Where have all the hippies gone?

Trip Start Feb 23, 2008
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Trip End Aug 23, 2008


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Flag of Guatemala  ,
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Left Antigua early monday morning for Lago de Atitlan - a collapsed volcanic cone filled with water to a depth of more than 320m. The bus ride was uneventful and arrived at Panajachel by midmorning. The locals nickname this place Gringotenango (Place of the Foreigners) as it is one of Guatemalas oldest tourist hangouts and even today there are people who look like they have been here since the 60's. I wasnt staying here but across the lake in San Pedro La Laguna. I had met up with 3 Australians on the the bus so we headed across the lake together in the one of the many launches that travel between the different towns on the lake shore.
San Pedro is a small town built on the slope rising from the lake with a large volcano- Volcan San Pedro rising up behind the town. The next 3 days where spent wandering around town, finding a shady spot on the lake side and watching the local Mayans washing their clothes in the lake, fishing in the lake and even bathing in the lake.In the afternoon i would met up with the Australians in one of the bars overlooking the lake and listen to Bob Marley,  play cards and drink beer until we could decide where to eat. This would be repeated the next day.
One day i headed by boat to the village of Santiago Atitlan, just so the days didnt become too repetitive. This is a small village squeezed between 2 volcanos and clings to the traditional lifestyle and clothing of the Tz'utuhil Maya
Before i got here some people had said they didnt like Lago de Atitlan because of all the hippies, this was one of the reason why i wanted to come here. I thought it would remind me of my time in Dahab, Egypt back in the 1990's. San Pedro didnt disappoint it was Dahab on a lake but the hippy population was disappointing, where had they gone
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