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Mon 10th April – Guatemala (Lago De Atitlan, Chichicastenango)
On the move again, this time to a an extinct volcanic crater lake, Lago
De Atitlan, about a 2 hour drive north west of Antigua. We had heard
about this place from our mate Ben and we found a fantastic looking
hotel on the internet called La Casa Del Mundo, which we were lucky
enough to get the last room in. After a prolonged boat ride (we boat
hopped 3 times before actually starting the journey.....) over the
beautiful lake, we saw the hotel perched on the cliff side in the middle
of nowhere, only accessible by boat. This time we really couldn’t
believe our luck as due to a last minute cancellation we got the best
room in the hotel with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake and
perfectly framing the 4 surrounding volcanoes! Words simply don’t
describe this place as it has been painstakingly created by and
American/Guatemalan couple over 17 years. The gardens are immaculately
kept with exotic local flora and fauna and hidey holes with hammocks and
private terraces everywhere. You can dive directly into the refreshingly
cold lake from a number of patios, and the attention to detail
throughout the whole hotel is fantastic. We ate every night ‘family
style’ with all the other guests in the hotel around a big table and had
the best home-cooked food we have eaten on the whole trip. We met some
really nice girls, Anushka, Kerry and Sam, who work as teachers in
Mexico City, along with a colourful older couple who own their own yacht
and just sail round the world. Three drunken bottles of wine later we
retired to our penthouse suite to views of the starlit volcanoes from
our bed J.
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La Casa Del Mundo
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Volcan San Pedro
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Volcan Cerro de Oro
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View from our room :-)
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Dinner time!
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Tuesday 11th April
What better way to wake up on your birthday than by watching the sunrise
over a volcano clad lake from your bed!!! After a luxurious and rare lie
in, we had a leisurely breakfast and spent the day swimming and baking
in the sun. Andy also treated me to a hand-woven Mayan table runner and
a bottle of wine. Tonight we have a special treat as a group of us have
booked the hot tub overlooking the lake, which is heated by a log
burning stove and takes 12 hours to prepare – Happy Birthday to me!!!
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Sun set
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...night...
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...and sun rise...
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Happy Birthday to Sadie!!!
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Stoking the wood fired hot tub!
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Anushka, Kerry and us having a wee celebratory drinkie
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No I haven't!
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It’s so good here that we have
decided to stay 3 days despite the additional cost – a meagre £30 a
night – nothing by British standards, but a fortune compared to usual
Guatemalan accommodation costs.
The next day we decided to do a
spot of kayaking – as one does – just after breakfast – best in the
early morning before the wind gets up over the lake, and to much
amusement as we were all launched into the lake from the jetty actually
seated in our canoes into the awaiting blue of the volcanic lake. As if
that wasn’t enough exercise, we then hiked the two hours from Casa del
Mundo towards San Marcos, up hill and down dale, read – literally rock
scrambling and avoiding the awaiting the armed Guatemalan hill rebels we
had been warned about, which turned out to be no more than two Mayan
eight year old girls who wanted no more than a sip of water from our
bottle! (Unfortunatley we don't have any photos at all of
the hike as we were warned not to take any valuables with us - only
enough cash for a beer and the boat home :-( ). This is a great way to see real Mayan life as you pass through
the villages where tourism has yet to influence and where life is still
very genuine and simple. It’s not every day when you see teenagers
flying kites made from a single plastic bag, nor them playing with their
much younger siblings at marbles. It’s also nice to see that they still
embrace their traditional clothing values, regardless of there not being
a single tourist in sight.
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Lake kayaking
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Wierd but lovely hanging vines growing in the dining room
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Cheeky chappies (photos from Annuska & Kerry)
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Time to go......
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Lancho - water taxi
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(Travellers
notes: accommodation in La Casa Del Mundo ranges from Q275 for a double
to Q375 for en-suite. Exceptional value for money. We were very lucky to
stay here as you normally have to book weeks in advance. Also, if you
book over the ‘phone without a deposit, and don’t arrive by noon,
chances are your room will be given to the next walk in.)
The hardest decision we have to
make these days is where to go next and what to do!! Everyone we have
met has different stories to tell and amazing places they have been, so
it’s hard to stick to any kind of planned itinerary as we keep changing
our minds.
After three days of heaven in
Casa Del Mundo, including three different rooms, moonlit hot tubs until
midnight, a stray nocturnal scorpion and lightning storms over the
surrounding volcanoes (no, we’re not making this up!!!!!!), it is again
time to move on.
Thursday, 13th
April
We’ve now moved on to San Marcos, hippy and karma ‘centre’ of Guatemala.
I guess it depends on where your own spirituality is, but this place is
definitely weird. No roads or streets, just dirt tracks between houses
and full of what is today’s collection of hippies and general drop outs
from mainstream western life. This is a real ‘them’ and ‘us’ place –
western ‘alternatives’ trying to impose their life style on an ancient
people and their way of life. For us this didn’t really work. It was
good however to see that on first arriving in the village, that everyone
(non-westerners) were co-operating in building a new local swimming
baths and also re-levelling the football pitch – i.e. all the women
carrying buckets of sand and rocks on their heads, and the men digging.
Certainly a true sense of community.
Next stop......Good Friday
celebrations in Santiago De Atitlan, and then off the Chichiceastenango
market.....
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