It was nice having Bob's car - not only did it cut the time to the lake down by about an hour but the added flexibility of not being on a shuttle schedule was very convenient. We found a hotel with really nice beds and simple rooms (...and a rooster that crowed from 12AM to 8AM) for $5 a night. But they warned us on a poster that breaking any rules - including entering very late at night or drinking alcohol - would carry a mandatory punishment of 6 months to 2 years in prison depending on the severity of the offense.)
We rushed to Santiago on Saturday for a whirlwind tour of Maximon, a memorial for 13 civilians from Santiago murdered during the civil war, and a lookout spot over the lake. We walked the streets of Panajachel at night, using street food as dinner (gringa, tacos, cheesecake, and an Argentinian Empenada with Chimmy Churry or something on top - by far the best item I had this trip.) Then we hit up a couple bars including one popular tourist/ backpacker spot with some fire ball and chain performance and a bar partly made out of the inside of an old bus.
Today we got up early, had a cheap tipico breakfast (2.50$, drink included!) and took a boat over to San Pedro for an hour or so, getting a nice view of the central park there with it's fountain containing random marine life - crabs, fish, turtles, and one giant catfish.
Then it was off to Chichicastenango because today was market day, crossing 35 speed bumps in the 30 minute drive to the city (we counted, it was ridiculous.) The market was cool, but there was a lot of repetition/ trinkets. I'm always wary of buying/ gift buying stuff like that because you can't tell if it was hand made locally, made by machine in Guatemala, or shipped over from China (not awesome.)
On the way there and back we saw many political advertisements, mostly in the form of rocks painted a certain color. So, basically, it feels like the next president of Guatemala will be decided based on what everyone's favorite color is....
Photos on facebook
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