FIRST DAY ON LAKE ATITLAN

SUNDAY 31ST JANUARY

The journey up to Gatwick from home at 4.00am was without incident.  The Thomson plane was a large Dreamliner with enough legroom filled with Cancun bound families and couples heading for the beach front hotels.  The journey was delayed due to a software problem for about an hour on the runway but we more or less caught up.  The trip was at 40,000 feet and over 600 miles an hour - we flew across the bottom of Greenland and then down the east coast of USA then across the gulf at Florida.  The trip to Cancun was about 10 and half hours and was over 5,000 miles.  Cancun was cloudy, grey and muggy.  We passed through endless queues and form filling and handing in to move from arrivals to departures on Volaris to Guatemala - 1 hour 20 mins in the dark.  in the airport we tried our first Mexican snack in a type of McDonald's place - John and I had burritos with frijoles and pico de gallo sauce - Moira had tacos.  We flew into Guatemala City in the dark and waited for Hank to pick us up in his beat up old vow camper outside the airport - The airport is a mere 5 min drive away.

Behind the high walls, the dos Lunas is a convenient and friendly place run by Guatamalan Lorena and her Dutch husband Hank who she met 15 yrs ago in London.  Very tired so to bed.  Apparently the volcano has been spectacular near Antigua over the past couple of weeks- look forward to seeing that towering over Antigua tomorrow.

THURSDAY 4TH FEB: LAKE ATITLAN - SANTA CRUZ DE LA LAGUNA - HOTEL LA IGUANA PERDIDA

The alarm went off this morning in Antigua at 5.15 am and we were soon up and round the corner to Panaderia Colombia which as well as a bakery serves as a travel agency.  We had a breakfast of the weakest coffee I have ever tasted and croissant and awaited our fellow travellers to muster.  We were then led across the difficult cobbled streets to the bus station.  I was glad I had my rucksack to carry as Moira dragged her bag up and down steps.  Anyway we got there and were graced by the appearance of the volcano free of mist for the first time before we boarded our bus.

We had been told the night before that the bus we were booking was not the public chicken bus but a tourist bus that travelled directly to Atitlan.  We were very glad to have paid only £3 each for the ticket.  However, as the time approached for the bus to arrive, it began to dawn on us that maybe our bus was not a tourist bus - and we were right - a shaky old chicken bus lumbered up and we knew - when it was too late - so here we were about to take exactly the transport everyone had told us not to take - at least there were a few other foreigners getting on as well as us.

There was the driver and a stocky little chap who was the conductor cum luggage storer.  He checked our tickets and mounted the ladder up the back of the bus and gesticulated for us to throw him our luggage - so up on the roof went our prized rucksacks and Moira moaned as her bag hit the rooftop - oh I'll bet that was my Chanel number 5!

The bus was solid and powerful and although it had great difficulty getting into first gear, making a terrible grating noise that all the bus groaned at in sympathy, once going it went like the clappers.  The seats were ancient brown faux leather benches but quite wide and comfy except that you slid easily from side to side as the bus cornered at speed on the hairpin bends as we shot up hills and down ravines.  The bus stopped at any place - seemingly pre arranged and the stocky chap jumped off to place luggage or help folk on or off.  Building materials were stacked high on our roof and were loaded and offloaded at random businesses along the route.  Moira shared her seat with a guitar toting local and then on several occasions another passenger joined her - since she took up less space than the average bottom - and as we swung around corners we all clung on for dear life - you get to know your neighbours quite quickly in such a situation!

Then the sellers started to get on - they would come on in one village and dismount a couple of villages farther on.  The first one had chopped fruit in plastic bags - melons and pineapple and papaya - all being chopped and prepared along the roadside - the next one was a hot basket of tortillas stuffed with cheese and ham and hot banana bread - delicious!

We travelled through rich agricultural land growing maize and brassicas.  At first we were in a light mist and then as we climbed we came through the cloud level and got the most arresting view of our Antigua volcano floating above a sea of cloud - blue sky above and, as we were just turning to go down the next ravine to lose it from sight, it belched out a great puff of smoke as if to say goodbye to us - breathtaking sight!

From then on it was down to Solola and steeply down to the lake below with its volcanoes barely visible in the haze.  We were dropped off at the top of Panajachel which is a big commercial town full of tourist shops and we walked down the cobbled street to the ferry dock - Moira gave up eventually and put her bag in a tuk tuk for 50p and we met her at the bottom.  We were assaulted by lads trying to get our business on a launch and eventually chose one for £1 each to take us to our village a couple of stops away at Santa Cruz de la Laguna.  The launch was fast and the lake was still  and shimmering in the sunshine - an idyllic day to take a cruise in an idyllic place - We arrived at our stop and our hotel - LA IGUANA PERDIDA was literally beside the jetty.  While we waited for our rooms to be prepared - we drank a Gallo and ate a welcome salad - the first we dared eat this holiday - delicious - keeping our fingers crossed.

Just sending you something so you know we are still alive and well as we have no wifi in our hotel - having a great time - on the lake Atitlan today we caught a launch to a pretty town called San Juan La Laguna - lovely handmade textiles - just having a home made coffee in a cafe