Lake Atitlan - Guatemalan Gold

16th - 18th September

From the Earth Lodge I rode down to Antigua for a look around the city. Old colonial buildings line cobbled streets which bustle with an ecclectic mix of people. Smartly dressed office types in ridiculous high heels hobble like cripples over the sketchy cobbles, tourists of all ages walk from street to street, necks craned taking in their surroundings while market stall owners hustle for trade alongside shoeshine boys and beggers with babies chewing on empty cigarette packets. I didn't have much time as the ride to my next destination - San Miguel La Laguna, Lago Atitlan was due to take about three hours and it was already midday. I rode around, checked out a church then took a coffee in a really cool boutiquey coffee shop on the side of the main plaza and watched the people go by.

As I left Antigua the rain started again so I chucked my waterproofs on and hit the highway. Despite the rain the ride was awesome, fast windy roads climbed out of the valley and up into the mountains, after a while the road turned into a dual carriageway and the rain stopped. I bombed along at 120km/hr skipping from one butt cheek to the other banking left then right, then left, then right and so on for hours, I barely went in a straight line for the whole journey, it was great fun. After 2:30hrs I took a turning off the main road and into a small village, the small concrete road wound along around a couple of peaks before starting to drop downhill turning into a zig zagging hairpin fest which quickly disintegrated into gravel and mud. The road was lined with trees and I couldn't tell where I was or how high up but it started to get pretty steep and the rain had started again. A road block stopped the traffic going down, they were paving the hill below and as we were released, I jumped the que of trucks and cars and had great fun skipping between the deep rutted mud and gravel on one side and the half complete concrete sections on the other. The road was like this for a couple of Km's until it changed to a heinous tarmac mess with huge potholes to avoid whilst trying to dodge Tuk-tuks, busses and cars and all the time trying to slow the bike down for the next hairpin. The trees dissappeared and gave way to a mind blowing view over Lake Atitlan, even in the rain it was incredible. A large ring of steep sided mountains dropped down to a huge turquoise / blue lake with this amazing, crumbling serpentine road criss crossing down the hill below. I tried to get the GoPro going but I had run out of memory. The pictures don't do it justice.

I arrived at the tiny village of San Marcos at 5:30pm and parked up in the centre. As I hopped off the bike I heard someone hollering my name... a little spun out I eventually tracked the voices to a minibus and saw Em and Nicole waving out the window! Totally random, they had left El Sunzal in El Salvador five days before heading South to La Tortuga Verde on my recommendation and had already switched back and made it to lake Atitlan all the way up in Guatemala. It was kool to catchup with them but they were staying in the slightly bigger town of San Pedro a half hour round the lake and had to get back on the bus. I said I would come and check it out the next day and off they went. 

I found a hostel, ditched my gear and after a quick introduction to my American and Swedish roommates joined them for a superb veggie meal at the hostel. The next morning I got up early and went to take some photos of the lake, it looked even more amazing in the sunshine. A small reserve fronts the lake at the edge of the village so I paid the small entry fee and walked the trails. There is a large wooden terrace which makes a great place for diving and is used for yoga sessions. These two British girls where just pysching themselves up for the jump as I walked passed and I managed to get a shot of one of them doing an hilarious bird impression, flapping her arms like crazy but inevitably falling like a stone.

My reason for choosing San Marcos over the numerous other villages surrounding the lake was the hippy vibe, tons of places offer yoga, meditation and massage courses, one even had a rudy great big pyramid in the middle and provided month long silent retreats. I didn't have a month but wanted to give meditation a go so booked onto a session starting at 5pm that evening in the pyramid.

At lunchtime I rode the sketchy dirt road round to San Pedro to check out the party town, it would be kool to see Em and Nic but the town was quite big and I figured the chances were slim. The cobbled streets were a maze of one way signs but after 15mins I found the lake front and a place offering parking and frapachinos! As I was supping away these two Aussie shielas walk by the front of the lot and start pearing through a fence at some stray dogs! They had walked about ten minutes from their hostel on the other side of the town just to go look through the gate of this dog rescue place which happened to be right in front of where I parked, literally 5mins before they arrived. It was just too weird! Anyways, they showed me round and we ate lunch by the lake and chatted for a few hours, they are excellent shielas and we got on really well. 

Due to a faff with the GoPro I didn't get back to San Marcos until 4:55pm, I was soaking wet as the rain had come in on the way back and desperate for a wee. I parked the bike and ran in my waterproofs down the tiny alleyways to the pyramid just in time for the meditation session. Sweating and feeling manic I was in the worst possible state for peaceful meditation but hey I was commited. A group of five of us were ushered into the pyramid in silence, I smashed my head on the door frame on the way in and interrupted the    Shaman/priest lady before she was ready, it was too comical. 

Sat crossed legged we breathed in silence for half an hour, then we were instructed to lay on our backs as the lady walked around the circle asking us to think about gratitude, what we were grateful for? Think about your father and the most important lesson he has taught you, be grateful for this... think about your mother, again think about the best lesson she has taught you, now be grateful, tell her how grateful you are... for the next 45mins we were given more promts like this which made me focus on my past and on the positive things which I have experienced. This was not hard for me, I have been immensely blessed in my life with incredible parents, friends and circumstance and I found myself in an utterly peaceful state with the biggest smile on my face and a tear or too rolling down my cheek. It was a great feeling to allow myself the time to look back on my life and realise how much I had to be grateful for, I left the temple (without hitting my head!) in a bubble of happiness and feeling like I didn't want to see anyone for ages... Unfortunately it was over far to quickly and I bumped into a couple from the Earth Lodge which brought me back to reality and a sudden awareness that I still desperately needed the toilet!

There are a lot of Expats living around the edge of this beautiful lake and consequently there are a whole heap of fancy restaurants offering quality local and international dishes. I was dying for a proper meaty feed and was recommended a steak at a little restaurant down a side street in Marcos.    Fillet steak, medium rare, with garlic mash, blue cheese sauce and carrots and brocolli... it transported me back to home instantly. Funny how simple senses evoke vivd memories.

When checking over the bike in the morning I noticed the back box was flapping around and had come loose. A quick trip into the next village got me to a tuk-tuk mechanic who took a drill to the frame and bolted it down properly, in the process he  almost stabbed himself in the stomach when his drill bit snapped... check out the photo of five guys leaning on the bike watching one guy work, classic mechanicing!

Bike fixed I rode off down a dirt track to try and find a waterfall. In the middle of nowhere I parked up and climbed into the jungle. There was bugger all water but some impressive rocks! When I got back to the bike it wouldn't start, nothing, dead flat. I changed the fuse and still nothing. Shit. I walked 15mins back to the nearest town and asked lots of people if there was a mechanic around, they all said no, there wasn't even anyone with a pickup to help me get the bike back to town... with no idea what to do I walked back toward the bike and came across a tuk tuk driver who very kindly picked me up, took me to his place, grabbed a fuse from his bike and took me back to the bike which, with the second new fuse started 1st time! Phewwww. I thought I was in big trouble, it's a very remote place and there are no recovery trucks.

I had wanted to do another meditation session but with all the bike pavlova I had no time and managed to make what should have been one of the most peaceful days ever into a super stressful waste of a day. Such a shame in such an tranquil place.

Anyways, there is far too much waffle above, the long and short of it is that Lago Atitlan is utterly stunning. Anyone going to Guatemala should make this a huge priority.