Thewesternprovinceblog

Hola todos. Bit delayed here as moved on to Antigua earlier than planned. So yes Lake Atitlan did not live up to the hype. Entonces que pasó? Well let’s rewind.

I sleep good in my new place in Panajachel though it’s a nice town not a lot going on and I have some admin to sort out so first order of business is getting some cash. Easier said than done as the one cash point bank in town did not work for my Monzo card so after a lot of wandering had to go back grab my other cards but at least the currensea card worked. Got my cash sorted then had some breakfast. There I met up again with my English pal who had also traveled down with me and we decided let’s do a reccie of ‘Sin City’ aka San Pedro together!

We mozy on down to the harbor and we quickly get ourselves a joint ticket bought for about £7 each. This ride goes to San Juan first then to San Pedro and back to Port. It works as an open ticket just hop on and off and boats come by every half hour so decent. First it’s a stop in San Juan. It’s very hilly but it’s a chill place and looks quite pretty with the umbrellas hanging up on the main street. Not much going on though so after half hour over to Sin City we go!

We dock up and go take a stroll and there is not much going on but keep exploring. The place is a dump and not a lot going on and not cheap either. We keep wandering up to the main central park and it is the only nice part of it ‘La Puerta Hermosa’ aint hermosa no more! What a let down. Decided I was going to bail on moving over here and instead made plans to get to Antigua tomorrow. As ugly as the place was you get the impression it wasn’t always like that. My Georgian pal said it was 8-9 years ago since he was there. A lot can change in such time. My speculation is the place ran off the tourist dollar $ and then covid ripped this place a new one and it hasn’t recovered since.

Me and butty boi bail and head back to Panajachel, we have some grub and a few beers back at his hostal bar then we both ended up having an early one. Let’s hope Antigua is a bit more like it!