Growing up with the lakes of the Southeast United States, Atitlán proved to be its own league of beauty. The whole area is gringo-infested, but that’s just what happens when you’ve got something this good. It took less than 24 hours for me to tell my parents to put it at the top of their list. The air in the highlands is cool and clean. A volcanic explosion blew out the crater 85,000 years ago and since then it’s filled itself with liquid and life. It’s often misted over but when the sun hits, the waves wink at you. Submerged houses sit still in emerald coves…

 

 

 

Getting There

Straight out of customs and before leaving the airport itself, we were able to book a direct shuttle for 10USD to Antigua. We got snacks and the cheapest coconut I ever paid for at the market that merges into the bus station. From there, we took chicken busses to Panajachel, the main point of entry to the lake. We had to transfer at Chimal, Los Encuentros, and Solola which totaled to about 4USD.

 

 

 

Pana greeted us with a light drizzle. Some guy tried to scam us for a private 250Q ride, saying the next public boat wasn’t for another twenty minutes and the ride to our destination would be an hour. The boat, or lancha, came for us five minutes later.

 

 

We piled inside with all the local Mayans and zoomed past gorgeous mansions and volcanos for the next 40 minutes. We arrived to a dock was slick with rain and littered with debris. We handed the collector 20Q each – exact change, after the ride, not before. Standard rules.

Boys selling cookies and hungry for small tips took us to Hostel San Marcos. September is during low season, so Nelson and I ended up getting a dorm to ourselves, each with our own double bed, for 50Q a night. Yes, we had wifi. The showers were thankfully warm and hot breakfast is included (7:30am-10am). The four options were oatmeal with honey and banana, pancakes with maple syrup and banana, fried eggs on toast, or scrambled eggs with tomato and onion on toast. Known for being a hippie, meditating, holistic-y healthed-out town, I was already loving San Marcos La Laguna.

 

 

 

The hostel staff working as volunteers turned out to be an Australian couple who will be finishing their 2.5-year backpacking journey in December. They’ll have to make their way to Chile before then and have already hit up around 30 countries. They taught for two school years in Spain, shoveled seaweed off of Mexican beaches, and fell in love with Nepal. Couple goals. Life goals.

About to pass out from 17 hours of travel and half an hour of sleep the night before, we had a hearty meal at Restaurant Fe. Much needed. The owner of our hostel runs this restaurant and a tapas bar next door. It wasn’t cheap, but it put us in a food coma and I had the best oatmeal cookie of my life. The garlic naan was perfectly fluffy yet crispy on the outside, and doubled the size of my face. However, my sag aloo curry didn’t taste Indian at all and I was disappointed they didn’t use basmati rice.

I ran home in the cold rain, had a quick rinse, and crashed.

 

The Lake: Day One

 

 

I managed to leave bed and re-find the dock just in time for the 6am sunrise. Slowly light crept over Volcan San Pedro as it loomed directly in front of me. It was calm, I was alone. Then others showed up and I went back to cozy blankets for another half hour.

 

 

Oatmeal with a cup of Guatemalan coffee was the precise start I needed for my day. Nelson and I headed east along the trails and soon speakers in Tzununa were blaring in our faces. Uninterested in the gringo-catered lodging and activities at the dock, we stayed uphill and observed some marching band practice. The indigenous kids were as good as pep rally drumlines and the stout conductor totally completed the scene. Another girl scaled a small tree and I followed her halfway as others watched, entirely certain I was gonna drop on my ass.

 

 

 

We turned the corner and ascended the steepest alleys lined by living quarters. It was safe like the rest of the hike, and we didn’t have a problem accessing any views we wanted. At higher altitude the paving ends and we found ourselves surrounded by coffee trees, a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the day. Others have posted about a waterfall super high up, but we didn’t pursue it.

 

 

 

 

Jaibailito took another hour to reach. On the way Nelson identified a ton of plants including these mini watermelon things (Google shows they’re actually “Mexican Miniature Watermelons”), we passed by plenty of higher end hotels, and the lake and mountains remained in sight as a constant dreamy, opaque blue.

In this town I checked out the very rectangular fishing boats before we again went upwards until we couldn’t anymore. Nelson wasn’t too keen on this until we stumbled into an isolated waterfall. It was small, but not too small to rinse the dog shit off of his shoe.

