Weekend Trip to San Marcos

From Guatemala to Antigua
Friday, Sept. 7

After Beth got home from school, we finished packing up for the weekend and took a cab back over to school to meet up with our neighbors, Matt and Amy. From there, we all rode the bus over to Zone 10 to hang out, have dinner, and catch our shuttle to Antigua. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Trae Fratelli, and all had margherita style pizza and split a bottle of red wine. Afterwards, we all donned our rain coats (it was pouring for a good while by then) and scuttled over to the staff favorite bar, Cheers. This bar is owned by a Canadian, and is a great little spot with fun music and lots of TVs and satellite where you can catch just about any sporting event. As it turned out, Fabio, a principal at the school, and a really great guy, was already there enjoying a drink (he was in Zone 10 earlier booking a shuttle to El Salvador for his weekend get-away). So we saddled up next to him and killed some more time before heading back out to get on the shuttle.

Our driver met us at the Camino Real, a gigantic, luxury hotel (where George Bush recently stayed while he was traveling through the area). Thankfully, our driver was only a half hour late. But before we could head out, we first had to pick up another two people at the airport and drop another two off at a hotel. It all took quite a while, so we didn't make it in to Antigua until a little after 10:30. We did find our hotel relatively easily, and it was a much nicer and quieter place than our last one we stayed in. Everyone was pretty tired, plus we had to be up early for our next shuttle, so we all went straight to bed.


From Antigua to Panajachel to San Marcos
Saturday, Sept. 8
We met up with Matt and Amy around 7 a.m. and went in search of breakfast. We found a nice little restaurant nearby and were the first patrons of the day. The place had good coffee, generous portions, and cheap prices. I had a scrambled egg sandwich with a side of black beans. Beth had some granola cereal.

After breakfast, we trekked over to meet our shuttle (which was taking us to Panajachel--about two+ hours away, where we would then take a boat to San Marcos, our final destination) at another hotel called The Black Cat. The driver pulled up nearly on time with an already-full mini van. There was some confusion over Beth and me since we didn't have a true, paper confirmation to show. Amy had just verbally confirmed over the phone with someone that there would be room. I really didn't think we would be able to take the van, but, being in Guatemala, the driver found room for us and our stuff. Beth, Amy, and Matt squeezed in to the back, and I squeezed in to the front with the driver and another passenger. The top of the bus was LOADED with everyone's gear. I think there were 14 or 15 people people total.

Thankfully the driver realized how laden with weight the vehicle was, and he took it very easy, averaging 30 mph the whole way (I'm not kidding). He took every turn super slowly and was careful never to pick up much speed. So, none of our stuff rolled off the top and somehow we made it to Panajachel in decent time, despite the tortoise-like pace. I was so relieved that he was a cautious driver, as throughout the whole trip, we would see chicken bus after chicken bus barreling down the curvy roads just barely maintaining control. We would never ride one of those cross-country, so don't worry!

Along the way, I enjoyed talking with the guy sitting next to me. Jacob was from Tennessee but went to Columbia College, and was now doing a two-year Peace Corps stint in a little village near the Mexican border. He is assisting with their city government, which is pretty neat. Jacob was very affable and had lots of good info to tell me about Guatemala, including the politicians involved in the current presidential election.

We got in to Panajachel (where we had traveled to a few weeks prior for some shopping) around noon and were dropped off by the boat docks. We had many offers to take us on a speedier, more expensive private boat, but we opted for the $2.61/person public boat. This was my least favorite part about the trip. The boat had four or five benches and a low roof overhead. So, we filed in and waited while more people came to fill out the boat. It was fairly crowded and it made me feel claustrophobic with the low roof and that fact that it was on water. Thankfully there are open windows beside you, so all along I was planning my and Beth's escape should the boat capsize. I did get really uncomfortable as we waited to depart when the boat started heavily leaning to one side. I really thought if it went a bit more we'd start taking on water and be in trouble. Luckily nothing like that happened.

