Hi. My name is Erik and I’m from a town in Westchester county, just outside of New York City. This past summer my family paid Guatemala a visit. Originally when my mom said that we were going to Guatemala, my first reaction was, well, less then excited. There were so many places I wanted to visit and I never even considered Guatemala to be one of them.
We began our trip at LakeAtitlan which turned out to be my favorite stop on the trip. As soon as I saw the lake, all my concerns about Guatemala not being a fun vacation were instantly gone. People say LakeAtitlan is the most beautiful lake in the world and I can’t say I disagree. People have described me as antsy, hyper, and always ready for the next thing but just looking at this lake put my mind in a state of calm. I understand why the lake is a huge hippie and yoga hotbed.
We stayed in a hotel called La Paz or in English “the peace” which is right near the lake. When I was at the hotel, I felt like I was sleeping in the rain forest – and I’m not talking the Rainforest Café type feel. I mean you feel like you’re actually sleeping in the rainforest. Aside from the hotel, the shoreline is dotted with interesting things to do. The lake has a bunch of towns (all of which are only accessible by boat) surrounding it and they are all different. We visited the second largest called Panahachel, or just Pana as everyone calls it. The town is full of small vendors selling just about any handmade thing you can think of – from jewelry and fabrics to T shirts and hippie attire.
On our second day there, we spent our time just hanging around by the hotel and swimming in the lake (which was surprisingly cold considering the temperature). When it came time to leave the lake and visit the colonial city of Antigua, I was very sad and wished we had allowed more time there. I also realized why so many people had just dropped everything to come live in this area.
