Antigua to Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

80 km. 2 25 hours according to Google maps. We arranged for a shared ride to make the trip to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. It seems to be the preferred method of transport between towns here in Guatemala for tourists. A 14-passenger van drives around town, picking up people from their hotels and loading all the luggage on to the top.

We were the first to be picked up - 12:45 PM. Then for the next hour we bumped around the cobblestone streets of Antigua, slowly filling up the seats. It seems like everyone, except us oldies, was in their 20s or 30s. Beside me were three guys from L.A., travelling for 10 days. When asked how they chose Guatemala as a destination, they said they used ChatGPT. Not sure what their parameters were - best party destinations?? Two young women behind me were from small-town Wisconsin, taking their first international trip. And a couple from Iceland. . . what? There aren't enough volcanoes for you in Iceland??

I was a little surprised by the highway. I have this idea in my head that highways through the mountains in Central America are winding, full of pot holes, and treacherous. I guess that's one reason to travel - lose those sterotypes and see what things are really like. It was a 4-lane highway much of the way and once we were out of the congestion around Antigua, the traffic flowed fairly well. We went over several passes and then down into wide valleys with lots of farms and greenhouses along the way. Some of the farm plots go up the sides of the mountains, often on very steep slopes. The soil is probably very fertile from thousands of years of volcanic deposits. We passed quite a few roadside market stands. The towns we went through seemed relatively prosperous, with new construction and well-mainained streets.

It took more than 2.25 hours to get to Panajachel. We arrived about 4:00. There was a flurry of activity as they handed the luggage down from the roof and the transport company arranged for tuk tuks to take everyone to their hotels, as the driver who brought us here needed to go around and pick up people for his return trip to Antigua. We wondered why all the shared vans left at the same times - 6 AM and 12:30 - but realized that they all wanted to make a round trip in one day.

I won't go in to detail about our accommodation. . . we thought that we had a two-bedroom apartment booked, but it was actually a three-person room with a shared bathroom and kitchen. We managed to get separate rooms for two nights. The host was very accommodating. Casa Esperanza has 1 and 2-bedroom apartments, as well as rooms with shared facilities. Clean and well-managed place in case you're looking for something in Panajachel.

Fran called the AirBnB that she had stayed at last year and he happened to have a cancellation that morning and had two separate one-bedroom apartments available for 12 days! It is across the river from the downtown area in a residential neighbourhood. Casa Cirilo. The owner, Cirilo, picked us up with his tuk tuk from Casa Esperanza and brought us to his place. We have a shared balcony and an upper patio with access to laundry facilities. There about 6 seperate apartments here, plus the two apartments that Cirilo and his family occupy.

The neighbourhood has narrow streets - some are just big enough for a tuk tuk to drive along and others are just wide enough for people to walk on or motorcycles to manoeuvre through. There are numerous tiendas close by. You wonder how so many places can sell the same thing and actually survive. Some of them may have a specialty item that they make or sell, like tamales or cooked beans. A couple blocks away is a table with fruit and vegetables for sale until mid-afternoon. We're about a 10-minute walk from downtown and about the same down to the lake.

The first photo shows a grandmother and granchildren walking home from school (I presume!) and the second photo shows two men selling fleece blankets door to door. It gives you a feel for the narrow streets.