To get to San Marcos, we had to make five or six stops beforehand to drop people off at different lake towns. In all, it probably took 35 minutes for us to finally get to San Marcos. But the wait was worth it! Once docked, we grabbed our gear and headed in to the town along a narrow path that is covered on both sides by dense trees and foliage.


As it turned out, the whole town (really it's more like a village) was like that; everywhere you went was just a narrow walking path in the middle of the forest that opened up to restaurants, hotels, shops, massage and holistic centers, etc. I never saw a single car or true road, though there may have been an area like that farther up. It was great!

To give you a better idea, our travel guide describes San Marcos as "Guatemala's premier New Age centre." "The land close to the lakeshore--densely wooded with banana, mango, avocado, and jocote trees--is where San Marcos' bohemian hotels and guest houses have been sensitively established." "It has a decidedly tranquil appeal--there's little in the way of partying and no bar scene at all." Oh, one good thing to know beforehand is to come with flashlights, otherwise you will have a very difficult time navigating the narrow paths at dark! Thank you, Matt and Amy, for that tip!

We didn't have a place reserved for Saturday night (we did for Sunday), so our first goal was to find lodging. We found a place called Paco Real, and it was a hotel and restaurant owned and constructed by a Swiss man (and his Mexican wife) who's been living in San Marcos for the last 15 years. He was really friendly and had two little bungalows for us for $28 a night each. They were rustic and basic, but that just added to the ambiance of the whole place. Although the giant spider in the bathroom was a little too rustic for Beth.

After we dropped our bags off, we headed over to the Moonfish Cafe, which is a quaint little place with a gorgeous view of the lake and its three volcanoes. Matt and Amy loved this place, and now we do too (we ate there three times total this weekend). I had a really, really good chicken burrito (so did Matt and Amy) and Beth had a hummus burrito. All the veggies and fruit are grown on site. The owner is frequently seen spraying the produce with a backpack apparatus that has a little sign on it saying "Don't worry, it's just garlic pepper."

We were all fairly tired after lunch, plus it was beginning to rain, so we all headed back to our rooms. Along the way, Beth talked to a masseuse working at our place and scheduled times for us. Massages in San Marcos are cheap compared to the U.S. I paid about $28 (including a tip) for an hour+ full body massage. It was my second professional massage, and...my first from a guy. I felt like George on Seinfeld when I showed up and he greeted me. But I didn't let it freak me out and just went with it. It was fine, and I followed it with a cold, tearful shower, balled up and rocking on the floor. : )

After my massage, I napped a bit, then got up with Beth to have coffee in our hotel's restaurant. The owner had made a fire, which was so nice since we were both a bit chilled from all the rain and the cool weather. We pulled a table up right next to the fireplace and enjoyed some really good coffee. Beth left shortly after for her massage, so I ended up staying put for more than two hours, having another cup of coffee with my book ("All Quiet on the Western Front") and enjoying the sound of the rain. I also had a piña colada after my coffee, and it was tas-ty!

Also in San Marcos was another group of eight faculty members. We all met up for dinner at Paco Real, the same place I had just been enjoying. We made the owner's day as he had had no business (it's a slow time of year), and suddenly he had 12 hungry customers. His wife cooked up some delicious Mexican food, and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the place and each other's company. After dinner we all went our separate ways and Beth and I went to sleep.

A Fun, Full Day in San Marcos and San Pedro
Sunday, Sept. 9
We were up around 7 a.m. to have breakfast and meet up with everybody else for a morning of horseback riding in San Pedro (a lake town 10 minutes away by boat). We ate at Moonfish again, and Beth and I split a double portion of wheat pancakes and coffee. Matt and Amy were up bright and early with us, but the other members needed a little more time to recover from the night before.


Finally, around 11 we had a group of just five and boated it over to San Pedro. San Pedro is a big draw for students as it's in a gorgeous location and offers lots of language schools. It's also a big draw for hippies, as many nature lovers never leave the place. So, on the one hand it feels very safe as you see lots of people like you, but it's also a bit of a downer to be around so many tourists. San Pedro is also way more developed than San Marcos with big buildings, full roads, and traffic.

