Lake Atitlan

The road from Antigua to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan was supposed to be pretty straightforward, and it really did start out that way. We went through Chimaltenango on the way and looked very carefully for the hospital Bob Basta, a friend and neighbor, helped to build right after the huge earthquake buried the city in 1969. The city was already sprawling and although we didnt see the hospital, one of the other passengers told us that she had volunteered there and it was thriving! But fairly soon after we left the city behind, we took a shortcut through the mountains on a road that resembled a Forest Service road. It was the road of 1000 curves (ok, maybe just 500) but got us to our destination in record time.
We pulled into the town of Pana and drove down the market street, where on both sides of us people were out in droves with their wares. After finding our hotel and washing up, we set out to see the town. It is a picturesque little village on the edge of a huge lake which was formed when what must have been a monstrous volcano erupted. We ate at the Sunset Cafe and, indeed, enjoyed very much the beautiful sunset with strands of white clouds backed by red which appeared at the edges. Its a good thing we did because it has been the only sunset visible during our stay. Every other afternoon, the clouds have rolled in.
Our second day here we awoke to beautiful bird sounds and a sunrise that started at the top of the 3 volcanoes that surround the lake and worked its way down. We took an early boat to another village on the lake with Lucas, the captain, who docked and waited 3 hours for us to return. We had a wonderful breakfast on the terrace of the Bambu Hotel among flowers and hummingbirds, but its always a bit of a reality check when the people at the next table have 2 armed guards with them. In fact, we have seen plenty of sawed off shotguns which have become almost commonplace, although they unnerved us at first. Most of them are tourist police, hopefully to protect visitors, or at the entrance to banks or fancy hotels. We had a quick tour of the village of Santiago de Atitlan in a tuktuk, basically a motorcycle with an enclosed cab. Fortuately, everybody goes pretty slowly and has an amazing ability to avoid collisions with pedestrians as well as other vehicles. The Guatemalans are pretty skilled drivers.
The next day we took another boat, this one a public boat that was less expensive, and visited another village across the lake. Our bench partner was from Buenos Aires, so we had to talk about that city and our travels to Mendoza and Bariloche last year. He has an antique shop in the old town center which we will find on our trip to Argentina some day. This little town San Pedro is known for its hippies and weed smokers, but we stayed clear of any of that! It was a very pleasant place, however, and we enjoyed just strolling around and having lunch. On the way back to Pana we were deluged with spray from the waves which often come up in the afternoon. We knew that, but we were too busy downing our second glass of fresh orange juice to notice. The boat stayed close to shore though because it called at every little dock for passengers to Pana. We enjoyed just bumping along, seeing some beautiful homes built alongside the lake and above it on outcroppings of the hillsides. It reminded us of Lake Chelan, although the water did not have the beautiful blue color.
Today we went to the famous market at Chichicastenango which is supposed to be the biggest in Central America. It was interesting and fun to walk around and see the strange fruits and vegs and to admire the handiwork and textiles that surrounded us. So many colors!
Tomorrow were off to San Cristobal, Mexico where well stay for 4 days. It has a good market, too, weve heard so Terry will have to be patient for a little longer.
Youll notice I havent used any apostrophes, and thats because I cant find the key!