Two Perspectives: Lake Atitlán

Written by Bessie and Kyle about Guatemala. Feelin' normal
Bessie_thumb
Post studying in Xela, Kyle and I were both in need of some R&R.  Pollution and climate change left us both with a bad cold and Kyle with some blisters to heal.  Our remedy?

Atitlan Panorama 2
Lago Atitlán, picture taken from San Marcos
(with Kyle´s super panoramic picture taking skills)

Lake Atitlán was described by Aldous Huxley as the most beautiful lake on earth, and well, it´s got to be pretty darn near close.  It´s surrounded by about 15 small communities, and the best way to visit them is by boat.  Costs about $2.50 for the hour ride across the lake, and it´s beautiful.  It´s common to see fisherman out early in the morning.

My heaven includes staying in this small yoga-centered community, San Marcos La Laguna, that is said to have some super magnetic powers probably based on it´s location in relation to mountains.  Hippies from the world over flock here for everything from yoga to palm reading classes.  Dreadlocks and linen pants abound.

We began our stay at The Quetzal Hotel, a $10/ night room for 2 with a shared bath.  Yep.  $5/ person, incredibly clean, hot water.  Want pics?

Lago Atitlan - San Marcos, El Quetzal Hotel   Our room at the Hotel Quetzal   Bathroom of Hotel Quetzal


We decided to more deeply embrace relaxation in hippie town, and moved to a eco-hotel set in a thick garden that has a yoga padoga, vegetarian restaurant, and sauna. I've been finding inner peace at La Paz. Everything about it's been healthy. Veggies, fresh squeezed oj, lots of reading, and I've taken two 2+ hour early morning yoga classes. Love it. Each class is under $4, and hardcore.

 

Atitlan 45   Atitlan 43   Our loft bed at La Paz


Left to Right: yoga "pagoda"; my fresh oj, fruit, granola, and yogurt w/ a shot of honey; loft with our bed complete with palm leaf roof.

It's $30/ night for a 2 room private entry little house, private bath, and hot shower. We've even spotted some wildlife: a cat that claims this is more his than ours and this crazy rat thing the size and shape of an anteater. They both climb onto the roof of the bathroom just outside our window in the middle of the night to check on us. They've freaked us out quite a bit the first night. Now they're our "pets" we scare off.

I'm really enjoying San Marcos. The hippies make it unlikely that I could ever live here; I don't fit in with the linen everything dreadlocks crowd, but boy am I digging the yoga, all veggie dinners, fresh oj, and beautiful scenery.

 

Last but not least, a perk of being here is that it's an hour boat ride to a severly over-accomodating tourist town, Panajachel. Perks your wondering? I've gotten my fill of amazing Guatemalan textiles. I'm addicted to these brightly colored woven hand-made creations. I could easily spends lots of money taking dozens of these blankets, scarves, bags, anything to fill a future house with, but alas, Kyle would kill me, and it would kill our budget, and Kyle would kill me again. My consolation prize is taking lots of pictures, and in a tourist filled town, the booth watchers are busy or don't mind me taking pictures. Sweet!

 

Here's my Guatemalan eye candy:

Mayan Woven Goods at a Market in Panajachel   Mayan Woven Goods at a Market in Panajachel   An aweful looking kids outfit

Left to Right: a blanket; woven booties & purses; a crazy outfit I imagine my nephew Russell wearing - and laughing...

Two Perspectives: Lake Atitlán

Written by Bessie and Kyle about Guatemala. Feelin' normal
Kyle_thumb
It's quite a different experience coming from Xela, where the locals outnumbered the tourists and where we were living with a Guatemala family, to a full-blown tourist center (at least by Guatemalan standards).  In fact, people tend to call the main town, Panajachel, "Gringostenango" (land of gringos).  With that said, there is certainly a reason why many tourists come here and I don't blame them; the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.

This is not a painting of Atitlan. It is the real thing


The Good

Nature, nature, nature.  While there is a lack of interesting animals, except for this weird rat creature that liked to sniff around on our roof (kind of like an ROUS from the Princess Bride), the surroundings couldn't be better.  Atitlan is surrounded by rugged hills and by 3 volcanos on the south side.  Since we spent nearly all of our time on the north side of the lake, we had a great view of the volcanoes towering over the lake, provided the clouds and fog had not rolled in yet.  If it was before the public "ferries" started in full force, typically the only thing making waves would be a local fisherman in a dug-out canoe.  Idyllic, indeed.

For the last 3 days of our stay in San Marcos, we stayed in one of the most unique places that I have slept in, La Paz.  Like the name implies, it is incredibly peaceful and is the complete opposite of the smog and hustle of Xela.  The owner joked that the fresh air is included with the room, which makes me think it must be a commodity in Guatemala.  We had our own private bath (first time on this trip) and for the most part, our own little slice of privacy (except for a cat that always wanted in):

Move Cat!

Check out some pictures of our place:
 
A view of our room at La PazA view of our room at La PazOur private walkway to our room at La Paz

The Bad

I can't really blame this on Atitlan (or can I?), but my feet have started some sort of rebellion against me and decided to bleed, crack, and do all kinds of things they usually don't do.  I'm guessing its probably from the combination of waterpark, volcano hike, and hot springs all within a 2 day period back in Xela.  I haven't been really able to walk with much conviction the past week and have gone through the majority of our band-aids.  Such is the pain I endure to bring you these stories :)

Fortunately, San Marcos is small and I haven't had to walk much, except to get my book to read.

The Ugly

There are some truly strange and pretentious hippie types here.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty liberal person and I understand the organic/vegetarian/yoga lifestyle, but there are a lot of people who have left the realm of reality and moved into something else.  It's hard for me to describe a lot of them because for the most part I have only seen people like this here and in Thailand and I can't think of anything comparable back in the US.  Some examples of what I am talking about:

1.  Tourists selling beaded necklaces that they had made on the street.  Really?  Can we have tourist money at least go to a local business instead?
2.  A guy in an internet cafe that bowed to the people he was talking to (calling them brother or sister) talking about his recent experience in Burma which was "incredible".  I wonder if he knows that the money from his visa and accommodations supports the military junta that oppresses the monks he was so keen to see?
3.  Some yoga students in a hurry to get to a meditation session across the lake, unwilling to wait a couple minutes for anything.  Seems contradictory to the whole meditation thing to be in a hurry, but what do I know?  

Essentially the thing that bothered me was not that they did spiritual things, but there seemed to be a lot of holier-than-thou attitude OR a let-me-prove-to-you-how-spiritual-I-am attitude.  It's understandable when you are in your teens but some of these people are older than me.  It wore on me pretty quickly.


Overall, Atitlan was the perfect place for me to rest and recuperate before making a mad dash up the west coast of Mexico towards Puerto Vallarta.  I hope the nature of the lake stays the same so that I can visit it many years later.      

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