Once off the boat we quickly found someone offering horse rides. We each paid about $20 for a two hour ride up into the mountains. I ended up with a lazy horse named Princesa, who would lag behind until I gave her some encouragement, upon which she would take off into a full run, which was both exhilarating and painful! The first hour we zigzagged our way up through the city streets and finally out into nature. We eventually came to a scenic stopping point, which which opened up to the most amazing, sweeping views of the gigantic lake and surrounding volcanoes and mountains. It was so beautiful. Then we headed back down. The ride was just long enough, as it started to get a little painful, with too much chafing and bouncing. Plus, I neglected to put on sun block, and I was really feeling the heat.



After our ride, we had lunch at a place near the docks which also had a nice view of the lake. I had two small tortillas with chicken, potatoes, and veggies for only a $1.30! While eating, a tiny and friendly Mayan woman came by with an assortment of baked goods. We all bought something from her, since each mini loaf cost about $.65. We got some chocolate bread and carrot bread. They were good, but a little weak on flavor.

When we got back to San Marcos that afternoon, we checked into our new place for the night. Matt and Amy always stay here and for good reason. It's called Aaculaax and, again, my guide book describes it best as "An astonishing labor of love, this fantasy echo hotel was built by an eccentric German visionary craftsman from thousands of recycled bottles and wood, with stained-glass detailing and giant glass butterflies doubling as lampshades. Most rooms (ours did) have hand painted murals and bathrooms. It has to be seen." It was so cool and we'll definitely take any of you there who to come to see us.

(Views of the bathroom)

Our room was one story up, and just off a common area, where the other members of our cohort were already hanging out. So from about 4 p.m. on we hung out upstairs with everyone, snacking, beveraging, talking, and eventually playing Catch Phrase until we broke to go eat dinner. It was raining again that afternoon and evening, but thankfully the area was covered and we could still enjoy the outside.


We all loved Paco Real's food so much from the night before that we decided to go back there again. Unfortunately for us, it had a number of other people already there, so service was SLOW. But the food was great and we had fun chatting with one another.

Some Sunning and Swimming Before the Long Trip Home
Monday, Sept. 10
All the faculty had Monday off because Sunday was the presidential elections, and with some of the students' parents involved in politics, the school thought it would be safest not to have school that day. So, Sunday morning we again had breakfast at Moonfish, and then went hiking around a bit to find a good swimming area. We never found Matt and Amy (who knew of a good area with rocks to jump off of), so Beth and I hung out on a dock and read our books and I swam a little bit.


We then headed back to our room to get packed up and checked out by noon. We waited a while for a boat, but finally got one. By early afternoon, another storm was moving in, and the lake was pretty choppy. I was seated near the front of the boat and got drenched from the splashes caused by the boat. Thankfully Beth had her jacket handy and I was able to shield myself from then on. It was a long trip back to Panajachel, as the boat had to go slowly because of the choppy water. Once back, we headed over to a place for lunch that advertised three tacos for 10Q ($1.30)--I ate six! They were good, needless to say. We then found the place where our shuttle back to Antigua was supposed to be. Luckily for us, he was early and only had three other people riding back. So, our trip back to Antigua was much more comfortable and quick.

We arrived in Antigua around 6 and quickly found a cabbie willing to drive us to Guatemala City. On our way out of town, he stopped to tell us he didn't really know how to get where we needed to be and was basically going to kick us out, but we convinced him to forge on and we'd give directions once we got close. (We were confident we could do this since he mentioned one highway that's fairly close to us.) With a slightly longer route back to our apartment, we finally made it home around 7:30. The cabbie wanted more money once we got there, saying it was farther than he thought (even though it was actually a shorter distance from the highway he mentioned earlier), but we told him in our broken Spanish that we had already agreed upon the price and that was that. Thankfully he didn't protest. But I do believe he got the final laugh, as I'm nearly certain my cell phone is laying under his passenger seat. I think it fell out with some change, as I know some change fell out, and I can't find it anywhere. So, to all of you with my cell number, you can likely discard it as I will be buying a new one soon.

And that was our fun weekend trip!


And here is a lovely picture of my lovely wife!