May 14-17
A four hour bus ride through the mountains took us to the lovely little town of San Pedro, which overlooks Lake Atitlan. On the bus we met Corina, from Austria, who joined us for some of our adventures. After finding food and accomodation we hired some kayaks and set out on the lake. What started out as a nice relaxing paddle soon became incredibly difficult! On the way out the water was flat, but then the wind picked up and suddenly there were big waves and a strong current (going against us of course)...then the rain started! Needless to say, it was a VERY good workout.
We went to a lovely lake-view restaurant for dinner, where we ate some very disappointing pad thai. So naturally we had a second dinner.. Pupusas! El Salvadorian street food. This might be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten... Basically they made a tortilla, but before cooking it filled it with chicken, cheese, veges and beans. Ohhhh my god. Amazing. And only $1.50! The rest of the evening we spent at a bar, listening to live music.
Our second day in San Pedro, Ryoko and I went zip lining! The journey there (an hour and a half!) was on a 'chicken bus' which is basically a dodgy local bus. Dodgy because tourists often get robbed. But we had a guide with us so I felt quite safe. We began our zipline halfway up a mountain. The first zip line was 150m long. This took us to another mountain, where we had a strenuous walk up some stairs to find our second zipline. This one was a LOT higher, longer, faster and scarier. The 400m ride took us back to the first mountain and we got an incredible view over the lake on the way.
The journey back to San Pedro was interesting, to say the least! It was going to be more than an hour until the next chicken bus, so instead we hopped on a shuttle bus. Yes, on..not in. The bus was full, so we rode on the roof, using people's luggage as seats. Fun! Then when that bus came to its end, we got in a 'taxi' - which involved standing in the back of a crammed ute. Then eventually we arrived in a small town where we got into a tuk tuk. So I think we've now checked off just about every possible form of transportation!!
Later that afternoon we had a look around the outer parts of town. We stumbled across a gorgeous little (barely standing) pier.
It was a beautiful spot, surrounded by buildings that had been swallowed by the lake. Apparently the water levels are constantly rising, and so houses and businesses are gradually becoming a part of the lake!
In the evening we relaxed in the solar pools, watching the sun go down by the lake with a few drinks.
On our last day in San Pedro, Ryoko and I got up ridiculously early to do a sunrise tour. With the same guide as the day before, we hopped on another (very crowded) chicken bus at 4am. We arrived, in the dark, at a little village where we began walking through a field. The path quickly become steep and unstable. The treturous half hour walk led us to an amazing viewpoint, where we could see the whole lake lit up pink and orange by the beautiful sunrise.
While we admired the view Volcan de Feugo started erupting again! I love it!
After sunrise we walked back into the village and our guide showed us around the market, pointing out various fruits and vegetables that were foreign to us. We had chicken for breakfast (as you do?!) and headed back to San Pedro to nap.
Further north we go...
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