Hostal Via del Lago San Pedro La Laguna

... s viewpoint of the lake, especially at sunrise. It´s called the Indian Nose because from down below, the mountains are shaped like a sleeping Indian if looking at him from the side, his nose being the highest point. Agencies will try to see you a tour to the Indian Nose but we had heard from other travelers that you can do it without, so that´s what we opted for. Our group consisted of me, Farrah, Jake, Sophie, Gustav & Anna (a couple from Sweden). We took the ...

... got a tuktuk to take us to the other side of town to a lovely place with hammocks overlooking Lake Atitlan. This evening the village kids came calling for their candies. We dumped 4 bags of candy on them and the women who came to get theirs.

... touristy, hippie paradise I have ever been. It was quite funny because San Pedro was obviously discovered by a bunch of travellers in the 60s, and there are a fair few slightly ageing looking hippies walking around who have obviously just got too comfortable and never really found the time to leave. The hostel we stayed at was quite small and simple, but had a big kitchen and we met some really amazing people, and formed our own ...

... even work there! Loved it. Point of the story, everyone thinks they can help, and it was highly amusing to watch about 30 men try and come up with the best way to haul this truck out of there, despite the fact that I am sure the tow truck crew is perfectly competent at its job. I am pretty sure all this ¨advice added about an hour on to our waiting time. <br><br>Finally the wreck was out of the way and the buses were on their way again. I looked around for my fellow ...

... turned up! It was great! Thanks to my e-mail advise they had actually managed to get away with paying just 10 Q - howcome I couldn't do that?<br><br>Saturday night La Iguana has a great tradition of having all the guests and employees dress up - preferably cross-dressing. The owners bought some old clothes from a vintage store and there is loads to choose from. I ended up in some ugly clothes, but as I did not really look like a man, I decided that my alter ...

... in a friends house in Costa Rica for a few months before making their way to South America. Nicky had gone walkabout on his own and we all rendevouzed later for dinner and after dinner chats back at the hotel. <br><br>We went as a group for breakfast the next morning and wanted to sit looking out at the lake. We found a place recommended by the Lonely Planet. Unfortunately it was another one of those places that once their name is in the LP, they slide in ...

... and sat down after about 20 minuets it was just me and an Amy guy with an AK47 who was guarding the place.<br><br>I felt good enough about leaving my stuff for a minute to find a taxi and 10 minutes latter I was at my hotel mission accomplished. <br><br>My room was good the hotel was great for 22.00 US a night but I need to find an apartment

... br>At the end of the afternoon we moved on to the lakeside town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. This somewhat quaint town has a beautiful vista of cliffs on one side and the lake surrounded by three volcanoes on the other. Because we arrived after dark and we were tired from a long day at the market all we did was check into the hotel (which is quite a bit more rustic than the last) and walk into the center of town for some dinner. Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring.

... for our luggage which was being held up due to an accident on the road to San Pedro from Xela. We took it in turns to go hunting for accommodation and eventually settled for the Hotel Tolmain a basic hotel which at least had beds and running water in which to shower. I soon found out the tan I thought I had been developing over the last three days out in the open washed off.. but at least I felt clean.<br><br>San Pedro attracts a strange breed of tourists. I think people ...

... there. We were able to see part of the San Pedro volcano. It seems that May is not a good month to see the volcanoes since it is cloudy most of the time, but anyhow it is still an amazing view. <br><br>The first impressions of Panajachel is that it is the typical main town. it is the It has all the banks, lots of commerce, and noise.... and as usual in Guatemala, lots and lots of tuc-tucs (3-wheel taxi). Anyone that comes to atitlan lake will ...