I left Huehuetenango on the morning of 13th November, and after a 3 hour trip along entertaining mountain roads reached a road junction where I had to change buses to get to Panajachel. The second bus duly showed up and lasted only a few km before it broke down! Eventually a replacement bus came to the rescue and by mid afternoon I was in Panajachel. This place is clearly very popular with foreigners – not only are there many backpackers but there seem to be a few gringo-owned business. Perhaps they are former backpackers who came, liked it, and decided to stay…
I found a decent hotel with hot water in the room, and did some clothes washing – I had run out of clean clothes 48 hours before!
I finally managed to buy some stamps to send off the latest postcards and letters that have have been writing. I had stamped them in Mexico before reaching the border on the basis that I would surely be able to post them at the border.. but there hadn’t been a post box or office. Mexican stamps therefore had to be swapped for Guatemalan stamps.
Later I went to an “expat” bar and chatted with a few travelers. I even poked my nose into a nearby “disco”, but didn’t stay too long. In the morning I decided to head on a boat trip across Lake Atitlán – something which had been recommended to me. It took me to the village of Santiago Atitlán which, though poor, was attractive, and definitely a cultural experience. I wandered the back streets taking a few candid shots of local people in the markets.
The camera I have with me is an Olympus XA, a tiny, but good quality, fixed focal length 35mm, with manual rangefinder focus, and F2.8 lens. I’m able to partially conceal it in the palm of my hand, which makes it great for taking people shots without them noticing. And it’s tough – a sliding piece completely covers the lens and other delicate parts when it is not in use, so I can just lob it in my little day backpack.
Returning on the boat from Santiago Atitlán to Panajachel I got talking to some French people with whom I then had lunch. Afterwards I wandered along the coast road near Panajachel and took a few more shots of the lake and the volcanos.
I have heard several people talking about the Spanish language schools in Antigua Guatemala (the original capital city) where you can have a full time private tutor for a week, at quite an affordable rate, along with lodging with a local family. I decided that Antigua would need to be the next stop, in order to check this out…
Hermosos paisajes! y excelente tu capacidad para captar la esencia del lugar con tus fotos!
I was wondering about what camera you used just before you revealed it. Very nice pictures! But taking pics of people when they don’t notice it – you sound like a crazy dude ?