San Marcos La Laguna

Years ago, my friend Monica suggested I become penpals with her mother, Clementina, to improve my Spanish.  Clementina sent me a postcard from Lake Atitlan, explaining its sacred significance to local Indigenous Mayan Kakchiquel.  I put the postcard on the refrigerator wistfully.  It was so unbelievably beautiful.  I didn't think I would ever see it in person.  It struck me how many awesome sights the earth holds.  How few of them have reached my awareness.  How few of them any of us experience.

One morning in Antigua, Kevin & I boarded a collectivo to Panajachel.  We were headed to the sacred waters of Atitlan.

Disembarking, I pinched myself.  I was seeing Atitlan!  I was there.

Panajachel is the first lake point from Antigua & Guatemala City.  As such, it's pretty developed, touristy, & sometimes seedy.  I knew we weren't going to stay there.  Tons of towns dot the lake's shores.  I'd read about a few of them.  I'd thought we would head to San Pedro, which is described as quieter than the larger Pana.  While in Tikal fellow travelers suggested we head to San Marcos.  I referred to my dog-eared Lonely Planet.  There was a short one paragraph description of little San Marcos.  This is why getting reccomendations on the road is essential.  In Pana we boarded a water taxi to San Marcos.

People kept asking us if we were riding chicken buses while in Guatemala.  We never did ride a chicken bus, but we did ride a few chicken boats.  The sweet grandmother next to me had a woven basket on her lap housing three quiet, clucking chickens.  She had a soft cloth napkin loosely over their heads.  

San Marcos is impossibly beautiful.  We did take water taxis to a few other towns dotting Atitlan.  None of them compared to the shifting light & depth of color found at San Marcos.  I don't know what composite has created the magic of San Marcos, but this place is indeed magic.

We were met at the dock by aggressive kids who wanted to tote our luggage for a fee.  I'm big on getting my bearings in a new place.  Firmly, respectfully, we declined all offers while making our way through the small footpaths to Aaculaax, the hotel our friends had suggested.

We love San Marcos.  We love Aaculaax.  So much, that of all the places I've visited I'm planning my first yoga retreat to this location.  I want to bring people I love to this majestic place.

Most days in San Marcos we woke early for a big beautiful & locally grown breakfast.

We walked to a good spot where we could lay, read, swim, & be sun-baked lizards.

At night we went to one of the wonderful restaurants.  Sometimes we caught some live music or a volleyball game.  We watched views like this:

On my birthday we hired a guide to take us on a hike to Jaibalito.

We stopped for lunch.  There was a pool you could use if you bought lunch.  I really love Guatemala.

My birthday is February 12.  Two days later, we decided to take a Valentine's Day hike up La Nariz de Indio.  We first took a water taxi to San Juan, where we could visit a women's weaving cooperative.

We still needed to get to Santa Clara, much further up steep mountains, to reach La Nariz. We asked about a chicken bus & were told that it may come but who knew when?  It would take awhile to get up the mountain due to stops.  We hired a tuk tuk.  It broke down en route.

Our resourceful driver worked it out.  Santa Clara is a small town on top of one of the mountains surrounding Atitlan.  There were beautiful farms and a small school.  This is very much a town where people live and work.  We found the trail head and began weaving up the summit.

OK, see that rickety fort at the summit?  When we arrived an entire class of school children also scampered up.  They had one or two mild & quiet teachers.  The kids all had machetes, the girls carried HUGE pots of beans on their heads, & apparently they were all part billy goat.  These trails are steep.  The summit is not large & obviously there are no guardrails.  The kids thought we were the best entertainment yet.  Apparently, Kevin reminded them of a Guatemalan cartoon character named "Mr. Pancho."  Plus, it was Valentine's Day.  They kept goading Mr. Pancho to kiss me.  They formed a line to take turns sitting on the one bench next to us.  It was really sweet, but because the falls were so steep I was truly scared that one of those kids would cause me to lose my balance & plummet off the cliff.  I asked Kevin to begin descending with me before the kids had finished lunch, so we wouldn't have to play tag with them while desperately staying connected to the trail.

Of course, as soon as we began moving they wrapped it up.  Next thing you know, a steady stream of mountain goat-children began racing past us. At least it was over quickly.  Those kids were impressive!

We passed this guy as we approached the trail head.  Huh.  It was late afternoon and there wasn't a bus in sight.  We had to somehow descend this mountain & get back to San Marcos before nightfall.  There weren't any taxis nor tuk tuks.  We began walking down the switch-back highway.  Rounding a curve a big open-bed truck filled with people stopped & offered us a ride for about $.10 each.  With few options we paid our fare & were aided by other passengers onto the standing room only truck bed.  Kevin wedged his feet on the bumper-- it was that packed.  As the truck gained speed around the curves I kept a steady mantra of "these people do this daily.  They're all still alive."  When I could breathe, watch the quickly passing views, & smile, it was actually fun!  We disembarked in a town near San Marcos.  Thankfully, this town was big enough where securing a taxi ride back to San Marcos was simple to find and negotiate.

Some say that certain places, times, or people have a special energy.  My travels make me a believer.  There's something in San Marcos that is special.  There's a quiet vibration and sweetness that make me want to honor & cherish it.  I met so many interesting people involved in great projects like barefoot acupuncture, building rocket stoves, creating composting systems to avoid lake pollution, building with trash since there's no government trash removal, making yoga accessible, or creating art through repurposed materials.

Dive in.