Day 12 Saturday 6th October: Large lake, small ladies and big smiles

John writes: yet again cloud covered volcanoes greeted our day but there was little wind and it was warm so a good morning for our boat trip. Hugo, our diminutive Mayan captain escorted us to the nearby jetty and we sped across a calm Lake Atatlan on our 4 hour trip to visit 3 different towns.

Sadly the spectacular lakeside scenery was hidden behind clouds but we still saw small towns and villages clinging to the sides of almost sheer cliffs with no apparent means of access.

Our first 2 stops were the small towns of San Juan La Laguna and San Pedro La Laguna; run down and each with a very steep street populated by tourist shops overflowing with tuk tuks, trash and trinkets.

One saving grace was the friendly Mayan welcome from everyone and especially the women and children with big smiles and friendly laughter.  This friendly lady tried to give Mike crabs!

Guatemala is very different to Costa Rica with the indigenous tribes making up over 50% of the country and almost 100% around Lake Atatlan. It felt like Lilliput – Mayan women are the shortest in the world with an average height of 4’6” and men about 5’2” so even I felt tall!! Many of the women appeared to be only 4 feet tall so the little girls we saw were probably in their mid twenties!

Our 3^rd stop was at Santiago Atitlan, a much larger town with some expensive looking property as we approached from the sea, which was a fascinating place and steeped in local Mayan traditions. Again a walk up the steep hill from the port through tuk tuks, trash and trinkets but this time opening out in to a local market with Mayan ladies selling many items and especially fruit and vegetables.

Above the market square was the old Spanish church Iglesia Santiago Apostol dating back to 1547!

Despite the friendly welcome people did not like having their pictures taken although Chris found a couple of his class mates who happily posed for old times sake.

Being shopped out, we sped back across the lake, before the afternoon winds grew too strong, for a very late lunch sheltering from a torrential rain storm.

A quiet evening tonight, planning our trip tomorrow visiting Mayan ruins and at least one active volcano, aiming to stay up for the Japanese Grand Prix tonight at 11pm.