July 19 Part Two! Arrived at Lake Atitlan!
We have arrived in Panajachel, on the shores of Lake Atitlan.
The day started with a van ride from the hotel to the bus station in downtown Guatemala City. That was an interesting experience. Traffic is the same everywhere, and the driving here is very reminiscent of Costa Rica except that the cars are in worse condition. Guatemala City reminded me a lot of Liberia in Costa Rica, except much bigger and with an actual downtown with tall buildings. There were planty of familiar sights like McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Driving was noisy and chaotic but people seemed good natured about it and before long we were at the bus stop.
I say "bus stop" instead of terminal because there is nothing really there. A few colorful "chicken busses" were parked at the curb, and our driver pointed to one and said "that's the one you want" so we got on! The back door was open and we were prompted to climb in, which required a big step up. We crammed our backpacks into the luggage rack and sat in the last row to be near our bags.
The bus winds through the city streets for about 20 minutes with people getting on at intervals. The driver slows down, the "helper" jumps off and yells out the destination. People waiting at the roadside scurry on even as the bus keeps slowly rolling. The helper shouts "vale" (OK) and the bus kicks into gear and roars off. But where is the helper? A few seconds later, with a clunk, he jumps onto the ladder on the back of the bus and opens the "emergency exit" from the outside and lets himself in.
Eventually we were out of the city and driving up the road - up and up and up. The scenery turned beautiful. Lots of agriculture, almost all very small scale and quite varied. Corn, cabbage, carrots, squash, onions, beans. We passed through the city of Chimeltenango, which took nearly an hour because the roads were so bad and traffic so heavy. We picked up speed after that and the surroundings became more dramatic and mountainous. Now the people we could see out the windows were mostly Mayan, women in colorful dresses, men in cowboy hats. From time to time, I saw women sitting in small fields tending livestock while also sewing or working on a small loom tied to a tree.
We passed the big junction at Los Encuentros, then started down the hill to Solola and Panajachel. I remarked to Aleeza that Jana and Benna would NOT have been able to handle this section! Very narrow road, two way traffic, incredibly steep and incredible curvy. There is no real guardrail, just a ditch on one side and a cliff on the other. (And this was the GOOD road - the road to San Pedro is supposedly much worse.) Near the bottom we saw a tourist van had that had crashed into the ditch. Those people paid extra to be in tourist van. We paid about 5 dollars each for the almost four-hour bus ride, and we made it safely to our destination.
A friendly ex-pat on the bus gave us some advice and gave us her phone number in case we need anything. Thanks! She also hailed us a tuk-tuk and told the driver where we needed to go, so that was easy for us. Unfortunately the driver chose to overcharge us by 100%! Good thing the base fare was only 5 Quetzales, or about 75 cents each.
Panajachel is noisy and dusty and colorful. The locals seem to be happy all the time. Many people walking down the street say "buenos dias" and smile at us. I am noticing quite a few ex-pats around here as well, in addition to the tourists.
Our hotel is very clean and quiet. Aleeza has discovered that there does not seem to be hot water, though! We walked to the local supermarket and bought some food. The kitchen is well equipped and as I predicted there was a rice cooker available. Dinner was beans and rice. Breakfast will be fruit and beans and rice.
Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring Panajachel and its surroundings, including the Nature Reserve where zip-lining can be found. My phone seems to be on its way out, which is making the whole photo thing difficult.
Bedtime.....more tomorrrow!
- AK
The day started with a van ride from the hotel to the bus station in downtown Guatemala City. That was an interesting experience. Traffic is the same everywhere, and the driving here is very reminiscent of Costa Rica except that the cars are in worse condition. Guatemala City reminded me a lot of Liberia in Costa Rica, except much bigger and with an actual downtown with tall buildings. There were planty of familiar sights like McDonalds and Pizza Hut. Driving was noisy and chaotic but people seemed good natured about it and before long we were at the bus stop.
I say "bus stop" instead of terminal because there is nothing really there. A few colorful "chicken busses" were parked at the curb, and our driver pointed to one and said "that's the one you want" so we got on! The back door was open and we were prompted to climb in, which required a big step up. We crammed our backpacks into the luggage rack and sat in the last row to be near our bags.
The bus winds through the city streets for about 20 minutes with people getting on at intervals. The driver slows down, the "helper" jumps off and yells out the destination. People waiting at the roadside scurry on even as the bus keeps slowly rolling. The helper shouts "vale" (OK) and the bus kicks into gear and roars off. But where is the helper? A few seconds later, with a clunk, he jumps onto the ladder on the back of the bus and opens the "emergency exit" from the outside and lets himself in.
Eventually we were out of the city and driving up the road - up and up and up. The scenery turned beautiful. Lots of agriculture, almost all very small scale and quite varied. Corn, cabbage, carrots, squash, onions, beans. We passed through the city of Chimeltenango, which took nearly an hour because the roads were so bad and traffic so heavy. We picked up speed after that and the surroundings became more dramatic and mountainous. Now the people we could see out the windows were mostly Mayan, women in colorful dresses, men in cowboy hats. From time to time, I saw women sitting in small fields tending livestock while also sewing or working on a small loom tied to a tree.
We passed the big junction at Los Encuentros, then started down the hill to Solola and Panajachel. I remarked to Aleeza that Jana and Benna would NOT have been able to handle this section! Very narrow road, two way traffic, incredibly steep and incredible curvy. There is no real guardrail, just a ditch on one side and a cliff on the other. (And this was the GOOD road - the road to San Pedro is supposedly much worse.) Near the bottom we saw a tourist van had that had crashed into the ditch. Those people paid extra to be in tourist van. We paid about 5 dollars each for the almost four-hour bus ride, and we made it safely to our destination.
A friendly ex-pat on the bus gave us some advice and gave us her phone number in case we need anything. Thanks! She also hailed us a tuk-tuk and told the driver where we needed to go, so that was easy for us. Unfortunately the driver chose to overcharge us by 100%! Good thing the base fare was only 5 Quetzales, or about 75 cents each.
Panajachel is noisy and dusty and colorful. The locals seem to be happy all the time. Many people walking down the street say "buenos dias" and smile at us. I am noticing quite a few ex-pats around here as well, in addition to the tourists.
Our hotel is very clean and quiet. Aleeza has discovered that there does not seem to be hot water, though! We walked to the local supermarket and bought some food. The kitchen is well equipped and as I predicted there was a rice cooker available. Dinner was beans and rice. Breakfast will be fruit and beans and rice.
Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring Panajachel and its surroundings, including the Nature Reserve where zip-lining can be found. My phone seems to be on its way out, which is making the whole photo thing difficult.
Bedtime.....more tomorrrow!
- AK
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| Panajachel street scene |
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| River and Volcano |
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| Lots of small food shops |
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| "Rehobot" bike repairs. "Shalom" garage was down the street |
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| View from our hotel. |
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| Picture does this sunset no justice. It was stunning. |
I wish I was 5 years younger and could be with you. It sounds like the kind of adventure everyone should have to broaden their perspective on a comfortable American life.
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