David, the boat driver, picked me up at 6 am this morning. He put me, my luggage and my boxed breakfast from the hotel into the boat for a ride across the lake to the hiking start point.
The hike was really nice. There's an ancient trail around the entire lake that is still used by the villagers today. Many of the villages along the lake can only be reached by boat or trail. We passed villagers carrying huge loads of firewood on their backs. The trail goes in front of private people's houses so it will change from dirt to a nice cement or stone path to some boards over the water and back to dirt. We hiked about 2 hours to the town of San Juan.
The lake is surrounded by steep mountains and dormant volcanoes. The villages farm the steep fields - corn, coffee, fruits, etc.
San Juan is an artisan village for chocolate, coffee, painting, textiles, ceramics and wood working. Unlike the tourist shops in Antigua, you can meet the actual artists or even have a lesson. Here I am making cotton thread.
After the hike and village visit, I returned to Guatemala City for my flight to Flores. For those keeping track, that is 4 different hotels in 4 nights. Even that's a bit too much for me. Things slow down a bit from here. I spend 2 nights at the next hotel and 3 at the last one. "Packing bags" is the answer to how I stay sane going to so many different hotels.
As I said before, I love talking to the guides to learn about their country. 3 topics always come up:
View from the balcony of my room
The hike was really nice. There's an ancient trail around the entire lake that is still used by the villagers today. Many of the villages along the lake can only be reached by boat or trail. We passed villagers carrying huge loads of firewood on their backs. The trail goes in front of private people's houses so it will change from dirt to a nice cement or stone path to some boards over the water and back to dirt. We hiked about 2 hours to the town of San Juan.
The lake is surrounded by steep mountains and dormant volcanoes. The villages farm the steep fields - corn, coffee, fruits, etc.
San Juan is an artisan village for chocolate, coffee, painting, textiles, ceramics and wood working. Unlike the tourist shops in Antigua, you can meet the actual artists or even have a lesson. Here I am making cotton thread.
After the hike and village visit, I returned to Guatemala City for my flight to Flores. For those keeping track, that is 4 different hotels in 4 nights. Even that's a bit too much for me. Things slow down a bit from here. I spend 2 nights at the next hotel and 3 at the last one. "Packing bags" is the answer to how I stay sane going to so many different hotels.
As I said before, I love talking to the guides to learn about their country. 3 topics always come up:
- What do I do for a living? When I tell them that I'm an engineer for Google then they always tell me how Google has changed their life in some way. It seems that they call it "Saint Google" here in Guatemala.
- New York City. Either they've been there that one time or they want to go. Lots of questions.
- Trump. They can't rationalize the nice people from the states they meet with the election of Trump. How did the same people elect Trump? They are upset that the United States is not leading anymore. This one is always the hardest to answer.
It was a 3 hour long ride from the lake back to the airport. I loved the lake but I don't think it was worth the detour.
Pictures of the hotel
View from the balcony of my room
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