Economics With A Face

It was a no brainer as the night before Bob had told us that Panajachel, located next to lake Atitlan, was a must see and we were planning on backtracking there anyways. Again I thought we might be the only ones on the trip but again to my surprise after a few stops at various hostels the bus was absolutely full, even a third person rode in the middle between the driver and the person in the passenger seat. Eleven backpacks were strapped to the top of the van.

The road was windy so it was tough to read but the views traveling through Southern Mexico and Western Guatemala were unbelievable. Crossing the border was easy enough, we switched vans and had a new driver but it was obvious from the fast crossing that immigration officials were used to backpackers heading through.

After driving all day we finally arrived in Panajachel. Descending towards Lake Atitlan during the last 15 minutes of the journey I knew we had made the right choice. It’s similar to Lake Tahoe except that three volcanoes with 12,000 feet peaks line the rim of the lake.

We found a cheap place near the water. There was a great hotel right across the way, complete with parrots and an 8 week old puppy, that was tough to turn down but we really need to be saving our money. The place we found is just fine and about half the price.

For dinner we headed over to a restaurant up the street. They had a TV and after doing a few errands we came back watch the US play Guatemala in a World Cup qualifying match. It was a tough game to watch over the cries “Vamos Guate!!!” from the other patrons. Guatemala needed a least a tie to keep their World Cup dreams alive, a tournament the country has never qualified for, so both Em and I were pulling for them as the U.S. qualified last week with the win over Mexico. It ended up as a 0-0 tie to the satisfaction of many in the bar. We headed out for one more drink with two guys we met in the restaurant and then called it a night.