Return to Atitlan
When you live in a foreign country for
an extended period of time, you find places that you continually
enjoy going to. In Jordan it was the backcountry in Petra, in
Colombia it was the colonial village of Villa De Leyva, in Lesotho it
was Hluhulwe game park, Mongolia it was Teralj... Here in Guatemala
the place we seem to return to the most is Lake Atitlan. Of course we go to
Antigua more frequently, but it is only a 45 minute journey, the lake, however, takes about 3 hours.
Each time we stay at the Lake we have
stayed in a different village. The different towns have different
flavors. Panajachel is the major town center, Santa Cruz is tranquil, San
Pedro is the adventure center. We have stayed in each of these towns
in the past and have enjoyed our stays. When we decided to go to the
Lake for this long weekend, I looked for places to stay. I examined the
various reviews from the Tripadvisor website and saw that the top two
restaurants were both located in San Marcos, the spiritual center of
the lake, you know, crystals, pyramids, meditation and yoga. All
things right up my alley, Yeah right..
I found a highly rated interesting
hotel in San Marcos and attempted to book reservations. For whatever
reason Paypal was not working. So I deposited the money in the bank
account of the Hotel, typical for places in Guatemala. This was an
“art” hotel, all stained glass with a theme in each room. Our
room had a bedroom, a big private bath and a private terrace. Now
this place had a rate that was, shall we say, higher than I normally
pay, but it included breakfast.
We left fairly early on Friday morning
with our friends Steve and Marion following us in their car. As usual
there was traffic aplenty as we fought our way across the city. Once
beyond Antigua, the road emptied and the climbing and curves began.
This was Steve and Marion's first trip to the Lake, so they had no
idea of the experience that was awaiting them. We made reasonable
time to the “muelle” (dock) and parked nearby. In the parking lot we
contracted for a private launch to take us to Santa Cruz where Steve,
Marion and their two dogs were staying. In chatting with “provider”
we also contracted for the launch the following day for a lake tour.
The price we agreed on was two-thirds the amount we had paid last
Christmas with Tristan. We help Steve and Marion get settled in their place and they decided that they were going to “veg out” that day in Santa Clara. The private boat will
pick them up in the morning and bring them to San Marcos, where we
are staying. We walk down and get on the public launch which takes us
to San Marcos, stopping four times along the way.
We find our hotel,drop off our stuff
and go in search of the locations of the top two restaurants on Lake
Atitlan. First we walk up the little street to the top of the hill.
Directly in front of us, sits Blind Lemon, the number one restaurant
on Tripadvisor for the Lake. We wander around some more and find
Restaurant Fe, the number two restaurant. Now all Diane knows is that
I had found these two restaurants in San Marcos, nothing more. So I
ask her which one does she want eat at? As usual, she gives the Cohen
non-committal answer. Okay, I ask her, does she want to eat at the
number one or the number two restaurant. Since she has no idea which
is which, she easily decides to go to the number 2 restaurant first.
Tonight’s dinner will be at Restaurant Fe.
We wander the town some more and
return to our terrace to read the Kindles and enjoy the temperate
climate. An early evening shower plays music on our roof for an hour,
but afterward we head out to Restaurant Fe. The menu has some
variety, but we both decide to go for Indian dishes with two pieces
of Naan. At the last minute Diane decides to order a dish of lentils
too. We patiently wait, enjoy our lemonadas. Eventually our food
comes. It seems they had to order the Naan from an outside source and
it took him a while for him to deliver it. Normally we eat Indian,
like Chinese, family style. Indian food generally comes in these
smallish metal bowls with individual spoons to serve them. Not here
at Restaurant Fe, our meal comes in two large bowls, and then another
large bowl of lentils to go with the two large pieces of Naan. I look
at Diane and give her a hard time saying, “you just had to order
that extra bowl of lentils, didn't you?”
This was the first time we have ever
gotten spicy food in Guatemala. Coincidentally, last week we found an
Indian restaurant and though the food was well spiced, it lacked the
heat one would have expected. These dishes had ample heat, though I
would not call the food Indian food, it was Indian inspired. We
enjoyed all of the dishes and could in no shape or form finish
everything. So although, the food was not what we expected it was
pretty good. We hoped that the restaurant rated number one would be
even better.
We ate our free breakfast at our
hotel, and it was almost overpriced. Hard boiled eggs, toast, coffee
and some darn good fresh fruit. The coffee had been tainted with
Cardamon and the bread was poor. We walked to the dock to meet Steve
and Marion. Our launcha privada arrived and picked up Steve and
Marion to take them to San Marcos. As you can see from the picture, the
Lake did not shine with it's usual morning glassiness. We wandered
the town with Steve and Marion, so they could feel the spiritualism
that is so readily apparent to others who come here. Once they have elevated
themselves to our highly spiritual level, we went back to the launch
and headed to San Juan, the painting town.
Having been here before, we had some
places that we liked. But as you can see from the pictures, the walk
is a bit steep. We stop off and look at the art. Steve and Marion
find a piece that think they would like, but we continue the uphill
trek visiting the various shops. Now you have to understand that
Diane and I took the car because we did not think we could take a
painting back with us on the motorcycle. We looked at a lot of different art but
nothing jumped out at us, at least nothing we could agree 
upon. On
the way back we stop at the shop that had the painting that Steve and
Marion liked. So I negotiated with the artist. I used feel that there
was something distasteful in negotiating for art, but I am well over
that now.
upon. On
the way back we stop at the shop that had the painting that Steve and
Marion liked. So I negotiated with the artist. I used feel that there
was something distasteful in negotiating for art, but I am well over
that now.
So the artist and I go back and forth.
