Lago Atitlan

Lago Atitlan is a huge lake surrounded by 2 volcanoes and a bunch of hills. Being the rainy season, the hills are covered in green. With clouds well below the top of the mountains, the scene makes a pretty picture but we had been to Titicaca before and that is a dampner where Atitlan is concerned. Titicaca from the Bolivian side is not only spectacular, it has a sense of spirituality that Atitlan doesn't. Maybe it's because of the villages around the lago. San Pedro de la laguna, the village we picked to stay at was a mix of untidy ramshackle structures. The Lago itself is too dirty to be inviting to swim in and someone we met also told us the water was cold. Indian ness abounds. In that I mean places called Shati Shanti, Yoga and finding yourself courses, medition and the rest of the pop culture with no depth to it. Someone we met told me that there were people here who he had met 8 years ago when he last came, and they were still on the same trip that they had started 8 years ago. Lots of drugs and alcohol mar any charm it could have.

Clearly, it wasn't my favourite spot. We were lucky to have a day with sunshine so the lake with the mountains as a back drop did look awesome, but it wasn't enough.

The next day Nu and I decided to take the trip to the thursday market at Chichicastenengo. Yannick and the Catalans (not sure I can call them that because they are actually from the Basque country but what the hell, it sounds good and I don't know Spanish politics enough to worry about it) decided to stay back and hang out. This is a huge  'Mayan' market that takes place twice a week. I wasn't expecting much as the term Mayan and folkloric are abused in plenty in these parts.

The drive was 2 hours long and when we got there it was like we had expected, a big indegenous market primed at tourists. Luckily a few block into the market we got a glimpse of the real market. The market where the locals shopped. This was far more interesting. Some of the weaving work was splendid, the little worry dolls that yo uput under your pillow when you go to sleep so that they takes your worries away, the ethnic musical instruments, and the raw cuts of meat hanging around made it quite a market. On the steps of the cathedral was a flower market, artisans had made some interesting bead work quetzals, and the masks were fantastic but too heavy for us. Most importantly, the churros were decent. We ended up picking a few bargains and then stepped into a restaurant for a beer and lunch.

In the end, It turned out to be an interesting day.

Back In San Pedro we reunited with Yannick and the gang. It was our last night together. Next morning we were headed to Mexico and they were headed to Antigua and then onto Nicaragua. We, especially Yannick, was going to miss them a lot, but the last 2 weeks had been fantastic!
We searched for a bar that supposedly had a salsa night only to find out it there wasn't one. A good asian dinner, a couple of beers, lots of laughter, and we were ready to call it a night. We did have a 5.30 start the next morning.