21/10/2012 - Atitlan-ded at the Lake

Enjoying looking out over the Indian's Nose (can you see it?) for a relax and picnic

Just made it to the lookout for sunset

Our first Christmas Carol - jingle
bells Guat style

Despite getting the earlier bus, we knew we were pushing it for time and were proven correct when we only were glimpsing the lake at sunset (sorry, the earth rotating away… nah, gave up on that a long time ago!). As such, we decided to stay at Panajachel and cross the lake the next morning – upon reading about a hostel with hot showers the decision couldn’t have been easier! Think our last hot shower was in the Galapagos…

Sunrise at the pier

A lakeside patchwork quilt hill 

Got up for sunrise the next morning, and after some refried beans for brekkie endured a painful 45 minutes sitting on a boat waiting for it to fill sufficiently for the captain to deem it economical to make the trip. Awesome views on the lake though, easy to understand why Aldous Huxley said it was “really too much of a good thing”!

Fun with the panoramic feature down by the lake

Too much of a good thing?

Didn’t have the time, will or energy (not necessarily in that order) to do the trek up to the Indian’s nose, so instead found a lovely little spot to turn a couple of pages and enjoy a picnic. We were much more fortunate on the return journey, being the last in the boat this time (although that did mean a definite lack of bottom room!), giving us plenty of time for tat shopping back in Pana.

Watch out for the kids whilst bartering...

Key Learnings:

1. Do your best not to laugh when a street vendor’s selling technique involves showing you how the item cannot be spoiled with a knife, and then leaving a massive scratch on it!

2. Don’t try and barter with kids – even Annaliza’s ruthless methods failed to work on them!