Panajachel in the Rain (update 19 June)

The drive to Lake Atitlan was very interesting... 11 people in a micro-bus climbing up and down some extremely steep (can you say ¨first gear?¨) and curvy mountain roads (no guard-rails, of course). And my camera was trapped in my backpack on top of the van, so there´s no photo evidence. Arrived in Panajachel and Hector, the van driver, took me to a pleasant little hotel, where I spent a couple hours resting and taking photos of a persistent little hummingbird who was buzzing the flowers in the courtyard without cease.

The rain, predictably, started as soon as I got up from my nap; I headed out anyway to make travel arrangments for tomorrow.

So, what to do in an extremely touristy lake-front town on a rainy afternoon?

Go to an art gallery, of course! And that´s just what I did after wandering along a waterfront strip that reminded me way too much of Hollywood Beach (Florida) in the ´60´s -- all it lacks is neon and building codes. I wandered into a bar/restaurant and got ripped off by ordering a beer without the everpresent ¨¿quanto vale?¨... paid about Q27, or $3.75... not much by USA standards, but Q10 more than I paid at the worst tourist trap in Antigua. Left there and found a spectacular building with several old Mercedes up on blocks, and, when I stopped to take a photo or two, I saw the sign ¨La Galeria¨ (Ave. Rancho Grande, Panajachel, tel. 7762-2432)

Hooray! Some beautiful artwork by the omnipresent Angelika Bauer and a half-dozen or more other artist whose work was mostly new to me. A couple of hours passed by pleasantly, and I picked up a small lithograph by a Cuban artist named XIOMAO (no guess on the pronounciation, sorry)who apparently is living in El Salvador now. The gallery owner, whose name was, I think, Sabrina (sorry if that´s wrong) was very kind and gave me some of the history on different artists working in the area.

Hopefully I´ll be able to post some photos soon, after I get settled in Xela.




Un Choque... an accident blocked the road right outside Panajachel on the way out of town.

Y´all have fun now, heah!