Lake Atitlan...


Unique and Beautiful

I think it was Huxley who called this the most beautiful lake in the world. Thousands of years ago it was a volcano. Massive eruption was followed by the remains of the mountain collapsing, leaving a huge caldera. It eventually collected water. The lake level varies...in part by rain...and in part by the fact that it is the source of springs on the Pacific slope. Earthquakes open or close the fissures that feed the springs. You arrive above the lake at Solola which is built on the rim of the ancient cladera. It's a short ride down to Panajachel. Couple of quetz by local bus. Worth doing this short run by taxi to stop along the way at a couple of viewpoints for photos. Also a cool waterfall. At the bottom you are in Pana. Stay there or grab a launch for other villages on the lake.

Panajachel

Like it or not...and I love the place...you will begin your visit in Pana. The main street is Calle Santander. This and Ave. Los Arboles have 90% of all the stuff you are interested in. You will come into town from Solola on Calle Principal/Calle Real (has two names). Depending on which transport you take you will probably be 1/2 to 3 blocks from Santander. When you get off your bus or whatever just keep going in the same direction to Santander and take a right. Ignore the hotel touts...just runs up the rates and some of them are downright nasty. Santander runs down to the lake.

If you are moving on through to go to another village just keep going until you get to the lake then turn left....you will see the larger boats...public launches. Touts for private launches will approach you ...ignore what they tell you about no public launches. As long as it isn't past about 5pm there will be boats.

Now for those who stay in Pana...Santander has lots of hotels, restaurants, shops and travel agencies. Also some hotels on side streets. There is a street parralleling Santander with hotels that attracts a mainly Guate crowd. My favorite hotel is Mario's Rooms. It's about halfway down on the left. Low prices and very clean. It has a restaurant in front...nothing fancy but good for breakfast. Hotel is nice and secure. Family run.

Pana is the shopping capital of Guatemala. Just about any handicraft made in the country is sold here...at some of the lowest prices. I go across the lake to Santiago Atitlan and San Pedro for paintings..Santiago for the wood carvings...Chichi for masks..but everything else you are best getting here. Scads of stalls. Allow yourself some time just to see what is available before starting to bargain. Pana is the beaded bracelet capital of Guatemala.

Pana has some great restaurants...amongst my favorites in Guat. La Chinita...run by a Malaysian woman and her New York husband the food is both tasty and very healthy. Asian influence at lunch and dinner. Breakfast...blue corn pancakes is all you need to know. For massive piles of meat eat at Guajimbos on Santander. Uruguay grill joint. They even have a couple of vegetarian items. But if you have the misfortune to be traveling with one of those lesser forms of life this will be an excellent opportunity to literally rub their face in a huge platter of meat. If they are in season at some point have a pitaya liquado. It's a cactus fruit.

Walking along Santander and Los Arboles at night will take you by all the night life places. Circus has some live music...others may on weekends. Check out the Mexican place at the lake end of Santander. Late at night look for the women who set up some tables on Santander...selling pies..especially strawberry. Taco and fried chicken carts are also plentiful....the secret to Latin American cooking...never change the grease.

Weekends Pana jumps with crowds of Guates from the capital. There is also a select group of El Salvadorian coffe barons/drug lords who frequent discos. You will spot them by the Suburbans with totally tinted windows and body guards carrying Mac 10s under their jackets.

Pana is the best place to visit the market day in Chichi. I no longer spend the night in Chichi. Instead I book a seat on one of the day shuttles from Pana. Lots of agencies do the run. Gives you all the time you need at the market. Also gets you out of town on Sunday while it is crowded. By the time you return the Guates have left.

Santiago Atitlan

For locals this is one of the biggest and busiest towns on the lake. This town dates back to before the Conquest. It is on what once was a major Mayan trade route. Traders from there would go down to the Pacific slope to obtain tropical products. They would then be exchanged with traders from the highland area of Chichicastenango...also a pre-Spanish town. Many of the paths that go off in varied directions were created as part of these trading networks. This came back to cause problems during the civil war.

Like other lakeside towns most people reach Santiago by boat. Soon as you land you are probably going to be approached by people wanting to take you to see Maximon. Tony's article I have just linked to is one interpretation of a diety who goes back in Mayan culture. A link between Mayan religion and Christianity via Judas, he is represented by a statue. His location changes every year as he moves to the house of a respected member of the lay organization that oversees his care and the rituals surrounding him. They have adapted to the tourist interest by charging a fee to enter and take photos. If you go, take this very seriously. Locals have died over their beliefs. I'll put a reading suggestion on the book page soon. The other major religious center is the church in the center of town. One of the oldest in Guat. it is built on the site of a major Mayan shrine. Notice the corn carved on the pulpit. Also visit the shrine to Father Rother who was murdered. It's location is significant. You gotta wait for 2012 for that revelation.

