Spanish school ended on Friday and with the weekend staring us in the face, we decided to hop to another part of Lake Atitlan. Saturday we took a 10 minute boat to San Marcos (population 3,000). San Marcos is known as the prettiest of the lake-side villages with a lush tropical, botanical feel. It´s also known for its yoga retreats and general hippie atmosphere. Disembarking at the dock, which was partially underwater from all the rain, we were met by a young boy who took it upon himself to show us the way into town and to the hotel we were headed to. He spoke broken English, quite similar in excellence to our Spanish, and he was very sweet. He took us the backway through the village, walking on dirt paths, through forested areas and ferns the size of large children. We eventually arrived at Paco Real, and found a room. The boy left happily with a few Quetzales in his pocket and we collapsed on our beds.
Sunday we had a lovely lazy breakfast at Fe, owned by an Englishman with a penchant for chain smoking and leather loafers. The food is pricey by Guatemalan standards ($4.50 - 7.00 for an entree) but was fresh and delicious. Helen and I enjoyed the rainforest atmosphere, sitting outside with our tea, and then we took a boat back to San Pedro, hoping to find the ATM before our day trip to Santiago and the market. Unfortunately, the two ATM´s in San Pedro were empty, so we decided to take a leap of faith and head to Santiago anyway, hoping for the best. Running down the pier to catch the boat that was drifting out of the dock, it felt like a scene out of the movie. The locals on board were yelling at us to hurry and waving their hats and laughing...we made it, landing on a bag of avocados! We sat on the roof of the boat and watched village life go by on the hour ride.
Sanitago was beautiful! The market held every kind of Guatemalan treasure one could possibly desire, from handmade clothing to beaded jewelry, fabrics, and elehphants made from precious stone. We were stymied once again with an empty ATM, so we perused the markets with our eyes only. (Turns out the ATM´s are only filled once a day at 4pm and not on the weekends, so by Sunday afternoon, they´re apparently empty). We had enough currency for vegetarian tacos, filling our empty tummies and then hopped back on the boat to return to San Pedro. Thankfully, The Buddha Bar, one of our favorite San Pedro hangouts was willing to change American currency for Quetzales so we could get back to San Marcos and our hotel, and be able to have dinner. Our adventures weren´t over yet, however, because as we got to the dock we were informed we´d missed the last boat, so we had to pay for a private trip to San Marcos. Granted it was only $7 per person for the trip, but that was highway robbery by Guatemalan standards. Ah well, I was happy to think of the nice supplement we´d provided to the boatman´s daily wages.
Once back in San Marcos, Helen and I returned to Fe for dinner and started the feast with a huge bowl of guacamole! We got back to Paco Real around 6:45pm to find the outside gate already locked and no one around. Cue Helen climbing over the gate in Indiana Jones style and thankfully running into another couple who had a key to the gate so it could be unlocked before I had to launch myself over it. We collapsed into our beds in fits of laughter over the ridiculously hilarious day of adventures we´d had.
It´s Monday, early noon here, and after a lovely breakfast of strawberry pancakes with honey, we have come back to San Pedro. We´ll be picking up our luggage in a bit, having some tacos for lunch, and then hopping a boat to Panachel at 3pm. How we´re going to get all of our things down the steep rocky path and hoisted onto the small boat, I have no idea. Once in Panachel, we board a mini-bus for the 5 hour drive to Guatemala City, arriving around 8 or 9pm. There we board a large coach bus which will take us, through the night, to Flores, Guatemala, which is by Tikal and the boarder of Belize. We should arrive around 6 or 7am tomorrow morning. Then it´s finding another bus to cross over into Belize and on to San Ignacio and Cornerstone Foundation. Quite the ride we have ahead!!
I´ve enjoyed Guatemala so immensely, I´m a bit hesistant to leave. But I know I can find my way back here again...as I´m sure I will. Time to get the gear ready for the next phase of this adventure!
¡Adios!
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