Guatemala Parte Dos!

Here's the second part of our trip. These pictures take me back to the burning sun, the taste of cardamon spiced chocolate, the sound of the lake and the peace of mind. Cannot stop thinking of when I'll go back and stay there for at least 3 months. So many things to see and learn from the Mayan culture! Here are my recommendations if you are traveling to Guatemala.

Aside from going to Antigua..You should check out these places as well:

Panajachel

"El Lago Atitlan"

Pana (how' the locals call it) is one of the towns around Lake Atitlan. It holds the main dock with the boats that take you from town to town for about Q10. We stayed at the Hotel Isla Verde in Santa Cruz de La Laguna and I highly recommend it. If you're a vegetarian...I think it's the best veggie food you'll find in Guatemala! They grow and cook their own food
so it's seasonal. 

This is the path to the hotel. 

Our Cabin

The morning view

The yoga hut from the outside

and from the inside

The lobby from the outside

and from the inside

The parking lot

The Restaurant

Lounging area

Veggie nachos and spicy bloody maries

Visit San Juan La Laguna

Guatemala is synonymous of super bright colors. But not in San Juan La Laguna. They turned the saturation down. They dye with natural colors and the results are beautiful pastel colors. This is the place to buy textiles and crafts around Panajachel.

They make a tea with the leaf of Guava, Avocado, Annatto, Coconut etc.. and start the dying process.

Here, Amalia is dying with Guava, Orange & some green leaves that I forgot how they're called.. Cushil or something like that..

The result is a mint green.

I got this shawl from Amalia

The lake is rising more every day with climate change. Soon a lot of Panajachel will be underwater.

Chichicastenango

The place to buy crafts. It can be overwhelming with so many things going on at the same time. The market is open only on Thursdays and Sundays. They perform Mayan rituals in front of the church. The rituals are very similar to Santeria. They sacrifice animals and ask for stuff they want, like health, wealth, money, love.. sometimes they use it for not so good stuff if you know what I mean.. 

Suspenders Tierra available here

And here I am trying to do some hat modeling and being confused at the same time. The hat is available here

Don't miss Semuc Champey!

The Lord of the Rivers! These are connected natural pools and you go swimming and jumping from one to another. I couldn't get that many pictures of this amazing adventure because we couldn't find an underwater camera anywhere! But I was able to enjoy every single moment without any technological interruption. Sometimes you focus more on taking the perfect picture, than being in the moment. So all I could say is to go to the water cave expedition (with just candles for the pitch black darkness) and finish off with a relaxing rubber tube ride down the river. You can die happy after that.

ESO ES TODO AMIGOS!!!