October 4, 2007

After I asked Adrienne to marry me, we had dinner at Chez Alex on Sander Street, the nicest restaurant we could find in Panajachel.

She went with rib-eye steak. I had Texas short ribs. We split a bottle of Italian merlot.

Panajachel is a small but expanding town on the north side of Lago Atitlan, Guatemala's largest lake, and it is a popular destination for long-term foreign residents.

It is also one of the few settlements on the lake that can be easily accessed by vehicle, albeit by way of a windy and steep road that hugs the side of a cliff and that tested the brakes on our tired 1987 VW van.

With shimmering water and surrounded by many of Guatemala's famous volcanoes Lago Atitlan is touted as one of the most beautiful areas in Central America.

We didn't experience it at its best - the volcanoes were shrouded by clouds for much of our five days there - but there were enough breaks that we could get a little taste of the tantalizing terrain.

Before arriving Panajachel, we had camped in the van only one night in the last month and a half, as we had stayed at the Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat for a month, and then in budget hotels and guest houses as we drove north through Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.

Truth be told, we far prefer sleeping in the van than in most of the hotels and hostels that our budget has allowed for. At least we know the sheets in the van are clean and it is relatively bug-free!

But the quiet campsite we pulled into in Panajachel - an expansive, grassy field in front of Hotel Vision Azul that is right on the shore of the shimmering Lago Atitlan - made the transition back to van living easy. And, as has been the case for much of our "off-season" road trip, we were the only guests in the campsite the entire time.

(It was at the campsite , when the clouds had lifted and the sun was setting, and while drinking cheap wine out of cheap orange plastic wine glasses, that I put a plastic ring that I had purchased in Panama on Adrienne's finger and asked her to by my wife).

The two hour drive from Antigua to Panajachel had steered us through some of the most captivating scenery yet, as the rolling hills and surrounding flatlands beside the Inter-Americana Highway were dotted with hundreds and hundreds of small, irregular-shaped, fields that had been cut into the landscape and that were sprouting corn, broccoli, coffee and other root vegetables.

At various points along the way, groups of Mayan people in traditional dress were working hard cleaning potatoes that had been piled high on blankets beside the road.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from Hotel Vision Azul to the town centre, and as it happened we had arrived in Panajachel in the midst of its annual blowout festival celebrating San Francisco de Asis.

This meant that the town was thick with people and alive with religious processions, fireworks, ferris wheels and other amusement park rides and dancing. Both organized dance groups during the day, with the dancers wearing white masks that represented the Spanish conquistadors, and drunk men dancing in a good old fashion mosh pit at night.

To escape the crowds in Panajachel, we took an all-day boat tour of Lago Atitlan, visiting three of the other lakeside communities - San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlan and San Antonio Palopo - that are more difficult to access by vehicle. On each stop, we spent time haggling with the multitude of vendors over masks, Tz'utuhil art prints, bright blankets, and other assorted Guatemalan handicrafts.

Like the other three towns we visited on the lake, the markets and stores in Panajachel, mainly on Calle Satander, cater heavily to the tourist crowd.

But the prices are low, the quality high, and there is an unending selection of goods and wares to choose from, and so it is virtually impossible to not support the Panajachel capitalists, at least a little.

Key Facts & Figures:

-Hotel Vision Azul campsite: $6.25/night
-Lago Atitlan boat tour: $10/person
-Dinner, Chez Alex restaurant: $75