 

 

Santa Cruz La Laguna was 20 minutes further and Nelson was going crazy craving his avocado smoothie from the hostel that lodged him back in March. The trail dumps us pretty high, so first we had to finish exploring the backroads of this third and final village. I enjoyed sitting on abandoned steps and doing some people watching, followed by topping off once again at the point where the road ends. And getting distracted.

 

 

The cutest puppies were making crying noises by their mother. As I reached to pet them a shot of chewed up banana hit my hat and deflected onto a nearby rock. Two small boys decided to pick on me from above and asked me to take their pictures so they could charge me a couple Q. They launched more yellow pulp and pulled faces. I didn’t really know how to react but was pretty entertained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Iguana Perdida at last. A great hostel right on the water where Nelson indulged in his smoothie and lunch. I wish I had longer to swing in that hammock. Stay here if San Marcos is too hippie and organic for you.

 

 

 

Some inversion poses on the dock and a choppy lancha ride later, we were back in San Marcos for 15Q.

 

 

The sun warmed us in the central plaza. The newly planted trees and flowers made it quite the aesthetic. Health food stores sell local organic chocolate wrapped like cigars (Nelson calls them tampons), as well as probiotic bliss balls by Love Probiotics, which are made fresh daily because they’re such a hit. I asked the vendor lady if it was operated by gringos living somewhere uphill, and she confirmed. Don’t leave without some.

 

 

 

Wandering by the amphitheater and neighborhoods had us both feeling that this was the prettiest village. Everyone has their own favorite, but here we definitely found the nicest infrastructure and cleanest streets because it’s so new.

As an avid tempeh eater and lover of vegan cooking, Moonfish could not have been a better choice. Even though they didn’t have the avocado and had to replace the normal peanut sauce with tahini, I inhaled a 30Q burrito that blows past chipotle. I can still see the blackened tempeh and soft wheat tortilla in my hands. I was drowning in flavor and quality.

Of course, the streets are lined with fried chicken and chips, tacos, and fruit stand options.

 

 

The Lake: Day Two

 

 

Rising with the sun is just what comes naturally in Central America. The Cerro Tzankujil Nature Reserve (15Q with El Trampoline, a 7m high platform to dive into the water from) did not open until 8 and was locked with a chain, so Nelson and I wandered and enjoyed the dock view until 7am. It was as sunny and beautiful as Atitlan gets.

I had to go back to our room and wake up our new Austrian roommate Phillip. He decided to join me for yoga class while Nelson went and attacked his pancake stack.

Class was at the enchanted Hostal del Lago on their sacred learning platform. Aka on the freaking water. Allison started us with chanting oms to all tune in to the same energy before going through familiar vinyasa poses. She also had us hold a few squats and lunges for strength, really emphasized the breath, and ended with chanting ma’s to the rhythm of her accordion. The chants were totally new for me, but I had never had a better session. The entire time I could lose myself in the blue-gray peaks which all remained visible for the entire practice. 5 peers was the perfect amount and at the end we each paid her 40Q. I was quite proud of Phillip because this was his second class ever, and I know yoga personally took me several tries to familiarize with the poses and concepts.

 

I watched a del Lago guest with her huge bowl of granola and fruit and was thinking damn, if only. The longing still hasn’t left me actually. The other option for included breakfast is tipico which is a Guatemalan mixed plate including beans, eggs, rice, and plantains. This waterfront hostel is hands down the best backpackers in San Marcos, proven by the crowd of guests. Dorms are 60Q a night. There’s plenty of spots to chill out and socialize with others, something that was missing at our place. They have a great bar and menu going, yoga classes offered at least twice a day, and a nightly activity depending on the day of the week. Monday’s are movie nights, Thursday’s are drum circles for three or more hours, and Fridays are open mic karoke to name a few. It’ll haunt me until I can come stay here.

 

What sounded truly fun but something I didn’t have time for was Allison’s two-hour class later that day. She planned on demo-ing herbal tinctures, wines, liqueurs, and bringing out herbal candies and chocolates and teas. Sounds so earthy. And 120Q was such a good deal compared to what I’d find back home.

Phillip and I happily walk back for our own healthy breakfast at Fe. Nelson was itching to get his day started so I packed and caught the lancha with considerable reluctance.