Getting out of Antigua to Lake Atitlan for a bit

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It was about time we got out of Dodge for a while. I have been telling Myung about Panajachel and San Pedro La Laguna ever since I stayed there for three weeks waiting for her to leave China. So, that seemed like a good place to go. We only spent six days there, but that’s enough to get the picture.

Myung took a load of photos, most of which are very much like the ones I posted last August while I was there. In addition to the ones you will see below, you can see the ones I took last year by clicking on the August 2013 link on the right.

I got pretty bored in San Pedro by the time my wait was over, For a week, though, Lake Atitlan is a good place to go. It could be good for a longer time if you had a project like a language  Or meditation course. Or, a lot of people go and never leave, sort of like Antigua.

Like Antigua, it’s easy for people from developed countries to kick back and live the good life on the cheap. I think this photo Myung took is kinda poignant. Here we are, doing self-improvement or whatever with our seemingly endless free time. Regular Guatemalans live in poverty, too chronically malnourished to grow tall, too disadvantaged and backward to escape their existence. This woman is probably sitting there all day under the self-help signs hoping to earn a couple of dollars selling bananas.

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I don’t want to dwell on it, but in some countries, once you leave your sheltered vacation or retirement situation, the reality of life for the vast majority sometimes gets to you. The interesting looking people in my pictures look interesting for a reason. As the old Kingston Trio song, Poverty Hill, said:

“They say we have beautiful faces as grainy as wood. Yeah, they’d like to live here of all places if only they could.
Well, we don’t get those wood, grainy faces from livin’ too good.  It’s the rocks and the sun and dust and the heat. It’s too much of work and too little to eat.”

Of course, we went to the Chichicastenanga market. There was a funeral at the church where the flower sellers are.

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Here are good pictures of the folks with those wood, grainy faces around the market.

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Here’s out on the street.

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Back in Panajachel, it’s still a nice place for us to be.

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For me, San Pedro was basically good for a selection of good places to go out to eat. I enjoyed the Saturday morning all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for five bucks, and a nice place serving Guatemalan and Thai food. Again, go to August 2013 for many pictures. Here’s a couple of pics I like just ‘cuz I like ’em. First is the approach to the San Pedro dock from the boat yhou take from Pana. The second is just some ladies washing clothes and some people hanging out on another pier.

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One day we strolled around San Marcos. That’s the hippie dippy new age spot (also where the woman in the very first picture was selling bananas). It’s nice, for sure. This would be a good table to have some of he French food this restaurant has.

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Or, you could go to this Japanese place for a Full Moon party/kimbap (sushi roll) fest. These Japanese people are rolling them up for later.

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Here’s the Pyramid Garden Meditation Center. I am not kidding when I say visitors here have bought the ranch. When I was here before, they were still mining the end of that Mayan calendar tunnel. There are some faded remnants around town from that phase.

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We came back today. It’s a basic three hour chicken bus ride from there to Antigua. It took about three minutes to settle back in. Felix is doing a job in England for a few weeks. Annie works days at the chocolate factory. Norm bets on horse races online. Bisquit chews things. He especially likes big bones.

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And we’re fine, just too cute for words.

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Be well, all of you.

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