San Pedro de La Laguna

Lake Atitlan has long been revered by foreigners. Adolph Huxley considered it one of the most beautiful locations on earth, saying ‘it’s really too much of a good thing. It touches the limit of the permissibly picturesque.’ During the 60’s, hippies and other ex-pats agreed and migrated to the great lake in Guatemala’s western high lands. While the country’s turbulent civil war drove many of them away, the lake and its coastal towns still draw masses of tourists and gringo residents.

The lake is actually a volcanic crater, a fifth of a mile deep and surrounded by towering volcanoes. To get to one of the 13 villages on its coast, you must take a boat—fueling the small town feeling. San Pedro, the town we stayed at, was the new hippy and young tourist haven. When you get off the boat, you are attacked by hoards trying to sell you a hotel room, banana bread or a horse [to rent].

Despite the bustle, this was a wonderfully relaxing respite. We swam in the calm waters, wandered around in the cornfields, and heard a lot of bob Marley. The most punctuating phenomenon was the trucks of well-amplified evangelicals driving around and trying to convent the masses.