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Update From Lago Atitlan, GuatemalaJust a quick update... Took a 24 hour, 3 bus marathon trip from Mexico City to Antigua, where, for a few days, I basically relaxed and read and wrote. Interesting town nestled between three volcanoes and loaded with colonial architecture and earthquake-ruined churches. Most nights I sat in the main plaza, anchored in the center by a 20 foot, multi-tiered fountain and watched children play and lovers love and listened to the decoratively clad Guatemalan mariachi bands. My last night in town, I was walking through the plaza, and a strange red light above the town caught my attention. I looked closer and it was a lava field flowing down the mountain, topped by frequent explosions ejecting fireballs into the air like fireworks. I sat and watched the spectacle above town for the next two hours. The next morning I took a bus to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, also a huge volcanic crater, but inactive at present. Sat next to a monk from an order I won't name and listened to his spiritual practices and beliefs for two and a half hours. It was extremely interesting and probably even enlightening. Panajachel, or Pana, is the jumping off point for the villages around Lake Atitlan, many of which are accessible only by foot or boat. First morning in Pana, over eggs and coffee, I read that the volcano in Antigua had just been put on yellow alert. After a few days in Pana, I visited several of the villages by boat, ultimately settling in one of the smallest, Santa Cruz. There I stayed for about four days, spending my days hammock-stretched beneath thatched hut next to the lake. In the late afternoons, clouds rolled in on the other side of the lake obscuring the looming volcanoes and distant shores and the winds blew stiffly head on, creating pounding waves against the rocks and giving the impression of being at the beach. The place where I stayed had no electricity and meals were by candlelight. Felt my first earthquake here as well. Made a friend here, we hit it off, and he invited me to hike to San Marcos and stay there for a few days, so I did. San Marcos is in a tropical valley on the lake, covered with large trees, many bearing fruit, and crisscrossed with snaking foot trails that take some time to figure out, especially in the black of night. Stayed in a house at the top of the village, and the village was on the highest ridge, so the walk home at night was more like a 30 minute workout on a stair machine. The house had large portions of its walls and roof busted out in irregular patterns and the floor was gravel and growing throughout the floor were several gardens and the shower was a garden hose with very cold water and the wind blew through at night and the dogs barked and the roosters crowed…and I loved every second of it…definitely the coolest way Ive ever lived. Now I'm in Pana again and plan to embark in the morning for the more wild places of Guatemala. Hope this finds you well. With love, Eric |