Panajachel and Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

[kerouac2]

Minibuses from other places in Guatemala unload their tourists at the far end of Calle Santander. Just about everybody is staying on that street, since that's where nearly all of the hotels are. Depending on what time they arrive, most people will spend at least one night in Panajachel even if their destination is one of the other villages around the lake.

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Calle Santander looks just like Southeast Asia or some of the Indian towns in terms of being the "backpacker tourist street."

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It's all hotels, bars, restaurants, travel agencies and tourist boutiques.  A zillion tuktuks zipping up the street, which is mercifully one way.

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The wiring is just like in those other parts of the world, too.

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I don't really care if it's a tourist ghetto.  I find everything along the street fascinating.

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Our hotel was just across from the luxury hotel of the town.  It's the only place I saw old people except for me.

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The street narrowed and was banned to traffic as we neared the lake.

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It was getting late in the afternoon and the weather was not ideal, but the scene was still impressive.

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[mossie]

Thanks for showing us this weird and wonderful country, and thanks for trusting your life to some other drivers in a place I would run a mile from.

[kerouac2]

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Adventurous travellers who have always dreamed of driving a tuktuk can do so here.

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That evening, sitting on the terrace of a bad restaurant, we wished we had eaten here instead.

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Or even here.

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[kerouac2]

I got up early the next morning hoping that it would be sunny with crystal clear air. I was a bit disappointed, but the view was magnificent anyway.

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A few rays of sun managed to peek through the clouds anyway.

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None of these volcanoes has erupted since the 19th century. But there are a number of active ones elsewhere in the country.

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Here are a couple of tourists from the fancy hotel.

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A few locals were out and about.

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[kerouac2]

After admiring the lake and knowing that breakfast was still at least an hour in the future, I wandered back up Calle Santander.

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I always want to know where you can go from a place like this.

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The Jehovah's Witnesses are well implanted.

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No matter where you go, you are never far from Paris.

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[kerouac2]

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People from Brittany will feel at home here. ("Little Brittany")

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Observe the size of these women compared to the door frames.

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back to the hotel for breakfast...

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I really liked this place. "Posada de los Volcanes"

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After breakfast, it was back to the lake.

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Having received an invitation for lunch elsewhere on the lake, it was time to make our way to the ferry dock.

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[bjd]

I wonder if Posada de los Volcanes is going to be changing name temporarily.

[bixaorellana]

I have been admiring this thread without commenting so far, but want to say how knocked out I am by the photographs. After saying and showing that it's a backpacker mecca, you sensitively show the real people who live there going about their business. The lake views are outstanding, and the various shots of women as they hurry to work or wherever are immediate and beautifully composed. Looking forward to more & of course am off to find volcano news updates.

[kerouac2]

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I guess some people wanted/needed this sort of building. There are no others that I know of.

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first stop

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[kerouac2]

lake creature

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This small villa was our destination.

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The easiest path turned out not to be the correct one. This one went to a hotel.

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magnificent view from the terrace

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excellent terrace as well

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Here is a tiny bit of the inside of the house.

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The view continued to mesmerize me.

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Other people went about their business.

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time to leave the house to hike to the next village for lunch

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[mossie]

Those boats made of rough planks and roughly knocked together are frightening.

[bixaorellana]

Love the video. Guess you know you've provoked lots of envy by showing the villa & its views. Wow.

[kerouac2]

We had to climb up to the road to walk to San Marcos.

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San Marcos was a pleasant little town.

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The restaurant where we had lunch had its own little not-very-reassuring pier. We used the official village dock to get a boat back to Panajachel.

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[kerouac2]

We passed the bungalow again on the way back. There are actually 3 bungalows here built by the same (French) expat. They are all available for rent.

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The next morning, we had to return to the real world.

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This is the compound where my friend lives. All quite solid although there was an earthquake crack on my bedroom wall.

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the view from my bedroom window.

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And that's about all I have to report of this short and even more truncated little excursion to Guatemala...

[mossie]

Beautiful colour in those flowers

[bixaorellana]

The views of the misty mountains and the expanse of lake are wonderful. The area must have somewhat of a Shangri-La feel about it.

I imagine that your stay was short enough and got complicated enough that you were glad to get home. At the same time, from what you've shown us, Guatemala and its enduring culture seems very much worth visiting. I'm glad you got out of there before the eruption. Would you go back for a longer stay?

[lugg]

Im just reading through your various threads on Guatemala and finding them all fascinating. Your photos as ever are fab, especially the moody lake shots.

[kerouac2]

Thanks. The lake was indeed not completely happy, but I liked it anyway.

[nycgirl]

What a beautiful place. I love the quaint little villas, the scenes of local life, and the serene views from the terrace. My daughter would have love that tuk tuk amusement park ride. She's at that age when even the dinkiest little ride thrills her.

I agree that those rough-hewn wodden do not look very confidence-boosting.