Well since my trip to Nicaragua in the next two weeks may have to be scrapped due to their current "instability", I find myself reminiscing about my trip to Guatemala around this time last year. If you haven't gone already, I suggest you do because it is definitely worthwhile and many places to check out.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| weather and relaxing atmosphere | hippies |
| the people of Guatemala | panhandling hippies |
| volcano hikes and adventure activities in general | hippies spinning toys in the air |
| cheap | |
| gorgeous scenery | |
| plenty of history and sites to see |
As to the Cons, they are usually only in Lake Atitlan. I have friends and family members who could be labeled hippies and I love them but once their numbers skyrocket, I can only hold on for so long.
Lake Atitlan
The lake along with the villages dotting the perimeter made the destination a definite "go to" spot. Each village has it's own style and all worth visiting. The price for a boat at the dock to go to the different villages is fairly cheap. I stayed in San Pedro which was a little more livelier than the smaller ones. Usually you can grab a direct shuttle from Antigua to go to San Pedro. The road leading down to San Pedro sort of blows but it is an experience in itself. I visited San Juan and San Marcos and all worth the visit. Just remember to not walk between towns on the road because more than likely you will get robbed. We were told you have to be with another indigenous resident and you will be fine. They seem to run by their own indigenous code of laws. We did pass a group of "banditos" and our tour leader pointed them out.
They also have some cool artwork in the back alleys of San Pedro
Morning Hike to Indian Nose
I did a number of activities while at Lake Atitlan but my top one was the Indian Nose Hike. Warning, you do have to wake up fairly early for it if you want to do the sunrise hike. 3am or 4am I think was the time we had to wake up. It wasn't really much of a grueling hike though and most of it was driving up the mountain. The hike itself was only about 45 minutes to an hour but the views were amazing. There is also some dude just hanging out making coffee so that was a plus. We call that man a "go getter"
There is plenty more to do around the lake and this was just one activity I found interesting. I also went on a bike tour between the towns(with a guide of course), wandered around the towns while checking out the cool artwork, cliff jumping, and just relaxing by the lake because it definitely has that atmosphere. Oh and got drunk.
