As was the case most mornings, there were fishermen on the lake,
women washing clothes
and boats waiting for their owner to take them out.
Afterwards, Joan called a driver she knows to take us into Panajachel. Here's a picture of Linda in the back of the pickup
and here's one of me.
She wants to pick up some plants for her garden and we intend to do some things on our own. When we reach Pana, we discover that there is a public transporation strike underway. A large number of tuk-tuk drivers have blocked the street and are talking, most likely, about the need to increase the city-approved tuk-tuk fee, currently about Q5 (60 cents) per person for most locations in town. I consulted my map and suggested to the driver that we drive around to the other road out of Pana and come in by the mercado. He didn't think we could do that, due to the heavy traffic around the mercado. Eventually, watching the other drivers turn around to take the alternative route, he decided to try it himself. It was a slightly longer route, but it did get us into Pana.
Once in Pana, Joan had the driver stop so that she could make a withdrawal from an ATM and we got out (we'd been riding in the back of the pickup) and told Joan that we would find our own way back.
We first began looking for the Adrenalina travel agency. Yesteday, while checking options for getting to Xela, we picked up a map (with advertising) for Xela. We had noticed that the standard charge for a shuttle to Xela was $20 (Q160). Not seeing any variation on the price, we concentrated on departure options. Most shuttles leave at 6:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. Adrenalina, however, offers a 9:00 a.m. shuttle, which we preferred. Furthermore, that map we had picked up had two 10% discount coupons. We finally found them and booked our ride to Xela.
We next walked down towards the playa, where we strolled along the promenade. We finally headed own to the dock where the launch to San Pedro La Laguna departs.
Once there, we boarded a launch (chicken boat) for a direct trip across the lake. The fare was Q25 ($3.00) each (one way).
The trip across the lake took about 25 minutes, once we departed. These boats don't usually leave until at least 11-12 passengers have boarded. The lake was smooth and it was a pleasant trip. In the distance, we could see the taxi launch that runs along the shore
stopping at all of the villages.
It's funny, when you look across the lake, it looks so small. When you cross it in a launch, however, it seems so big.
We were soon approaching San Pedro La Laguna
and the village dock.
After docking, we exited the launch and began walking up the mountain.
San Pedro is build on the side of a mountain, like most villages on Lake Atitlan. The main street goes almost straight up.
After about a vertical block, we decide to turn left and go through gringolandia, where the restaurants and businesses targeting the gringos are located.
we soon walk through there and begin what turns out to be a very long and roundabout walk, often at steep inclines, to find a crossing street that will bring us back to the center of town. Once we found the mercado and the church,
we decided to look for some place to have lunch. In the process, we find ourselves heading out of town.
We turn around and finally make our way back to that vertical main street. While many Guatemalans are Catholic, there are many Protestant (all are called Evangelical here) churches. Here's a photo of a very modest Baptist church.
We continue our walk down the mountain until we get to the cross street into gringolandia. We look at the lunch options and decide to eat at Fata Morgana, where we had a delicious thin crust Hawaiian pizza. Isn't Guatemalan food great! We also had the best limonada (limeade) we've found yet in Guatemala.
After stuffing ourselves on pizza, we head back to the dock and get ready to board a launch that will be returning to Pana. While we're waiting to board, these two women get off a launch, pick up their load and head up the mountain.
Once again, we wait until we have 11-12 passengers. In fact, we end up making the trip with 13 passengers.
This trip, which also took about 25 minutes, was not as pleasant as the earlier one. While Lake Atitlan is very smooth in the morning, after noon it becomes very choppy and launch pilots, like their chicken bus counterparts, try to go as fast as they can to maximize the number of trips they can make. The result is a very rough ride.
Once back in Pana, we head up hill (everything seems to be uphill in Guatemala) to find a tuk-tuk to take us across town to Dispensa Familiar, where the buses heading to San Antonio Palopo congregate. After calling Joan to find out what we needed for dinner, we picked up our groceries and boarded a pickup ready to leave.
This trip I made standing up. The view was awesome, especially as I held on tight as we rounded the many tight curves. Once back in San Antonio Palopo, we got down from the truck at the bottom of the steep hill up to the church and took the fairly level, buy Guatemalan standards, street back to Casa Sonrisas.
Dinner was good and, afterwards, I continued working with Joan's computer and printer. It was almost 9:00 p.m. when I finished, but they were working correctly by that time.
We bid Joan goodnight and headed back to our room to pack and get ready for a good night's sleep.
