The lake

Hello fellow readers – My ‘editor’ recently told me that I should write smaller chunks, more frequently. After some pondering, I decided that this was probably a good idea although it does means that I will have to stop procrastinating so much and push myself to write on a more regular basis. So here it goes. You can now expect more frequent updates (maybe once a week?) without having to read an essay. Gasps of relief from all…

So recently I made a weekend trip to Lake Atitlan. The lake is surrounded by amazing volcanoes (like almost everywhere in this country!) and provides you with mystical journeys in more than a few ways. I was lucky enough to stay with a couch surfer who had quite a few others crashing at his luxurious palace, situated in a town called Panajachel. Some of the beds in this palace were 4 x 4 meters, easily fitting four people comfortably. The place included a sauna, a tropical garden refuge and some squirrels that the cat liked to chase, creating loud bangs on the roof as if a person were breaking and entering. Thanks to the people staying at the palace I was able to learn about Guatemalan politics, spoken in Spanish which meant that I was able to understand about half of what was said – I say proudly. In summary, the situation in Guatemala is getting worse, with much distrust in the government but at the same time, with the possibility of opposing groups taking advantage of the situation.

We visited a few of the other towns also situated on the lake, one called Santiago which seemed to be quite touristy, especially in the initial few 100 meters after getting off from the boat. The other we visited was San Pedro which had an interesting café where we found most of the tourist population on a rainy Saturday afternoon. This café had cushions spread all across the floor with low to the floor tables and colourful lamps that hung from the ceiling creating a Turkish feeling to the place. The only thing missing were hookah to go with the smell of the grass floating around the place. All in all, a beautiful place to spend a weekend. I recommend it to all of you!