Lago Atitlan

Lake Atitlan is a beautiful lake ringed by volcanoes located in the southwestern part of the country. It is heavily touristed because it is so beautiful and locals claim it is one of the wonders of the world. It is indeed an impressive sight. Lake Atitlan is a great place to just sit out and watch the water. I also enjoyed jumping into the water, swimming, kayaking, and horseback riding.

I had the pleasure of spending one night at La Casa del Mundo, a notel on the north side of the lake. The facility is accesible only by boat or foot path, and is not really in a town. Casa del Mundo appears to hover above the water. The views at sunrise and sunset are spectacular as you see the colors of the changing sky through the mists on the volcanoes. It has a lovely dock and hammocks set in idyllic seclusion.

I also spent three nights in the large town of San Pedro. San Pedro is also beautiful and is located at the base of the San Pedro Volcano. San Pedro is very much a tourist town and also has many re-settled hippies offering yoga classes, massages, and art classes, along with "really good weed."

The differences between the tourists in San Pedro and Casa del Mundo are striking. In San Pedro, you run into the typical backpacker groups, which this time of year in Guatemala means they are about 80% Israeli, along with the random Irish, Australians, Brits, Canadians, Swedes, Kiwis, and Italians - they are not Americans; they rush to the same hostels, the same restaurants, the same bars; they switch between the three outfits they have in their packs, but often wear the same clothes days in a row; the day´s budget is about $7 for lodging and $5-7 for each meal, plus $5-7 for the day´s activities; the average age is about 23.

Casa Del Mundo is not a destination for the typical backpacker - the cheapest room is $31 per night and is a private room with shared bath (my choice). Such an option at a hostel would probably cost $7-10. At Casa del Mundo, 90% of the guests were Americans. In all of my travels in Guatemala, for 16 days now, I had met only four other Americans. The guests tended to be older married couples and the average age was over 50. The couple across from me talked about their love for Antigua and their multiple trips there to take Spanish classes. They bragged about finding a hotel room for $50 per night - I mean have you ever heard of a room as cheap as $50? The other guests were enjoyable and it was a nice change of pace to have a dinner conversation with other Americans.