24 August: Panajachel and San Pedro

Slept pretty well last night in the little room we were given by our hosts. We got up for breakfast at half 7 and discovered Jorge, our 10 year old tour guide (and the only one that spoke a decent amount of English) had gone to school. Oh fuck. Cue awkward breakfast, with smiles every time someone caught another persons eye. We tried to ask about the political situation here in Guatemala, as they've got an election coming up in September and there's quite a bit of unrest between the government and the people (the Vice President has just been put in jail for corruption and they're trying to do the same with the president), but the family didn't really understand our questions and so we went back to silence... 

We waved goodbye to San Jorge la Laguna and started working our way back up into the mountains. Luckily our hotel was going to be ready when we got there so we could go back to bed if we wanted. I didn't go back to sleep but I did do some writing and watched a bit of Seinfeld, then I met the others to go catch a ferry to San Pedro.

The plan was to swim in this lake but we were advised not to because of the algae you can see in it

After being a complete tourist and getting snapped in front of the volcanoes and admiring the view, we managed to haggle and worm our way into getting a private ferry (for the same price and half the travel time than the public ferry).

It's very hilly in San Pedro and once we'd finished lunch; myself and Kelly decided to explore and see what was about. Fuck me this was exhausting, I was huffing and puffing by the time we got three quarters of the way up haha.

Not sure about other people but I didn't buy anything whilst there, it was more of the same stuff you get everywhere in Guatemala. I spent my money on lunch and cocktails by the lake. Standard.

Around 3 o'clock, we headed back to our boat and decided we'd go for another drink once we got back to Panajachel. We didn't (well we did a lot later) but instead we spent a good hour or so stopping at every single shop and market stall that lines the street up to our hotel. This is where my purse took a battering. 

We did head out for a few beers before dinner (thank god because I needed to be drunk to handle the dinner we had). 

So when we arrived in the restaurant there were traditional Guatemalan tops draped over the backs of our chairs (first warning) being drunk though we all embraced it.

Then came the introduction from the restaurant owner, he was lovely but did love the sound of his own voice... He told us we were going to learn about his culture and the origin of all the food and music and there would be the chance to win prizes (second warning). He then went on to say that they were preparing everyone a typical Guatemalan dish and they recommended everybody have it, and then he muttered something about looking at the menu if they really had to. He then asked for the vegetarian to make themselves known (just me) and offered me a choice of lasagne or a plate of vegetables. I took the lasagne.

The restaurant owners daughters providing the music

It was a really good night and I couldn't fault the food, I just felt that it all seemed a bit too money-orientated. Plus I'm a moody sod who likes to eat her dinner in peace and not have to enter tortilla-making competitions and sing songs while the owner waves a tambourine in my face...

XOXO