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Lake Atitlan, Guatemala - Hasta Luego to Paradise, By Simon Hillier
Lago De Atitlan, or Lake Atitlan, sits at the gateway to the Maya region of Guatemala, an hour from the city of Antigua.
Eighty-five thousand years ago a huge volcano exploded here, wiping out much of life in Central America. The result is one of the world's most stunning geographic formations - a huge lake surrounded by mountains, valleys and dormant volcanoes. The villages tucked into the rim of the lake offer some of the most spectacular views anywhere in the world.
Travelers with limited time, base yourself in Antigua and take day
trips to the lake and the markets at Chichicastenango.
Alternatively, fling your luggage onboard either on an old Partridge
Family school bus with the locals, or a private shuttle with the well
heeled, and within four hours find yourself aboard a small boat heading
out of the major town, Panajachel, or "Gringotenango" as the
locals call it, towards one of the smaller lakeside villages.
One of the most popular towns is San Pedro, sitting at the base of Volcano San Pedro. Cheap accommodation, beautiful views, and a number of language schools are just part of the attraction. It also provides the ideal place to base yourself for daytrips to the other villages.
The perfect way to start the day around Atitlan is to crawl crawl out of bed onto your hotel porch to watch the sunrise over the lake. The mountains are wrapped in a steamy yellow haze while the water surface is almost perfectly still, disturbed only by the gentle ripples from the tiny canoe paddles of the local fisherman.
A fabulous afternoon activity for any stressed out city slicker is reclining with a drink at a lakeside restaurant. You can't help but float into a state of total relaxation as village life drifts by. Anyone who spends more than a week in San Pedro, seems to speak like a 45 record spinning at 33 revs per minute.
One of the highlights of our trip was a five-hour trek around the lake to the village of San Miguel. It's wise to start out early and avoid the midday sun, particularly along the steep tracks up to the small mountain village of Santa Clara. The town is relatively untouched by the local tourism market, so it provides a rare opportunity to experience the warmth of the Mayan people without venturing to the secluded villages in the northwest of the country.
The view from the mountain top is breathtaking, and more stunning new perspectives open up as you wind your way down the roads through San Pablo and on to peaceful San Marcos, famous for Las Piramides meditation centre located right on the lakes edge.
Las Piramides rooms have been inspired by, you guessed it, the Egyptian pyramids. The centre offers yoga, meditation massage and metaphysical courses.
I was intrigued to find out what went on after dark at this hippie haven. Unfortunately, you need to book in advance, so we hopped in a little ferry boat out front and made our way back to San Pedro, waving goodbye to the cast of Hair as they floated back between the rows of huts like levitating sphinxes.
The perfect way to end a day of Atitlan trekking is to submerge into a lakeside hot tub at San Pedro's Thermal Waters. Arriving around 6pm, we immersed our weary bodies into the bubbling warm water just as the sun settled down behind the mountains and before long we were bathing under the stars. The manager drifted out of his office, placed some candles in the ground around our tub, and left us with the keys. Yes, I'm wondering why I came home too.
There are plenty of strenuous activities to experience at Atitlan including mountain biking, horse riding to the top Volcano San Pedro, kayaking, and even water skiing. For bargain hunters, some of Guatemala's best markets for textiles and clothing are at Santiago Atitlan, and Panajachel.
An hour away by road is Chichicastenango, Guatemala's largest indigenous markets. Here you can pick up carved wood masks, ornate blankets, clothing,local jewellery and a bag to carry it all in, at very good prices. As always, once you're back home you'll wish you had bought more, so go crazy.
With time on your hands, you can also explore more traditional Maya villages and towns in the Western Highlands around Nebaj, Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, and Todos Santos.
Our final night in Atitlan was spent in Guatemala's most beautifully positioned hotel, La Casa del Mundo Hotel & Café at Jaibalito. The hotel is accessible only by boat or on foot, and sits right on the cliff face overlooking the lake. The evening started with a pre-dinner drink at the hotel bar proving the ideal position to soak up the vibrant colours of our last Atitlan sunset as it faded behind Volcano San Pedro.
Guests gather for dinner at one long table where wining, dining, and refining of exaggerated travel tales abound. After the meal, frustrated by allegations that perhaps I hadn't ridden through North Korea by yak, I headed out to the balcony, rolled into a hammock and watched the amazing shooting star performance overhead. It was the perfect way to say "hasta luego" to one of the most stunning places I have ever experienced. They do say photos never lie.
About the author:
Simon Hillier is a freelance writer based in Sydney, Australia.
His company, Get There, provides copywriting, travel writing, feature
articles, scripts and ebooks that leap out of the mundane masses to
do cartwheels for your audience. For more articles and further information
visit http://www.getthere.com.au