Lake Atitlan
Lake Atitlan - staying in San Marcos & San Pedro, painting pottery in San Antonio, and a coffee tour in San Juan.
Januari 10, 15:22
I think it’s only two more hours until we reach our destination: Panajachel. We’re gonna spend a week at Lake Atitlan in different towns, and I’m super excited and curious about this lake. Cause this is the place where other people are most excited about in Guatemala.
Oh, and good news: Karo has her phone back! Whoop Whoop!
Januari 11, 17:27
We just arrived at our Airbnb in San Marcos. A cute little cabin with a view. Well, only if you stand outside and look left of the new cabins being built. The view from inside the cabin is the back of one of the new cabins. Great planning, haha.
Earlier today, we spent the morning walking around Panajachel, where I bought a bag perfect for my camera! Until now, I always had to take my daypack if I wanted to bring my camera. And every time I wanted to use it, I had to take my backpack off my back, take the camera, and swing my backpack back. Such a hassle. But never again. Now I have a cute, colourful camera bag!
Januari 12, 12:28
We’re at Eagle’s Nest, a sort of resort above San Marcos, with a GREAT view. We’re seated on a daybed overlooking the lake with a chai latte in front of us. To our right is a big platform with an even better view where there is a yoga class going on. It’s funny to watch cause it’s not the typical yoga class since they mix it with things like twerking. I didn’t know this was a combination that could be made, but I guess it is. And honestly, it looks like a lot of fun!
Karo still feels a little sick. Ever since the last night in Semuc, she hasn’t felt great. Apparently, people get sick from the water there, but we only found that out after we left and after we spent a couple of days swimming in the waters. It could also be the traveller’s sickness that many people get. We don’t know. Luckily, it’s not so bad that she has to spend her days in bed, but days with low energy can be draining as well. Hopefully, she will feel better soon.
Volcano and a boat on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Januari 13, 14:06
This is the cutest embroidery shop I have ever seen! Not that I’ve seen many, but I’m pretty sure it’s one of the best places that exists. It’s a coffee shop and craft shop in one. And they sell the cutest products with pretty embroidery. All handmade here in Santa Cruz la Laguna in Guatemala with a specific stab back stitch method. I got a sheet of a hedgehog with a cup of coffee, and I’m gonna hang it somewhere in my bus or RV, or whatever I’m gonna buy. It’s so cute! I also got a little bag to put I don’t know what in, but I just wanted to buy more of this pretty stuff. I couldn’t help myself. SO CUTE. And we got ice cream, what a day!
January 14, 16:56
We have two cups of coffee in front of us - a dark roast and a medium roast. We just had a really great coffee tour in San Juan. The woman giving the tour spoke English, which made it a lot easier for me. And she explained the whole business and process very well! I did a coffee tour in Bolivia with my parents as well, but this company, where we are now, is a little bigger, so we got to see more of the plantation and even saw people working on the fermentation of the beans! Well, ‘working’ the Guatemalan way, which means that one person actually does something, and the others just stand there and look. Anyway, my favourite is the dark roast, so I’m gonna buy a bag to bring with me to the States!
January 15, 14:40
Back on our private boat in the direction of San Pedro. Yes, you read that right - private boat. Crazyyyy. We wanted to go to San Antonio today, which is a small non-touristic town on the other side of the lake. There are no public boats that go there, so the idea was to take a boat to Panajachel and then take a bus from there. But the total journey would take us at least one and a half hours each way, whereas the private boat only takes us half an hour. And since we haven’t really been doing expensive things the past week, we figured we could afford it.
But why all the effort? - For pottery! Or so we thought. Us was told that San Antonio is the pottery town at the lake. We heard you could do pottery classes, and we could just go there, and there would be plenty of options. Maybe because there was a party going on, or maybe we were just misinformed, but that was not the case. There are indeed a couple of pottery companies, but none where we could try it for ourselves. So we were slightly disappointed, but only a little bit, cause we found a great alternative!
We were able to paint one of the ceramics! The painting table was placed right in front of a window with a beautiful view. We could choose our ceramics to paint and sat down next to two men working. We tried our best to make a good first drawing with a pencil before we dared to touch the paint. But at some point, we really had to start painting. And OMG, how I wish we could have practiced on something else first. I’m really afraid of how this is gonna turn out. We couldn’t take the ceramics with us immediately cause they have to glaze them first. And very kindly, they offered to ship them to Antigua, where we will be in a couple of days. So I’m both super curious and scared about what the final product is gonna look like.
January 16, 14:26
In the shuttle bus to El Paredón! Final last destination, and I’m so excited to be going back to the coast! Where the weather is way too hot, daily sunsets on the beach, reading at coffee shops, and looking at waves. Perfect life if you ask me!
This morning we got up at 3:30 to see the sunrise. Every time the alarm goes off to watch a sunrise, my brain goes something like this: “Why the fuck are you doing this. Sunsets are just as nice. Just go watch those and have a good night’s rest.” But then, some hours later, you sit on top of a mountain and all the different colours start appearing in the sky. And at that moment, all I can think is: “This is such a beautiful thing. I should do this more often.” Cause it really was beautiful. Especially with the clouds hovering above the lake and steam coming from one of the volcanoes.
