Category: Road Trip Spring 2014

This morning a shared van picked us ip in Panajachel on Lake Atitl�n. The van drove us about two hours southeast to Antigua.

Antigua is a beautiful former colonial town that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The van dropped us off at our hotel and then we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Antigua. It has lots of historic buildings and ruins from the many big earthquakes that have occurred here. We toured a textiles museum and checked out dinner places.

We capped off the day with a wonderful steak dinner. At a restaurant not too far from the hotel.

Today is day 17 of our Mexico and Guatemala adventure. We are currently on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The last three nights we stayed at the wonderful isolated La Casa del Mundo.

This morning after a scramble, potatoes, whole grain toast and coffee we flagged down the boat taxi and returned to Panajachel where we are staying tonight.

We spent the day exploring the town which seems to have more Anglos, bars and souvenirs ships than anywhere we’ve been. Although it rained and was gray all day at least the rain was intermittent and we were able to get quite a bit of walking in.

Tomorrow we will catch a shuttle to Antigua. The first picture below is Duke on the street in Panajachel and the second is of the very muddy river dumping into the lake.

I can’t remember the last time I have been some place where it has rained all day without let up. Monday was like that here at La Casa del Mundo on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Luckily we have a beautiful room with lots of light. There wasn’t much of a view because the lake and mountains were covered with fog. But it is a very pleasant place to spend a rainy day.

The food here is good too so we ate, read and did not much of anything. Half way through the day we decided that we should do at least one thing. So we descended the stairs down to the lake shore, went for a swim in the lake, and then climbed ack up to our room. It was a refreshing swim and a very relaxing day.

Today we spent the whole day at La Casa del Mundo on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. What a paradise! We spent the whole day wandering around the Casa trying out different view points, hammocks and benches. We changed rooms because our room last night was not our first choice. Tonight’s room is bigger and higher up so we are more in the trees. The way we seemed to float over the lake in our room last night was very cool too.

We had a great lunch in the restaurant. We talked to some American women we met last night at dinner. They are all medical professionals in a program in Guatemala where they volunteer in a clinic in the mornings and study Spanish in the afternoons. They were enjoying a weekend break here.

Tonight the lake is shrouded with fog and a steady rain is coming down. Every so often there is impressive lightening and thunder. Our room is cozy with candle light and blankets. It is not cold enough to need the fireplace.

Our trip so far has included some difficult travels interspersed with Islands of magical places to stay and wonderful food. Today we left the hotel in Huehuetenango early and took a cab ride to the bus station.

We got on a brightly colored bus and waited about an hour for it to leave town. The bus was going to Guatemala City. When all the seats were taken they put stools in the aisle for the people who got on later, We got off at the stop nearest to Lake Atitlan and took the local bus that was pointed out to us.

At the end of the route we got off. Duke did some shopping and I watched the teenagers who were in town for the marching band competition. The uniforms and flag girls looked incongruous next to the local people who were all wearing traditional dress.

When we asked directions to the dock we discovered that we were in the wrong town only half way down to the lake. So on to another local bus. When the local buses got full a woman in traditional dress would just sit down next to me and push making it a three person seat.

When we got to Lake Atitlan we caught a small boat for a 20 minute ride to this amazing place we are staying, La Casa del Mundo. They have their own private dock and our room is cut into the cliff. We look out at the lake and the two volcanoes. Unfortunately it is overcast but it is still an amazing place. Check out their website at
http://www.lacasadelmumdo.com