20/09/04- 24/09/04 Lake Atitlan

Spent the first night in Panajachel on the shore of Lake Atitlan which is a rather tatty place full of artisan market stalls all selling exactly the same tat. So we decided to have a wander down to the lakeshore and then spent the rest of the evening getting drunk and listening to Andy and Roger beatbox their way through numerous rounds of cards.

Very picturesque and cloudy
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The following morning we got up inconcievably early (around 11am) to face a very choppy 30 minutes speedboat ride and managed to have a delicious breakfast, find a hotel, sort out a couple of treats for the upcoming days and then promptly fell back into bed in order to sleep through our hangovers.

Rawhide indeed


Whilst we were here Roger and I had our first experience of horseriding which was fantastic but left poor Roger a little saddle sore. It is definately the best way to explore the surrounding countryside which was lovely with some beautiful views over the lake and the horses were just lovely. The following day Andy and Libby had us up even earlier to go kayaking around the lake which again was a first for me. That was also good fun but harder work.

San Pedro is a strange place but very friendly and relaxed. Most of the town is set up specifically for tourists but many of the villages around are much more traditional.

Strike a pose
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Being in San Pedro was like being at a festival- everyone there is off their heads.

People speak Mayan in San Pedro and we were told that if you walk to the next village you can get stabbed, next door to the grocery shop, opposite where you can have your hair done in a big bouffant.