Six Weeks in Guatemala

I just got back from San Pedro la Laguna on Lake Atitlan in the highlands of Guatemala. It's about 6,000 feet in the air. It is very remote. It's only 80 miles west of Guatemala City (called "Guate" by locals) but it takes over four hours on treacherous highways and roads to actually get to San Pedro. I'm talking hairpin turns and drivers with no regard for traffic laws (if any exist there).

Most people fly into Guate and then shuttle to Antigua and spend the night, then head on to Panajachel, the main city around the lake, and take a launch over to San Pedro via the lake.

Not me.

I did the Antigua thing, but shuttled straight to San Pedro the next day. Scary.

Ah, but it doesn't stop there. On the day of my flight back to the US, I got on the "chicken bus" at 2:30am and rode to Guate, then took a taxi to the airport. Don't do this.

Do it the sane way.

When the bus pulled up in the center of San Pedro, there was only one other person waiting with me. We got on and there was the driver and the money collector. It costs about Q25 (USD 3.34). There were also three empty liters of Gallo (a Guatemalan beer). "Chicken buses" are the local transortation system and they are refurbished school buses from the US.

But there was no turning back.