Panajachel, Guatemala

Volcanoes!

At the crack of dawn on Saturday morning (okay, 10.30am), we were on our way to Panajachel, which is right on the shore of Lake Atitlan (keep up with me, I have an endless supply of unpronounceable names). Needless to say, the resort we stayed at was awesome.

Even the bathrooms have more fun in Guatemala.

It takes two to tango but four to marimba! Corny but true.

The lake is surrounded by volcanoes and there are (very brave) little villages on each one. This was where the indigenous Kaqchikel (who lived on one volcano) teamed up with the Spanish colonisers in the 16th C. to defeat their neighbours the Tz'utujils (who lived on another volcano). Of course, the Kaqchikel later got a "bun in their face" as my brother would say, when the Spanish promptly turned around and colonised them too.

With Marvin (back), our Chauffeur/Friend/Guide/English-Spanish Dictionary. Marvin is awesome.

 


The first evening, we decided to take in the sights on Calle Santander, a colourful street that closely resembled a Commercial St. gully. The people from the villages around Atitlan come here to sell their wares. I believe it was after a visit to Calle Santander that Shakespeare penned the now-famous phrase, "A foreigner and his money are soon parted."

"But.. but she's offering me such a good price for that baby!"

Sudeep Hegde embracing the wrong foreign culture.

Next: A visit to a Kaqchikel village.

P.S. No babies were sold in the making of this blog post.

Guatemala City, Guatemala.

An exceptionally foggy morning.

Little did I know when my friend Sudeep invited me to spend Thanksgiving with his cousins in Guatemala that it would turn out to be the most awesome trip I've ever taken. Wasn't it Shakespeare who said, "Few things in life are as dear as hospitable relatives who live in exotic locales"? Maybe not.

Sharing a border with Mexico, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador, Guatemala has a fabulously rich cultural heritage as a result of being the site of the birth and death of the legendary Mayan civilisation.











 

The Plaza Fontabella harkens back to the plazas of Old Europe.

A Spanish colony for over 300 years, Guatemala seriously put our communication skills to the test. Chanting "No entiendo" to everyone who wished us good afternoon was cute for only so long. With the aid of our trusty phrase-book and apologetic grimaces, we soon attempted to make intelligent remarks about the weather.

In many ways, Guatemala City itself is almost exactly what Old Bangalore would have looked like if it were surrounded by volcanoes (if only!). I, for one, think living in such idyllic surroundings is totally worth the 1 in 10 chance of being boiled in lava every 50 years.

Hello, Old Friend.

 Some sights were, of course, more familiar than others.

A distant cousin of the BTS bus.

Although the trip only lasted a week, the numerous side-trips, chronic lack of sleep, my otherwise DOA social life and my love of superlatives definitely make this the most exhausting week of my life.

The Christmas Tree is already up in the townsquare.

Our gracious hosts, Nitin & Shubha.

  More to come.