I want to get the painting for 600 Q and he was holding fast at 700.
I am using all of my bargaining charm, in Spanish, to try to get
Steve and Marion the 600 Q price. As I am joking with the artist I
used the wrong word, nothing disgusting, just wrong. This provided
Diane with a great deal of satisfaction, as I am always correcting her Spanish, and I am sure that Diane will
be able to juice up a good story for you. Anyway he holds fast at 7
and we walk out at 6. Now this usually is followed with a final,
final, final offer. Nope, not this time. A few steps later Steve and
Marion decide to pay the price and go get their painting. The artist is happy, as is Steve and Marion. We head
back to the boat and head off to Santiago, the big craft village.
Some towns on the lake specialize in painting, others pottery, others
weaving, but Santiago has it all.
Santiago also has one family that does
really original art. The father and two sons have different styles
and we like them all. What we don't like is the price. Apparently
quality does come at price. The last time we were there we bought a
painting we both really liked at a good price. They had lots of stuff
that we both really liked, but there are limits to how much we are
willing to pay. After spending a long time there, twice, we never
came to either a price on something we both liked, or something that
was at a good price, that we both liked. So our quest to find art to
put in our Vermont house without any walls had failed. On the way
back to our launch, Diane did manage to stimulate the economy. She
found a wall hanging/runner that she liked. To me it seemed like an
unnecessary expense, but I think that most things are an unnecessary
expense. The last time we were here, we bought a similar runner for
200 Q, but since I wasn't so enthused this time, I offered 150. We go
back and forth and finally we say okay, thanks, bye. As I am walking
away I hear her final offer of 160, I tell her No, gracias... then
she says “Ciento cincuenta, ok.” and another purchase has been
made.
Our final town, prior to disembarking
in Panajachel (you can call me Pana), is Santa Catarina. The sole
purpose is buy bracelets that support a local school. We had stopped
here with Tristan on our last boat tour. Diane thought it was the
town next door, but I was adamant and was soon to be proven correct. We
walk uphill to the coop and Diane basically buys all 5 of the
bracelets that they have. We wander around the small town and make it
back to the dock to see that our boat is gone. Hmmmmm.... I ask and
one of the guys on the dock tells me he should be back in 
ten
minutes. So it is time for a beer. While we are enjoying our beers, I
managed to take a top view picture of the pentagon shaped boats that
the locals have been using on the lake, forever. You stand towards
the front and paddle standing up. A few minutes later Captain David
comes to find us. He had probably picked up an additional fare and
had not figured on our quick return. We load up and head back to
Pana.
ten
minutes. So it is time for a beer. While we are enjoying our beers, I
managed to take a top view picture of the pentagon shaped boats that
the locals have been using on the lake, forever. You stand towards
the front and paddle standing up. A few minutes later Captain David
comes to find us. He had probably picked up an additional fare and
had not figured on our quick return. We load up and head back to
Pana.
We walk up and dump our purchases into
the trunk of the car and walk through Pana. We decide to take a
tuk-tuk back. We arrive just in time to see the launch leave. We have to
wait about 20 minutes for the next one and Steve is feeling a bit
queasy from the bumpy boat tour. The launch fills, Steve waits on the dock until just before
we leave. He makes it to Santa Cruz without embarrassing himself
and we make it back to San Marcos for our evening repast at the
number one restaurant on Lake Atitlan, Blind Lemon.
We head up the hill to Blind Lemon's
before seven. The parking lot is very quiet and the gate to the
building is closed, but unlocked. We enter a large building with lots
of open spaces, but very few customers. Apparently this is the off
season. While we are waiting a guy comes over and pulls up a chair.
He is the owner of Blind Lemon We ask what are the best things are
on the menu, what is the most interesting, etc. I ordered the
blackened tilapia, but then that was what Diane wanted. So I told the
waitress that I would have the burritos and Diane would have the
blackened tilapia. Diane says she would like rice, then she asked me,
I told her french fries. French fries with burrito's? Who knows? We
also order two gin and tonics. Forty or so minutes later, we are
still chatting with the owner. There has been no sign of our dinner
or our drinks. So I ask him if he is the bartender? He says
sometimes. So I ask if we can get our drinks. He is quite embarrassed
and makes it up to us with gin and tonics made with Bombay Sapphire.
Eventually, my burrito's arrive. The dish is interesting, but the
chicken was cooked very poorly. It is very chewy, so it was a
disappointment. I try to eat slowly, to wait for Diane's dish, but it
is taking too long. Diane shares some of the burrito and after we are
done, here comes Diane s plate. Wait, it is two plates, maybe I am
getting my french fries after all. The waitress brings out two orders of
tilapia, one with rice and one with fries. I told her we only wanted
one order and the owner, again embarrassed, takes my french fries
away. Diane and I are having a good laugh in the number one
restaurant on Lake Atitlan. We have another drink, Diane finishes her
dinner and we leave thinking that number one might be too high a
rating.
In the morning we are awakened at 5 AM
by some people welcoming the dawn. There is music blasting, people
singing, it was loud, really loud. Diane forces me out of bed to
go with her to see what the noise is all about. Apparently it is the
local Catholic church spewing noise across the whole village. By the
time we got there the people were gone, but the loud music continued.
Not my idea of a good neighbor. We walked down the path and had
breakfast. San Marcos apparently moves at slow pace, as my breakfast
took 45 minutes to prepare. Fortunately we were not in a rush, having
been awoken by the local church. We wander back to our hotel, shower
in boiling hot water (Diane had taken a frigid shower before we left
for breakfast) pack our bags and walk down to the dock to await the
public launch. Soon after we whipped out our Kindles, our ship had
come in. We loaded up and headed back to the dock in Pana.
