22/2/10 - day 75.

another really poor nights sleep. my attempts at manufacturing a pillow out of garmnets proved fruitless as well, so i was pretty tired when i got up about half 9. went down to the dock where regular little motorboats leave for the other lakeside villages. i was going to san marocs la laguna, and a boat was just about to to leave when i got there so i hopped on. the view across the lake was much clearer compared to the last couple days. there were no clouds and could see the volcanoes on the other side. it looked awesome. the boat took about 40 mins to get to san marcos, stopping at 3 other villages along the way.

when i got there, 2 little kids insisted on showing me to a hostel. they knew them all so whichever one i named and said i wanted to go to, they walked along a few paces infront of me to give the illusion they were guiding me. i knew they'd want a tip when we got somewhere but i couldnt stop the lil... tykes... from coming with me. i ended up at a place called "Xaman'ek". it was high up on what was apparently san marcos' sacred hill overlooking the lake, and was probably the most laid-back, peaceful setting ive ever been in.

i annoyed the kids cos i didnt have any change for them as a tip. i genuinely would have given them something if id had it though. begrudgingly, but i would have done it! they looked well annoyed but i didnt care as i never asked for their help!! after a shower i went for food at the moon fish cafe just a 2 minute walk away. san marcos is pretty small, about 2000 people live there, there's one proper road that comes into it, but apart from that there's just little footpaths snaking between everywhere. in the centre there is a school, a church and the odd shop. consequently, there's very few cars, just a few mototaxis, and therefore very little noise. it actually has a reputation of being a bit og a hippie village. lots of people come here for yoga, meditation, spiritual healing and all that sort of thing. i can see why they choose this as the setting, because as ive said, very peacful place.

back to the hostel after food, and chilled out there for the rest of the day. i dont know if it was the precautionary motion sickness pill i took prior to the boat ride, or the lack of sleep, or the setting, but i couldnt keep my eyes open as i lay in a hammock in the sun, and fell asleep for over 2 hours. when i woke up, i thought i better do something - so i moved to another chillout area they had setup. it was decked out with beanbags, more hammocks and massive cushions. i lay there reading until dinner time. ambled down to moon fish cafe again and had tofu, brown rice, brown garlic bread and salad. they didnt have a great choice but you couldnt fail to leave there having eaten healthily!

back to the hostel afterwards and was in bed by 10pm.