disappointed at lake atitlán

"How did you get the name Byron?" We asked Byron, our local guide. he said his father liked to read and learned English on his own. Since back then there were only English literature to read, he named his children after his favorite characters. "So what are your sisters names?" "My father named them after his girlfriends" Byron replied.

Drive to the lake took a long time. There was an accident on the road, so we had to take an alternative which proved to be more scenic. Halfway we stopped at a nice cafe supposedly with very good coco but the hot chocolate was just sweet and not chocolate-ly. But the cafe was nice with an open lighted fire pit in a very pleasant partially sunny day.

Was really looking forward to the boat ride on Lake Atitlán, a former volcanic crater from an eruption 80K years ago. What i thought was a leisure float on the lake with fantastic volcano views, turned out to be a straight shot from 1 shore to the next. The day was now cloudy and foggy with no views of the volcanoes. Volcán San Pedro barely showed with its top covered in fog. The town of santiago wasnt too interesting. Just up from the dock, souvenir shops. Tuk tuk to the shaman maximono was much just a tourist trap. Didnt even go in. The town cathedral was a bit more interesting. Since it's holy week, purple curtains were hung on the church ceiling and all the holy statues were on display. Walking down the town lanes lined with souvenir shops, we stopped at El Pescador a seafood restaurant for lunch. Their black bass wasnt bad. Then another fast straight shot back to the other shore, Panajachel. Another super long drive back to Antigua. Again, halfway we made a stop to sample the other coffee shop owned by the same owner of the first one and with the same name. The building and decor very similar to the first one. This one was famous for its pies and we sampled some. Women were baking tortillas with blue corn. Then traffic again specially when we got into Antigua due to the holy procession. Waiting in traffic, this gave us time to learn more about the Mayans. Maya mean people of the maize. They believed they were created from the corn. Then the conversation switched to the Spanish conquest of mesoamerica. "Why did Montezuma let the Spaniards in?" "He believed in the prophesies and thought Cortez was Quetzalcoatl who came to proclaim Montezuma the living god."

"I'm wowed by all the cities and monuments the Mayans built. But what got me was why the sacrifices" asked T. "We need to understand, responded Luis, there were 3 types of sacrifices. One performed by the ruler on himself for the people. One done by volunteers. And then one to kill the conquered. Nowadays we think human sacrifices are terrible things. But to understand the Mayans, we need to understand how they think in their times."

It was dark by the time we made it back to our hotel. We caught a few peeks of the procession. Not interesting to me since I've grown up with holy processions. The only interesting part, as a kid going to the processions, was dinner after the procession because we always dined out. However we skipped dinner this evening.


Lake Atitlán photos: