August 7 through 9 - Living the Hostel life
August 7 - After the EPIC TREK, I had really no plans other than to be around Lake Atitlan until Thursday the 10th. Several others from the trek were also planning to stay in San Pedro, so after lunch we shouldered our packs and walked the short distance to "Mister Mullet's," where Roy had already booked himself a room in the dorm for one night. The guy at the reception desk, which also is the bar, looked at me and said "look, man, I gotta tell ya because I wanna be honest - this a pah-tee hostel - we gonna pah-tee at night, you know, drinking and stuff. So, you know..." I took that as a challenge and immediately said "cool, I'll stay here tonight." That plus after lugging my pack up the two flights of stairs I didn't really want to hit the street again. I figured I'd stay one night and see how it goes. Anyway, my two nights at the "peaceful, off the backpacker strip" hostel in Tzununa were anything but, as I described in that post.
In the end, four of us from the trek decided to stay at Mister Mullet's. We dropped off our stinky clothes at a laundry place and walked around San Pedro for a while. I felt like a tourguide after my week here!
A bit later, we all headed out to a restaurant that I had wanted to try while I was in San Pedro last time, called "Hummus-Ya" in Spanish, which poorly translated means "hummus already." (The name in Hebrew on the menu was "Hummusiya" which I believe just means "hummus shop.") The walls were covered in funky tapestries and the low tables were surrounded by low couch-like seating. Each table had a hookah on it, and music was booming pretty loudly from a big speaker in one corner. There was also a take it-leave it library with books in many languages. Cool place!
Roy is from Montreal but his family is Lebanese, and when we entered he said "wow, OK!" When we opened our menus he laughed and said "this is like what my mom would make if I was at home." Our other two friends, Jackie and Drew, were not really familiar with middle eastern cuisine, so we enjoyed "turning them on" to some foods. We ordered a ton of food and asked for a coal for the hookah. As we waited for our food, the rain started coming down. For the three days of the trek, there was not a drop of rain. Now, a deluge! We got drinks and toasted our good fortune.
Our food was pretty good. They had house-made schug (hot sauce) which was excellent, and Roy said that the labaneh (white cheese with spices) was also great. I thought the hummus was a bit bland, but I feel that way about most hummus that I don't get at the shuk in Jerusalem! We also got a coal in the hookah and took turns trying to make smoke rings.
After we had finished our huge plates of food, the rain showed no sign of letting up, so I suggested a round of baklava and turkish coffees. That was a big hit! The Baklava was unique, the wrapper was more chewy than flaky, but the local honey is very flavorful and the filling was super sweet, and the coffee was authentic as well.
Finally the rain let up enough that we decided to brave the walk home. The bill came to about $13 each, and I didn't mention that the others each had two alcohol drinks, while I had a sprite.
We returned to the hostel where a party at the bar was in full swing. We were exhausted and headed to bed. Amazingly, we all good a good night's sleep! No dogs, no roosters, just music and voices to lull us to sleep. The bar closes at 11pm, which helped make it a good night for all of us.
August 8 - This was a true "down day" as I chose to stay again at Mister Mullet's since things had gone so well, and the I had heard that the showers are really hot and plus I had unpacked my bags to get organized and didn't want to repack them just to change hostels.
I really enjoyed the breakfast, so I figured what the hell and signed on for another night! The beds are comfortable and the location is very central. The price is about $12 per night, including that big breakfast, and the wifi has been pretty good most of the time.
Roy and I walked all around town, passing through the market. I really like the market here in San Pedro. (I took some more "no look" photos to be discrete, with mixed results.)
After the market I tried to find a cooking class or a bicycle tour for Wednesday, but the cards were not in my favor - so, I am going to take Wednesday "off" too!
Jackie and Drew showed up at the hostel ready for food, so we went out to a restaurant that my host family had taken me too when I was at Spanish school. It was great. We enjoyed the signs on the walls almost as much as the food. For 35Q ($5) we got a big burgers (mine a fried chicken patty) with guacamole and fries plus a drink. They had Cuba Libres (rum and coke), I had lemonade. And the hot sauce was excellent, once again!
After the delicious dinner, another massive downpour soaked us on the short walk back to the hostel.