On a lighter side Santiago is a major handicrafts market. Most stuff is found as cheap or cheaper in Pana...but two products stand out. First are the wood carvings. Several places sell them. I have found one shop to be the best combination of quality and price. Go up from the docks about 200 ft. On the right hand side of the road you will see a small, one room building set back away. The guy who does the carvings makes some very nice pieces. There are also a couple of shops up by the market with big pieces...but the prices are correspondingly high. The other major product are paintings. These are primarily in the Naif style. I'll put a reading suggestion on the book page soon. Some of the best paintings are done by artists who live in San Pedro and San Juan but market them through here.

San Pedro La Laguna

San Pedro is probably the cheapest tourist oriented town in Guat. It also has a reputation as a drug town. But don't let that deter you. Several cheap Spanish schools...some of the cheapest in the country. Cheap hotels and restaurants round out the package. This is a very much laid back town. You don't go here for discos or fancy hotels. Most of the inhabitants are pretty much living outside of this whole environment. But the money brought in has had an effect..nicer market and more reliable water and electricity. San Pedro and Santiago suffered probably more than any other towns during the civil war due to their locations. It was necessary to take out a lot of folks. One of the problems with wars where the majority don't wear uniforms is sometimes you can't afford to give the benefit of the doubt to civilians.

Santa Cruz La Laguna

This is a nice little community a short boat ride away from Pana. Two places to stay, sitting side by side at the community dock. Iquana Perdida and Arca de Noe. The Iquana does scuba. Arca de Noe's weblink is down. Hope they are still operating as they are truly delightful.

San Marcos La Laguna

This place is the New Ager hangout. It attracts all the freaks and crystal wavers. Where else in Guat. can you pay someone to starve you? If you are into yoga, channeling or meditation this is the place. Las Piramides is the most famous of these places. Obviously lots of folks go for this.

Jaibalito

Acessable only by boat or path I mention it because of La Casa del Mundo which gets reviewed as one of the best hotels in Guat. Again, as is so often the case, location is everything.

Safety

99.9% of all visitors have no safety issues. The rest ignore this warning. The towns themselves are immensely safe. Small size helps in this respect. Even Pana I've wandered the streets at all hours of the night. BUT...the geography of the lake presents one hazard. There is a huge network of footpaths connecting the various villages and beyond. Because of trees, bushes and hilly terrain it is possible for robbers to sit up out of sight in several locations. They can observe folks hiking the paths and see if anyone else is around. The locals...who don't carry much of value..and btw would probably recognize them....are seldom borrowed. But for a tourist...no doubt carrying a camera and cash...it is another matter. People have been robbed. Women have been raped. The police have for several reasons not been too good about stopping this. As with petty crime (yeh I know..doesn't sound too petty) just about everywhere in Guat. not much is done unless locals get pissed..usually either beating the crap or worse out of the perps. So Don't Hike the Trails. Or at least check around if you are contemplating it. Some trails are considered safe. Probably because geopgraphy doesn't leave the robbers with an escape route. Most robbery reports indicate they had machetes rather than guns. More evidence of it being locals. I've seen fewer reports the last year. But I wouldn't count on that being a definitive sign of the problem going away. Remember..you can reach any village by launch. There is also a road going around the lake....just a rough one.

A Bit of History

The far side of the lake from Pana saw a huge death toll during the civil war. The region's history as a trade hub relates to this. There are old Mayan trails going everywhere...including all the way to Mexico. During the war there were refugee camps along the Mexican side of the border. The guerrillas were active in these camps. They also had primitive bases Guat. which they used as staging areas. Look at the volcano about Santiago Atitlan and the terrain beyond. The Guat. army was not the adventerous type to go storming up those trails. Some way cool ambush sites. Plus, if pressed, the guerrillas would fade back to Mexico. The army just had to keep the guerrillas out of populated areas. They did a piss poor job of it until some training by foreign consultants set in. For the guerrillas to operate out of their staging areas in Guat. they had to have a source of supplies. Guns were brought in from...well let's just leave that part. But the bulk of their supplies....food ...needed to be obtained locally. Just too much to transport distances. The army used to stay in at night. Guerrillas would visit their supporters in the villages to obtain food. Finally, it was impressed on the army that if the supporters were taken out the food dried up. Some folks were rounded up on trucks and moved out. But they soon realized that it was more expeditious to simply shoot the families supporting the guerrillas. Death toll....way up there. You bury the bodies in hidden graves and just claim they ran off to Mexico. Rios Montt may have been slightly crazy but in military matters he was smart enough to do as he was told. Took another decade but the reality of it all was that by the time of the peace accords the guerrillas and their supporters were being bled dry.