Last weekend I had a nice get-a-way with some schoolmates to San Pedro, a lakeside town at Lake Atitlan. It was great!! Check out the pictures. We had a total of 8 (2 guys & 6 girls) and Rick headed there on Friday night and got us rooms at a lovely hotel - Sakari Hotel. It's only Q.90 (~US$12) per person, with total lake front view and HOT shower! San Pedro is only about 2 hours from Xela. Our mini bus driver was nice (and price was reasonable for a "chartered" bus). We got there on Saturday about lunch time. San Pedro is really Gringolandia, at least the lake front area between the two main docks. There are little narrow paths that connect the numerous Gringo hotels, coffee shops and restaurants. It's nice to be able to walk to everything. We didn't really explore the town where real Guatemalan people live and work, but hey, this is like a vacation for us (from our vacation, I know). Oh, it's so funny to see all these hippies with dreadlocks in drawing-string pants walking around barefeet. Where do they all come from?? Anyways, some of us went kayaking and even swimming. I ended up not doing anything but studied a little espanol on a lawn chair facing the lake in front of our room. So relaxing. No more car noises or exhaust fumes. For dinner that night we went to this hippie restaurant/lounge called "Zoola". They have long and low tables with carpet and cushions so you sit on the floor. Nice ambience, with a lot of hippies of course, some obviously smoking some ganja! I had quiche with broccoli and cheese. Mmm... yummy and I needed that broccoli! =)
Saturday night was chill. No craziness and we went to bed pretty early(partly due to fact that some of us did go out on Friday night in downtown Xela at this dance club called Rumba. I saw my host brother Raulito, who is only 19, and he was dancing with me and all my girlfriends, hahah...)
Sunday some of us got up early to go to Panajachel to go to church. I slept in a little (until 8am!) and got little coffee at our favorite beach front cafe, La Puerta, which is right next to our hotel, with Melissa and Jen. The 3 of us got to the dock and found a boat to Panajachel. However, the boat needs to fill up before it can depart, and we almost got up to try to lure in customers so we didn't have to wait anymore..."Pana? Pana?". We waited for about 45 min, but nobody was in a hurry really. The lake was flat like a mirror and the ride was smooth. It was a little hazy that day. We got to Pana about 11am and walked along the main street. Pana is a lot busier than San Pedro. I was glad we stayed at SP instead of Pana. There were all these stalls & shops selling handicrafts. Then these kids of ages maybe 7 or 8 would come up to you and try to sell you these bracelets or whatever, "please buy this...please, please, please...". Aiyo. So hard to say no but I did and that was exhausting. We met up with our church goers and had lunch, and some of the group had to leave but Rick, Jen, Melissa and I had decided to stay one more night in San Pedro. By the time we took a boat back it was already almost 5pm. We did go back to that gallery to purchase the mayan paintings depicting the markets in vivid colors for very reasonable price. Dinner at another nice restaurant where they played some latin music and had a fireplace. We played a little cards after dinner (I learned to play Spades) and we had some good laughs. Monday morning the 3 girls including myself headed back first to Xela. It was early enough for me to catch the sunrise which was absolutely gorgeous. Tranquillity. Even though we missed the direct Xela chicken bus, I am quite proud that we took another one with a transfer with no problems. Even though I didn't do anything exciting this whole weekend except for lounging around, it was a great trip and I highly recommend spending a night or two at San Pedro. It's a nice break from Xela.
