A well deserved rest in San Pedro

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  Panajachel, Western Highlands, Guatemala
Sunday, September 7, 2008

I left Xela after a quick pitstop at the local ´Walmart´ (Hyperpais) where I managed to pick up a new camera unusually cheaper than that on Amazon. I put aside initial skeptism of my bargain as I was buying it from a Radioshack franchise and thought that was as best as any gurantee was gonna get in Guatemala.

After saying Adios to my ´family´, one of the daughteers gave me a lift to the bus terminal so I could catch the direct chicken bus to San Pedro. Before finding the correct bus I had to endure an instance of that well known Guatemalan game ´Lets try and shaft the gringo´ for 15 minutes. Even though I understood the bus touts and they understood me I was told on a number of occasions that there was no direct bus. Obvious bullsh$t as each eaqch tout gets paid by commission on number of passengers on the bus and its always an opportunity to up te price 5Q for travellers. After a couple of tug of wars with my bag and a few stern words I was pointed to the correct bus by one honest jose and I was on my way...

Leaving Xela felt really good even though it was raining, as it felt like my journey was beginning in earnest. The tranquility, and beauty of San Pedro would be a good place to reenergise after a tough 2 week slog and eat a decent meal rather than two sevings of frioles and eggs twice a day.

The journey wasn´t as spectacular as previous due to the drizzle and clouds consuming the lake but I was still happy to return. Within 10 minutes of sitting in the Alegre Pub watching Guatemala scrape a 1-1 draw with Trinidad and Tabago..(awful standard) I met Nick, the Barman of the Hostel Jirachik who gave me the lowdown on San Pedro. Apparently dorm prices had been slashed to a meagre 15Q (about a quid) and therefore the bargain hunter in me decided that Jirachik was good choice again. The first night was spent at the hostel´s bar sipping a couple of cuba libres, whilst chatting shite and flicking through the hostel´s music portfolio. It seems that a lot of people head to San Pedro for a couple of days and end up staying for weeks on end ...I could have done this quite easily to but knew that I had other stuff I wanted to do before holing up somewhere for a while. Hostel Jirachik should be renamed Hotel California as I ended up staying extra nights than anticipated...literally eating, drinking, reading, playing chess with the owner Mark¨(I won - Beware Dan I´m awesome!), listening and sharing music. No doubt there are better looking places to stay in San Pedro but Jirachik has a great vibe as a result of good staff (Nick, Mark, Simon et all). My one active pursuit in San Pedro was a hike up to aptly named Indian´s Nose which gave great views of the lake and was a damn sight cheaper than paying for a guide to hike Volcan San Pedro...I finally left San Pedro grudgingly but knew there are more great places like this I will stumble upon..  

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