The rain was relentless so we decided against going out for live music and opted instead to hang out at the bar with the youngsters. It was "ladies night," 5 quetzales off of drinks for "ladies." People were getting pretty festive. I noticed a couple of guys wearing halter tops and skirts. At first I thought nothing of it, then I overheard a guy saying "sure, I'll wear a dress for 5Q off drinks!" Once we realized what was happening, Roy and I decided to join in the fun. In addition to the drink discount, this earned us a ton of respect from the youthful crowd and we realized that once again, circumstances had worked in our favor, the rain kept us at the exact right place!
So....I am writing this on Wednesday morning, August 9th. This will be my final day operating in "solo" mode, as I will meet up with Aleeza around noon tomorrow and we will be together for the rest of our time in Guatemala.
We will travel directly to Antigua, where we have a hostel booked for the rest of our stay. I will probably post at least once more with stories and pictures from Antigua.
It will be sad saying goodbye to my new friends and leaving Lake Atitlan which has come to feel like "home." I really really hope I can return to this beautiful, magical place with family and friends. Shit, I think I feel a tear in my eye!
Feeling a lot of love for my family and friends right now - see you all soon. Thanks for looking at my blog.
- Aaron
In the end, four of us from the trek decided to stay at Mister Mullet's. We dropped off our stinky clothes at a laundry place and walked around San Pedro for a while. I felt like a tourguide after my week here!
 |
| Dorm room hallway at the hostel. |
Roy is from Montreal but his family is Lebanese, and when we entered he said "wow, OK!" When we opened our menus he laughed and said "this is like what my mom would make if I was at home." Our other two friends, Jackie and Drew, were not really familiar with middle eastern cuisine, so we enjoyed "turning them on" to some foods. We ordered a ton of food and asked for a coal for the hookah. As we waited for our food, the rain started coming down. For the three days of the trek, there was not a drop of rain. Now, a deluge! We got drinks and toasted our good fortune.
Our food was pretty good. They had house-made schug (hot sauce) which was excellent, and Roy said that the labaneh (white cheese with spices) was also great. I thought the hummus was a bit bland, but I feel that way about most hummus that I don't get at the shuk in Jerusalem! We also got a coal in the hookah and took turns trying to make smoke rings.
 |
| Cementing our newfound friendship over food! |
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| Roy showing us how it's done! |
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| Drew taking a break from his Labneh to try the hookah |
Finally the rain let up enough that we decided to brave the walk home. The bill came to about $13 each, and I didn't mention that the others each had two alcohol drinks, while I had a sprite.
We returned to the hostel where a party at the bar was in full swing. We were exhausted and headed to bed. Amazingly, we all good a good night's sleep! No dogs, no roosters, just music and voices to lull us to sleep. The bar closes at 11pm, which helped make it a good night for all of us.
August 8 - This was a true "down day" as I chose to stay again at Mister Mullet's since things had gone so well, and the I had heard that the showers are really hot and plus I had unpacked my bags to get organized and didn't want to repack them just to change hostels.
I really enjoyed the breakfast, so I figured what the hell and signed on for another night! The beds are comfortable and the location is very central. The price is about $12 per night, including that big breakfast, and the wifi has been pretty good most of the time.
Roy and I walked all around town, passing through the market. I really like the market here in San Pedro. (I took some more "no look" photos to be discrete, with mixed results.)
After the market I tried to find a cooking class or a bicycle tour for Wednesday, but the cards were not in my favor - so, I am going to take Wednesday "off" too!
Jackie and Drew showed up at the hostel ready for food, so we went out to a restaurant that my host family had taken me too when I was at Spanish school. It was great. We enjoyed the signs on the walls almost as much as the food. For 35Q ($5) we got a big burgers (mine a fried chicken patty) with guacamole and fries plus a drink. They had Cuba Libres (rum and coke), I had lemonade. And the hot sauce was excellent, once again!
After the delicious dinner, another massive downpour soaked us on the short walk back to the hostel.
 |
| Tropical downpour! |
So....I am writing this on Wednesday morning, August 9th. This will be my final day operating in "solo" mode, as I will meet up with Aleeza around noon tomorrow and we will be together for the rest of our time in Guatemala.
We will travel directly to Antigua, where we have a hostel booked for the rest of our stay. I will probably post at least once more with stories and pictures from Antigua.
It will be sad saying goodbye to my new friends and leaving Lake Atitlan which has come to feel like "home." I really really hope I can return to this beautiful, magical place with family and friends. Shit, I think I feel a tear in my eye!
Feeling a lot of love for my family and friends right now - see you all soon. Thanks for looking at my blog.
- Aaron
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