Sunday 10 March. First stop of today is in Chichicastenango. Walk through the centre. Basically it’s one big market. See the very colourful cemetery and the white church. Locals come form the cities around to shop here. The ladies and girls still wear colourful dresses. Nice to see a bit of the local life. Tonight we stay in San Jorge La Laguna. A small town where we have a homestay. Our family has a disabled son who speaks English. Easier than talking with his parents. He tells about his family and his swimming. He won many medallions and is in a movie of the village. Later we have dinner with the parents and try our best Spanish. Have to confess my Spanish is less than basic. Franzi is doing a bit better. I think we understood most of it. She “has” to wear a traditional outfit. Dinner is corn. Corn soup, corn paste, hot corn drink. The chicken leg in the soup complets it.
Monday at 6 am see the sunrise from the rooftop. Beautiful view on Lake Atitlán. Clear sky and a good view of the volcanos. Breakfast at 7:30 am. Beans with banana and tortillas. Kind of watery very sweat coffee with it. Not too bad. In Panajachel we take the boat to the other side of the lake. To San Pedro la Laguna. A small Mayan town, where we do a cultural tour. See paintings and bees making honey. The bees here are very small and look more like flying ants. And they can’t sting. So different. See some coffee plantation, a demonstration of how they colour the cotton and weave it. Of course, you can buy it all. Still an interesting tour. Back on the lake, the afternoon winds are starting and the lake is a bit rougher. Tonight we finish the day with star gazing at the lake.
