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The Paupers of Panajachel
We took the shuttle from Antigua to Panajachel which took 3 hours, half an hour of which was spent at a rest stop on the top of a mountain. Here we observed some artisian stalls and a squirrel in a cage. Freezing temperatures and rain also greeted us atop the mountain. Charlie had not anticipated the shock weather change and so was insufficiently clothed. We worried that it would be horrible weather in Panajachel, but as we descended the mountain pass, we saw a cloudless blue sky and a shimmering lake ahead of us.
The moment we stepped off the minivan we were instantly harassed by hotel touts. We were so exasperated that we had to have lunch immediately before attempting accommodation search. Lisa even had a real Tofu burger! After lunch we set off to find our first choice hotel, which was up a little side street and centered around a beautiful garden. We settled in and were then told that we had to pay extra for hot showers (an essential staple in our daily lives!) We didn’t mind too much though as the setting was so nice. Nonetheless, we began hunting for cheaper accommodation in which to stay during our time at Panajachel.
The next day we moved into a lovely cheap (but very rustic) hotel called ´Hospedaje Mi Chosita`. It was run by a large Mayan family and was even cheaper than Raksheeta´s in Antigua! It was only 1 pound per night each for a private room and no extra charge for hot water. The room had a beautiful exterior wall interior feature and closely resembled a stable. It had one large double bed (with frustratingly stable penes) and a single army style bed. The money taken out in Antigua began to run low so we searched out an ATM but none of them seemed to be working. We walked round all of Panajachel and tried all of the ATMs possible but no money spouted forth. We had observed a large queue at an ATM the day before but failed to recognize it as a rare money receiving opportunity. Apparently there was a money shortage in the whole of Guatemala; something to do with the government printing more notes (The authors have no idea how this is a reasonable explanation). As the cold reality began to set in it was time for a plan formulation. We toyed with the idea of splitting and one going back to Antigua to get money, of both leaving Panajachel, and of prostitution. As you can see none of the above ideas was even entertained, except perhaps the latter. Lisa called in the Cavalry and decided to use her emergency American Dollars and change them into Quetzals so we could remain a bit longer.
Happy with money in our pockets Lisa immediately went to the only true vegetarian restaurant we have encountered on our travels and she enjoyed a huge, healthy and delicious feast. Panajachel´s main streets are lined with handicraft stalls so we practiced and refined our haggling skills and left many stall owners in tears (but we got bargains). On a few of the stalls we discovered some delightfully scary ´horror masks` (See pictures) which are actually some kind of balaclava thing but could just be Halloween masks.
On one day we visited the ´Reserva Natural Atitlan`, which was easily worth the 45Q entry. Not far down the path there was an observation platform from where we saw 3 rescued (ex-pet) spider monkeys in the trees, swinging, playing and leaping around. We sat watching them for a while and then wandered further round the jungle paths, on rickety bridges and in a butterfly house. There were some high wires from the top of the mountain to the bottom and you could pay to go down them like aerial runways. By the time we finished the walk we decided to splash out and give it a go. It only worked out at 5 pounds each. We had two guides that led us up the hill and as they didn’t know we had been up once before they let us stop at the observation platform. This time there were pisotes (the animals we saw in Tikal) as well as monkeys. There was a small war between the parties as one spider monkey was stretched out relaxing and sunbathing. A group of pisotes were snuffling around and occasionally breaking out into small squeek fights. This squeeking annoyed the resting monkey, which leapt up and chased the pisotes only achieving a larger louder round of hilarious squeeking. Our guides chivvied us away to start the much more important task of throwing ourselves off mountains. We didn’t speak to the guides much but Charlie somehow managed to cause confusion by telling them his name was Carlos in Spanish! The guides encouraged us to eat red berries off a plant but we were a little apprehensive and thought they were trying to poison us. Possibly due to an aversion to the name Carlos! Luckily it turned out they were under-ripe coffee beans and so far haven’t proved to be toxic! We were led to the first and highest platform for our first descent. One of the guides went first and then Charlie bravely followed. Instructions were difficult to understand so we tried the monkey-see-monkey-do approach. We had gardening gloves on but one was especially thickened to enable us to grab the wire to slow down without causing third degree burns. Lisa followed Charlie but forgot to break at the end and stopped by crashing headlong into the guide kulak. We had 6 descents that crossed over the jungle and waterfalls and a hideous hotel that had been painted green in an attempted to fit in to the surroundings but as you will see from the photos it is a hideous blot and quite sinister looking. Eventually Lisa learned not to use the kulak as a stopping device and engaged the glove! It was a fabulously exhilarating experience.
After our morning at the nature reserve, we visited the beautiful lake Atitlan where we planned to hire a pedalo. We had successfully bartered the price to an acceptable level the day before, but when we returned they had conveniently forgotten this and rejected our original offers. We left them without a sale, and five minutes later big storm clouds appeared overhead and the lake became decidedly choppy - lucky escape! The lakeside was also a favourite place for covert drug dealers who were met by us with the same level of enthusiasm we showed to the hundred of other peddlers of wares we encountered every day - i.e. no sale.
In the streets of Panajachel we saw our favourite character from Volcan Pacaya – BREE – still wearing her infamous white sunglasses with a shock of red hair. But there was something different in the hideous image – a polka dot blouse. We ignored her and she dutifully did the same. We met a new character, who was often spotted in the veggie restaurant. She had a mound on her head covered in white cloth with a not too distant resemblance of an octopus – now she is referred to as Octopus Head. Her dining partner also had an interesting head garnish and was referred to as Jellyfish Man, due to a mass of tentacle like dreadlocks. We spent many a happy our staring, pointing and laughing at our marine imitating friends.
On our travels, we discovered a book exchange and ventured inside to trade our books. We were met by a very plain looking American lady who gave us a very poor deal on our books. Luckily for us, there was a deliciously un-manned bookcase outside her shop with an honesty box, where we reaped our revenge on her stingy trade prices. Lisa now travels with a small mobile library that would rival any university.
We planned our return to Antigua using the local bus, which was half the price of the shuttle service we had used to arrive, and more comfortable.
Final Thoughts: A beautiful little lakeside town with good cheap food and plenty of stalls for bargaining with. Shame about the lack of cash.
Mark out of 10 = 6
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