lago atitlan

went to lago atitlan for the fin de semana. i was amazed by the natural beauty... lago atitlan is a lake surrounded by 3 plus volcanos. i think the lake is actually a volcanic crater or something. touring the lake and the surrounding traditional pueblos was like being in a movie. everything is lush green and the volcanos/mountains are enormous. there are markets to bargain for typical guatemalteco souvenirs. the country is known for its textiles. i bought some stuff that i don´t know how i´m going to get them back to the states.

we went to these thermal pools (spas) today and i had a massage for 10 dollars! yesterday we went to these truly natural thermal pools, water naturally heated by the volcano. the water was pouring out of the rocks, and there were mayans washing there dishes and taking baths in these pools.

we almost missed our shuttle back to antigua tonight. we got lost on these tiny paths through corn fields ( i always end up in fields of corn!) , it took us forever to find the right dock that would take us back to the shuttle back to antigua, then the boat drivers tried hustling us into taking a private boat or paying to make the boat leave before the 12 min passenger limit was reached. we had a 30 min boat ride back to our shuttle and we only had 15 min. we were so late. luckily, when we got to the other side of the lake and were hurrying to find the shuttle it passed by, about to leave without us. when we got home to antigua, we found out our host family was called when we didn´t show up to the shuttle on time. they were so worried about us especially because we´re girls.