What better place could there be to relax and recover from our walk than San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitlan? This hippy hangout is right on the waterfront and as we arrived by boat there was a distinct smell of marijuana drifting across the water. Some of the people there definitely take their drugs seriously! We opted for a quiet hostel with lake views but switched to a nicer hotel after two nights when the girls next door found scorpions in their room and the bathroom started to flood.
Due to the strong “traveler” influence, there are loads of different things to do and we happily filled a week by going horse-riding, visiting the cultural museum and, of all things, taking a class in how to make a hot-air balloon from tissue-paper! On the Friday night we flew Stu’s balloon and were impressed to see it soar over the rooftops until the flame disappeared. Like a phoenix from the flames, 2 minutes later it reappeared further away. We think it must have landed in someone’s garden and they re-launched it.
Saturday was another early start as we walked up the local volcano, an unrelenting climb starting lakeside (about 1500m above sea level) at 6am. 4 hours later and 1.5km higher up we reached the summit. The views were spectacular for all of 5 minutes before the clouds rolled in and hid them. We seem to keep bringing the British weather with us! That was our last day in San Pedro as the next day we piled onto a shuttle bus for the quick trip to Antigua.
