaving and she showed us the sewing room, too. We then had an opportunity to select from some of the crafts they had readied for a fair trade market that weekend -- we had first dibs! She told us a bit about the program and how it helps women become more self-reliant and that it builds self esteem.

After, we walked back towards the "gringo" part of town and went to dinner -- Blind Lemon again. Yes, the food was amazing, and yes, the wait was about the same. Sigh.

So, that was pretty much it for San Marcos, we got up the next morning, bought some home-grown coffee from Terry, and headed back on a water taxi to Panajochel.